The beautiful but underrated capital city in South America with hardly any tourists

When people go on holiday in , they often seem to overlook and its vibrant capital city in favour of more popular destinations like Rio de Janeiro or Buenos Aires. , however, is a stunning and vibrant city and an underrated gem away from the crowds of tourists of other major cities in South America. With its stunning old town, the mix of modern buildings and colonial architecture, a rich cultural scene, and a beautiful coastline along the Río de la Plata, it's a city that can easily captivate visitors.

Palaces from the 19th century, majestic theatres and churches sit by side with art deco buildings and modern skyscrapers, along with the Rambla promenade which stretches over nearly 14 miles of sandy beaches lined with endless palm trees. As a UNESCO City of Literature has an array of literary festivals and beautiful bookstores like that of Más Puro Verso which also has a cafe located in the heart of the old town.

Montevideo is also known as the vibrant city of dance, the centre of tango and candombe with many milongas dancing venues and shows.

The Montevideo carnival takes place every and is said to be the world's longest spanning across a massive fourty days in a row from mid Janaury until the end of March, featuring incredible street parades, candombe music, and open air theatre performances.

It's easy to get lose yourself in the winding streets of Montevideo's old town with its cobblestone streets lined with flowers and colourful buildings along with the many murals and the lively Mercado del Puerto serving traditional foods.

Architectural landmarks like Palacio Salvo, Teatro Solis, and the Palacio Legislativo also highlight the city's incredible architecture blending European and local influences.

Montevideo and Uruguay as a country in itself welcomes way less tourists than other places that are more popular like Argentina or Brazil.

Uruguay welcomed about 3.3 million visitors in 2024, according to Uruguay's Ministry of Tourism - three times less than the number of visitors that go to Argentina.

According to Argentina's national statistics institute (Indec), 10.93 million people visited the country in 2024, which is actually a signifcant decrease from the 13.40 million tourists in 2023.

In a post shared to their Instragram account, , travel Vloggers, Juliana Wynkoop and Martín Gómez, wrote: "Uruguay is one of the most underrated travel spots, and here's why.

"Earlier this year, while visiting Buenos Aires, we decided to pop over to Uruguay-it's so close, and we thought, why not check another country off our list? What we found completely blew our minds.

"4 cows per capita = some of the best meat we've ever tasted.Punta del Este is basically the Miami of South America.The people are SO chill, friendly and welcoming.Montevideo is charming, quiet, and unlike any other capital city we've been to."