Uruguaiana is a town in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the South of Brazil, on the border with Paso de los Libres in Argentina.
Understand
Once the tripoint town on the border with Argentina and Uruguay (before Barra do Quaraí got town status in 1995), Uruguaiana remains a place of transit for all 3 nationalities, and a convenient gateway to Brazil for those in Argentina, Paraguay or Uruguay, roughly equidistant from the three nearest countries' capitals: Buenos Aires (678 km away), Asunción (679 km away) and Montevideo (709 km away).
Get in
By bus
- 1 Uruguaiana bus station (is close to downtown). Has services to Porto Alegre (Planalto, 11h, 120 reais) and a daily straight service to Buenos Aires leaving at 4am (JBL Turismo, 10h, 160 reais). There are also 4 services a day to Barra do Quaraí (Mon-Sat 6:30, 12:30, 16:00 and 18:00, 32-46 reais, coming back at 8:00, 10:00 14:00 and 20:00), the Brazilian town across the bridge from Bella Unión in Uruguay.
Coming from Paso de los Libres with the international commuter bus (30min, 30 pesos or 8 reais), the 2 bus stop closest to the bus station is the third after the bridge.
By plane
- 3 Uruguaiana airport (officially Rubem Berta International AirportURG IATA). Is managed by the national airport operator and info about its flights can be found at the respective Infraero webpage. Even though the offer is limited, 4 flights a week to Porto Alegre by Azul (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday), good offers aren't rare and this is usually the cheapest option to reach further Brazil from Argentina (as flights from Foz do Iguaçu tend to be pricey). As of January 2019, there are no public transit options to the airport, and the taxi from downtown costs around 50 reais on Sunday and 35 reais any other day (Sundays have a legal surcharge).
By car
The city is reachable through BR-290 coming from Porto Alegre and continuing west until the Paso de los Libres/Uruguaiana International Bridge (officially Agustin Justo - Getúlio Vargas Bridge), and through BR-472 coming from São Borja and continuing south until connecting with Uruguay Route 3 towards Salto.
Get around
Uruguaiana has a network of city buses - the fare is 3,50 reais (as of Jun 2018).
To get to nearby Paso de los Libres across the international bridge, Argentinian company Crucero del Sur operates a international commuter line. The fare is 8 reais.
Timetable from Uruguaiana to Paso de los Libres
| Monday-Friday | 07:00 | 08:30 | 10:00 | 11:30 | 13:00 | 15:30 | 16:00 | 17:30 |
| Saturday | 08:30 | 11:30 | 15:30 | 17:30 | ||||
| Sunday: no service |
Another option is to catch a mototaxi to the Brazilian immigration (around 7 reais from Rio Branco square and around), hitch a hike to get to the Argentinian immigration (the bridge is long), and from there catch one of the frequent city buses to the bus station (15 pesos as of January 2019).
See
- 1 Castelinho de Uruguaiana (Uruguaiana Little Castle), Rua 15 de Novembro, 2512. Built in 1955 by a local lawyer, and fully furnished with French objects and vintage decoration, it has 24 rooms and 3 terraces. It's a private house not open to visitation.
- Barragem Sanchuri.
- Dr. Pedro Marini Cultural center (Centro Cultural Dr. Pedro Marini), Rua Santana, no number (corner with Rua Duque de Caxias), ☏ 55 55 3412-1633. This center holds five museums: the Didactic Art Museum, the History and Art Museum, the Crioulo Museum, the Piá Museum, and the Museum of Natural and Exact Sciences.
- Parque Dom Pedro II.
- Praça Barão do Rio Branco.
- Praia do Cantão.
Do
Buy
Eat
- 1 Pão & Caffé, Av. Presidente Vargas 2704 (access through the gas station). Mon-Sat 7h to 20h30, Sun & Holidays 7h30 to 20h30. With a nice glass-walled room, this beautiful bakery offers shelter from the cold and a nice breakfast or afternoon tea. Free wifi available and power sockets under every table (but you might need to ask staff to turn on power).
- Restaurante Churrascaria Gringo, Ac. Mal. Setembrino de Carvalho, ☏ 55 55 3411 4991. 11AM-2:30PM, 7PM-midnight.
- Monte Carlo Grill, R. Sete de Setembro 1915, ☏ 55 55 3411-8336. 11h-14h.
- Napoli, R. Benjamin Constant, 2247, ☏ 55 55 3414-2371. 11AM-2PM, 7PM-midnight. Nice churrascaria.
- Paradouro 1, Rod. BR-290 km 715 (at the airport), ☏ 55 55 3413-5377. 24 hours.
- Mainardi, Av. Presidente Vargas 4845 (attached to Hotel Mainardi), ☏ 55 55 3401-3100. Churrascaria.
- Restaurante Glória, R. Domingos de Almeida 1951 (attached to Hotel Glória), ☏ 55 55 3412-4422.
- River's Restaurante, R. Treze de Maio, 1818, ☏ 55 55 3412-2383. 11AM-2:30PM, 7PM-1AM.
Drink
- Bar 10, R. XV de Novembro (corner with R. Dr. Maia).
- Bar 12, BR-472 (south end of town towards Barra do Quaraí), ☏ 55 55 3413-2300. 7PM-midnight.
Sleep
- Fares Turis Hotel, Av. Presidente Vargas 2939, ☏ 55 55 3412-3358.
- Hotel da Fronteira, R. XV de Novembro 2223, ☏ 55 55 3411-7812.
- Hotel Glória, R. Domingos de Almeida 1951, ☏ 55 55 3412-4422.
- Hotel Monte Carlo, R. Sete de Setembro 1905, ☏ 55 55 3401-9000.
- Hotel Presidente, Av. Presidente Vargas 4070, ☏ 55 55 3411-3160, 55 55 3411-2276.
- Mainardi Hotel, Av. Presidente Vargas 4845, ☏ 55 55 3401-3100.
- [dead link]River Hotel, R. Sete de Setembro 1088, ☏ 55 55 3412-3404, 55 55 3412-5777, toll-free: 0800-644-8222, ✉[email protected].