Montevideo’s Ciudad Vieja is, as its name indicates, the oldest part of the city. The area was originally a fortified citadel built by the Spanish to solidify their claim to the eastern side of the Río de la Plata against the Portuguese, who sought to extend the borders of their colony Brazil to the south. Today, the neighborhood is the heart of the city, full of historic buildings dedicated to commerce as well as culture.

The barrio  of Punta Carretas is a microcosm of what makes Montevideo consistently rated as one of the cities with the highest quality of life in Latin America: expansive green spaces, sandy beaches, cute cafes, and excellent restaurants abound. The neighborhood sits just west of Playa de los Pocitos , on the city’s southernmost peninsula that juts out into the Río de la Plata, near where the estuary joins up with the Atlantic Ocean. Its stretch of the Rambla, Montevideo’s s