Back home for Christmas and New Year with Stella — family, friends, and a road trip up the Uruguayan coast.
What happened
Going back to Uruguay always feels like a reset. This time Stella came with me for the whole thing — Christmas, New Year, and everything in between. We landed in Montevideo and immediately fell into the rhythm of family dinners, long lunches, and catching up with friends I hadn’t seen in way too long.
After a few days in Montevideo we hit the road east along the coast, which is one of those drives that never gets old no matter how many times you’ve done it. The plan was loose: stop wherever felt right, no rush.
The coast road
Punta del Este was the first stop — glamorous as ever in peak summer season, packed with Argentinians and the kind of energy that’s fun for a day or two. We walked the peninsula, ate well, and watched the sunset from Playa Brava before moving on.
From there we continued northeast to La Paloma, which is a completely different vibe. Quieter, more laid-back, the kind of beach town where surfers and fishermen still outnumber the tourists. We spent a couple of days here just breathing. The waves were fun, the food was simple and good.
Punta del Diablo was the last stop on the coast and honestly the highlight of the road trip. The place has barely changed — dirt roads, rustic cabins, bonfires on the beach at night. It still feels like the Uruguay that existed before Instagram discovered it. We stayed long enough to not want to leave.
El Chuy
Before heading back we made the detour north to El Chuy, right on the border with Brazil. Half the main street is Uruguay, half is Brazil — you can literally walk between countries without a checkpoint. The free-trade shops are a national institution and we did our duty as tourists. There’s something funny and endearing about a town that exists entirely because of an arbitrary line on a map.
Highlights
- New Year’s Eve with family in Parque del Plata — the real reason for the trip
- La Paloma beach at sunrise, almost completely empty
- Punta del Diablo bonfires and the slower pace of the north coast
- El Chuy border crossing on foot, just because we could
- Too much asado, zero regrets