Uruguay Travel: A Biking Tour in Montevideo

To get the most out of my one full day (November 12, 2011) in Montevideo, I decided to go bicycling to explore the city. I was not able to locate any guided bicycle tours, but I found Orange Bike, a company that actually delivers a rented bicycle directly to your hotel or local address and picks it up again. At $12 for a whole day it was a very reasonable deal and I got on my rental bike at about 10 am. I rode down to the Rambla, the 22 km long waterfront promenade of Montevideo which provides an amazing view of the city's coastline along the Rio de la Plata. The Rambla is enjoyed by bikers, walkers, joggers, lovers and groups of friends who sit down along it and enjoy drinking "yerba mate" together.

Along the Rambla of Montevideo is a beautiful park called Parque Rodo. It contains many statues, palm trees and lush tropical vegetation, two ponds and rental facilities for pedal boats. It's a popular gathering spot for the locals.

Around lunch time I cycled to one of Montevideo's most famous spots: the "Mercado del Puerto". Built as a fruit market in the 1860s with cast iron structures manufactured in the "Union Foundry" in Liverpool, the building has the ambience of a Victorian-era train station in England. Today it holds numerous grills, bars and stores, and is extremely popular for the traditional Uruguayan meat dishes that are charbroiled here over open fires.

I continued my cycling tour through the old town of Montevideo ("la Ciudad Vieja") -- the oldest part of town which has a bit of a run-down feel to it and can be somewhat dangerous at night. This is also the area where all the nightclubs are concentrated. There is a lot of beautiful architecture in la Ciudad Vieja, but it is best explored during the daytime. I also cycled by the old Beaux Arts train station of Montevideo which was unfortunately shuttered a number of years ago, saw the Legislative Palace and enjoyed the eclectic mansions on Avenida 18 de Julio, Montevideo's main avenue.

I sat down for about an hour on the Plaza Fabini to talk with an older local gentleman who told me lots of interesting stories about Montevideo. Last but not least I checked out the "Mercado de la Abundanza", a historic former fruit and vegetable market that opened in 1858 and has been turned into a vibrant cultural center.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Travel
• Latin America
• South America
• Uruguay
• Montevideo
• Avenida 18 de Julio
• Rambla
• Parque Rodo
• Mercado del Puerto
• asado
• Ciuadad Vieja
• Legislative Palace
• Palacio Legislativo
• Plaza Fabini
• Mercado de la Abundanza
• biking
• bicycling