Along the Rambla of Montevideo

The westernmost of the oceanside road to carry the name Rambla is Rambla Baltasar Brum, beginning in the middle of an industrial area next to Highway 1 from Colonia. This part of the city and the Rambla is different from the main part; it's a gritty industrial area and the street also goes at least one block inland from the coast. This first part is possibly unsafe to explore on foot, especially on your own.

A short section is named Heredia, then it goes next to the railway past 1 La Teja oil refinery, crosses the Miguelete Creek, and meets up with the highway again after Parque Capurro at the 2 intersection with Bulevar General Artigas. The city district is named "Bella Vista", "beautiful view", which can be taken sarcastically especially given the views you will see further on. As mentioned before, there aren't places to park your car along the street but there are sidewalks.

The street changes name to Rambla Edison and follows the coast for a while. Inland (on your left if you travel from west to east) there are oil containers and the 3 José Batlle y Ordóñez power plant. Along the sidewalk there are even a couple of palms, giving a little taste of what the route will look like when you're past the old town. But eventually the street will turn somewhat inland again. To the left there are railway tracks and to the right sea containers, hinting that you are arriving into the port area.

Going straight south, the Rambla now named Rambla Sud América will pass almost next to the skyscraper that has already been visible - 4 Torre de las Telecomunicaciones or Antel Tower. At a height of 157 m it's the highest skyscraper in the country and definitely stands out in the city's skyline. The railway next to the street soon ends at Montevideo's "railway station" with some local services and somewhat south is the grand but 5 abandoned central station named after General Artigas. Like in much of the western hemisphere, railway operations aren't what they were back in the day.

Buses go a few blocks inland along Paraguay and Av Gral Rondeau. The aforementioned 124 and 125 connect to the old town and the places to start this itinerary. Interestingly, there are a number of buses either connecting La Teja with places towards the eastern end of La Rambla like Buceo usually taking a huge shortcut inland, or going north from the old town for.a few kilometers and then taking this huge swing to the east. They will effectively bypass much of the Rambla, so it's not meaningful to list them here.

Making a twist to the right, Rambla Franklin D. Roosevelt separates the port from Montevideo's secondary bus station, 6 Terminal Río Branco also known as Terminal Baltasar Brum. Behind the bus station you can see the residential and office buildings of downtown Montevideo, the amount of graffiti has decreased. To the right, the 7 port with its lower buildings, sea containers and trucks make up a more airy appearance than the industrial plants earlier along the road. You may even catch a glimpse of the sea again. If you are walking on the port side of the street - starboard actually - watch out for the truck traffic coming and going through the gates. In the horizon you can see the tower of the Art Deco Aduana (customs) building. Then there will be the 8 Ciudadela street to the left going to Plaza Independencia, the main square and heart of Montevideo and further to meet up with the Rambla on the opposite side of the old town.

You are now on the peninsula making up old Montevideo, and a few blocks on from Ciudadela the name changes to Rambla 25 de Agosto de 1825. Here is a rather derelict building which has been turned into a cultural center - 9 Espacio cultural Las Bóvedas, and next to it a white rock with cattle encarved in it, the 10 Monumento a Hernandarias. Overall the left side is now lined with historical residential buildings, and you can take a sidetrip into the narrow streets of the old town by just going a block south.

The right side of the street is still dominated by the port, and eventually the Rambla passes next to the massive light-gray 11 Aduana building, hosting the customs authority. Just before it is the entrance to the port for cars and foot passengers for the Buquebus ferry to Buenos Aires. It may or may not be possible to enter the port here to see some of the 12 salvaged remains of German WWII battleship Admiral Graf Spee that was scuttled in the waters outside Montevideo, that are on display in the port area.

The area around the old town and Plaza Independencia is a major bus hub with stops scattered around. As such listing all the buses would make for a long list. To here from various points on the Rambla (or vice versa), consult the notes above or below. There are no bus services along the Rambla here, but the old town is only about a kilometer across.

Opposite to the port are the 13 Yacaré shopping arcades, good for finding souvenirs, the 14 Mercado del Puerto which rather than a market is a collection of restaurants particularly famous for barbecue meat, and the 15 Carnaval museum. A few more blocks and the street takes a 90° bend to the left and the view gets industrial again for the last time with warehouses on the left and the port still on the right. Onwards along Rambla Ingeniero Juan Monteverde for a few blocks and then a further turn to the left.

And here the views suddenly change to the Rambla of the tourist brochures. At the 16 intersection with Sarandí, the port area ends, giving way to uninterrupted views to the Rio de la Plata. Here also the street continues on a breakwater, 17 Escollera Sarandí, stretching almost a kilometer into the sea. It's popular with fishermen, as are many structures that stretch far out into the ocean. In the other direction the street would lead you to Plaza Independencia. The street this itinerary is about is now named Rambla Francia and from here on the Rambla will lead east along the coast. Also, many of the names will from now on be derived from country names. Along the sidewalk there are from now on light green columns stating how far you are from the Sarandí intersection, ie. the western end of the real Rambla.

From here on there are wide sidewalks, parking is allowed along the street, and less of the heavy traffic that is prevalent around the port. On the left side the Rambla is lined by apartment buildings, considerably newer than the ones in the heart of the old town. Towards the sea there are two interesting structures: 18 Antiguo Respirador de Colector, a brick chimney that formerly was a ventilation pipe for the sewage system, and further on a low roofless fortification named 19 Cubo del Sur with a cannon, interestingly enough pointing towards the city.

Opposite the latter there is also a park with palms named 20 Plaza España. Here you can also find the 21 Anglican Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, and a 22 statue of Queen Isabel, ruling Spain during the Reconquista. At the end of the park, the Rambla meets up with the Ciudadela street. The name of the street since the Cubo is Rambla Gran Bretaña.

The part of the Rambla here also has the additional name Rambla Sur ("south"). It's south of the central part of the city and follows the coastline of the Barrio Sur district. The sea view is interrupted by the historical dry dock 23 Dique Mauá. The street briefly changes name to Rambla República Helénica, passes a fishing pier, and then the street is named Rambla República Argentina.

E14 goes along Rambla Argentina, connecting from the old town via Rio Negro, and follows it until Parque Rodo. From there it takes a shortcut across Punta Carretas and then parallel to the Rambla along Juan Benito Blanco until Pocitos.

Suitably, there is a street running parallel to the Rambla named La Cumparsita. This is also the name of possibly the most famous tango tune, composed by Uruguayan Gerardo Rodríguez in 1916. Later various Argentinian writers wrote lyrics to the tune and the version by Pascual Contursi became recorded and widespread around the world in the 1920s. Since that the countries have argued over which country the song should be attributed to.

Around here is also the 24 central cemetery, the final resting place for many important political and cultural figures in the history of the country. There is however no entrance on the side towards the sea, so you have to go around the cemetery to the northern side. The walls on the outside are not that impressive compared to the tombs inside, to put it in a nice way.

Further along the Rambla, there's a viewpoint (the sidewalks gets even wider) on the right side named 25 Plaza Mirador Rambla Barrio Sur. In the front you can see the Punta Carretas peninsula whose coastline the Rambla will soon follow. On the left side there are bigger and smaller lots of greenery - grass patches with palms - as well as football pitches. And as this is South America, there's also a 26 mounted statue of Simon Bolivar.

The street changes name to Rambla Wilson and passes the 27 headquarters of Mercosur, the South American free trade organization. Right afterwards, the Ramla turns to the right. Along this curve is the first of the big city beaches along the Rambla, 28 Playa Ramírez. Landside you can find 29 Parque Rodó, a proper park with fountains, ponds, pavillions and other buildings. Across Avenida Sarmiento, there are a couple of fast food restaurants and a 30 small amusement park, likewise named Parque Rodó.

On the eastern and northern edges of Parque Rodó there are a few bus routes going to the old town coming from Punta Carretas and Pocitos, e.g. 117, so you can bypass some of the Rambla in both directions of this itinerary. Also route 17 going all the way to the western end of this itinerary passes through here. 104 connecting Independencia with the eastern end of the Rambla goes along Bv España.

Heading south, Rambla Wilson briefly splits into two; cars leaving downtown follow the shore, then there is a 31 small grassy hill in the middle that you can climb for nice views of Centro and Ciudad Vieja. Interestingly it's named Plaza del Carnaval del Uruguay eventhough it's certainly not as flat as a "plaza". There is also an open air theater here. Further east there are the lanes going towards downtown and finally the beautiful 32 Canteras del Parque Rodó centered around a small lake named Lago Canteras, Lago Cachón or even Lago del Parque Rodó depending on the map. The Canteras is itself part of the Parque Instrucciones del año XIII.

Further along the coast, there's a 33 Holocaust memorial on the shore made up of several stones. From now on there's a grass strip between the sidewalk and the ocean and with occasional palms and other trees, and there are benches and trash cans so you can sit down and enjoy a snack or whatever. The greenery on the left side of the Rambla is a golf course.

The Rambla reaches its southernmost point at the 34 intersection with Bulevar General Artigas, one of the city's bigger thoroughfares. Its name may sound familiar, and indeed it goes a few kilometers to the north to Monumento a Luis Batlle Berres where it turns left and heads out to the coast and meeting with the Rambla near its western end. Going south from this crossing you can take a sidetrip to the southernmost point of Montevideo, past the Punta Carretas lighthouse to the 35 Punta Brava peninsula. This too is a popular location for hobby fishermen.

Bus routes of interest from here include 17 going to Centro and to the western end of this itinerary, 121 and 191 going to the old town and 582 connecting to the city hall

Rambla Mahatma Gandhi will indeed take you past a 36 small monument to the Indian independence activist. Before that it has passed a yacht club, the palm trees are evenly distributed along the coast, and the apartment buildings look cleaner and more modern, so that one could imagine being in Spain for example. The reason is that the districts in eastern Montevideo are some of the most affluent in the city. Between the modern buildings something extraordinary peeks out; 37 Castillo Pittamiglio. This is a narrow brick tower with ornaments to the front, an unfinished work by the eccentric architect Humberto Pittamiglio (1887-1966).

Bus 104 connecting the eastern end of the itinerary to Plaza Independencia goes one block inland, along Juan Benito Blanco. Also E14 provides a useful connection to and from Parque Rodo and the old town.

After Plaza Daniel Muñoz, a small peninsula, the street is again named after a country: Rambla República de Perú. The street is lined by another beach, 38 Playa Pocitos, named after the city district, and also the streetside parking ends apart from a few sections on the city side. At the end of the beach, there's a parallel Rambla Charles de Gaulle going closer to the shore. Then the main Rambla passes a 39 Montevideo 3D letter text, about 1.5 meters high, then the 40 naval museum, and another marina - 41 Puerto del Buceo. Before the marina is a small section where the view to the sea is interrupted by buildings.

Route 522 starts at Puerto de Buceo, goes a bit inland, then follows Rambla Peru until Plaza Daniel Munoz. From there it takes a shortcut straight to Parque Rodo, parallel to the Rambla along Gonzalo Ramirez, then continues north past the city hall.

Northeast along Rambla Armenia, the tall palms have been replaced by lower ones and they are no longer placed evenly along the road. The houses are taller, further from the street and with more space between them. At one point you can look left to catch a glimpse of Montevideo's three 42 World Trade Center skyscrapers. The street makes a couple of turns, and changes name to Rambla República de Chile. Then it passes the 43 Zoological museum with its minaret-like tower to the right and the 44 Buceo cemetery to the left. And yet another beach with a faraway view; 45 Playa Buceo. The parallel road that goes up the bank connects to Bulevar José Batlle y Ordóñez, another of Montevideo's major thoroughfares.

From Buceo: DE1 connects to the old town along Bv Espana and Pocitos, then eastwards along the Rambla all the way to the casino in Carrasco, then inland almost all the way to the eastern end. As such it might be the most important bus for the last part of this itinerary. 494 goes directly from Buceo to Tres Cruces, Centro and towards the northwest, and 142 and D11 both go to the Old Town and to the eastern end of the route but always a couple of blocks inland. 104 takes a similar route but along the Rambla in Buceo.

Still named after Chile, the Rambla will be lined by beaches for most of the remainder that is in Montevideo. Playa Buceo is followed by 46 Playa Malvín, named after the city districts. The border between these is demarked by a small square, a marina and some greenery - this place is known as Punta Gomensoro. The coastline, and therefore the street, is less curvy than closer to downtown, and buildings get lower, so there aren't vast swathes of highrises to the front; though you can see them by turning around. Along Playa Malvín the name changes to Rambla O'Higgins.

By now you may feel like having seen enough of the same view, but this is also something that is special about the Rambla of Montevideo, it goes on and on and on. There are hardly any individual attractions other than the beaches, and interestingly the palm trees on the sidewalk are now mainly on the left side of the road. The beaches are following each other; 47 Playa Brava, 48 Playa Honda and 49 Playa de los Ingleses. At the latter, the main road goes inland and is named Coimbra, whereas the seaside street is named Rambla República de México and follows the shore bulging out into the water forming the Punta Gorda district. The bulge features a small park with a 50 monument to members of the Uruguayan Navy that have perished at sea.

As before, DE1 goes along the Rambla here, connecting the old town and the eastern end. A few blocks inland go routes 104,142 and D11

At 51 Playa Verde, the shortcut Coimbra joins with the Rambla again. There's yet 52 another yacht club, and by now the houses on the left side have become still lower, usually just two stories in height. Passing the small 53 Playa la Mulata, Rambla República de México then makes an almost 90° turn to the left and after this it will go pretty much straight northeast, meaning there are no peninsulas or bulges in the horizon.

The beach is now named 54 Playa Carrasco, again after the city district. The next time the landscape changes notably is at the 55 Casino Carrasco, when the street bends inland to allow for a wider beach next to the casino. It's also a hotel and an event venue and housed in a grand building with much space around it. A few blocks onwards, the street changes name for the last time (within the borders of Montevideo) to Rambla Tomás Berreta. the light green columns show you've already traveled 56 20 km (or 20,000 m) since the start of the Rambla proper.

DE1 leaves the Rambla at the Casino, and joins 104, 142 and D11 inland along Av General Riviera. So for almost all of the rest of the Rambla there are no bus services.

The view to the beach is now interrupted by bushes, but it's still there and now you can see even single-family homes along the street. Services such as restaurants and convenience stores can't be found along the street any longer. The Rambla is 57 straight as an airport runway, and indeed road signs show the airport icon as Montevideo Carrasco International Airport is just a few kilometers away. Carrasco is however such a large district that it continues across the border into the next department, Canelones.

After passing a couple of sport pitches, the Rambla crosses the Carrasco Creek and administratively from Montevideo into Canelones. The area is still known as Carrasco, the Rambla and beaches will continue with some interruptions all the way to Punta del Este. This itinerary will however follow the Wikipedia definition of the Montevideo Rambla, and therefore end at the department border.

At Parque General Lavalleja, buses return to the Rambla. 104, 142, D11 and DE11 provide access to and from the old town fairly close to the Rambla, in the other direction they continue onwards into Canelones. 105 takes a much more northern route to the old town, also passing Tres Cruces and goes the length of Av 18 Julio.