Guru’Guay Guide to Uruguay: Beaches, Ranches and Wine Country
Overview
A Guide to Uruguay’s Legal System
Culture of Uruguay (dated)
Uruguay paradise hype video 😉
My Most Memorable Days as an Expat in Uruguay
web cams
Exploring
• On the Road to Uruguay’s Barely Known and Beautiful Beaches
• Uruguay Travel Guide
• Guru’guay (lots of info)
• Montevideo interactive bus/walking guide/map
• Uruguay bus guide: Urubus
• Montevideo cruise port
• Montevideo cultural dining
• Montevideo contemporary art
• 36 hours in MVD (NYT)
• Montevideo open-air markets
• Holidays
• Prepaid Data SIM Card Wiki
Expats (English speaking)
• UY expats FaceSpook group (log in first)
• and another UY expats Spacebook group (log in first)
History
• Uruguay’s Quiet Democratic Miracle
• Cold houses a tradition
• Video: UY in 1949
Tropical? (no)
• Yes, tends to be windy at times: check wind
Clean?
• Country of pure water?
• Maldonado: tap water undrinkable
• Our tap water one morning
• ANCAP’s daily “gift” to Montevideo
Cheap? (noyes)
• UYU exchange rates
• Gas/petrol (nafta) price (1 US gallon = ~3.8 liters)
• Cost of living — take with a grain of salt.
Anything with a motor or electronics is 60 – 100+%
more expensive in Uruguay than the United States.
Moving here
Moving to UY? Bring this, not that… From 2011, but still accurate
Can I move to Uruguay and expect to make a living?
If you have to ask the question, the answer is almost certainly no.
Absent fluency in Spanish, the answer is closer to definitely no.
This is not to say there are no opportunities for foreigners in Uruguay. But if you think in terms of “finding work” or “getting a job,” Uruguay most likely does not hold much promise for you.
If you have an internet-based business, the main requisite of physical location is good internet access. Much of Uruguay has that. Much does not. However, if you need decent internet access to make a living here, you will do your own specific research, no?
You will learn of entrepreneurs who have moved to Uruguay and done well, and people with specialized skills who have “lucked into” situations. You will also learn of people thriving here with companies that relocated them to Uruguay. But if you have to ask “can I move to Uruguay and expect to make a living?” you are not one of them, correct?
Can you move to Uruguay and expect to live cheap while you scope things out? That answer is very personal in terms of what you are willing to tolerate, but in general Uruguay is not a cheap place (medical insurance being one of the few exceptions). In fact, when you look at items involving electronics or motors, Uruguay is rather hideously expensive, especially compared to North America.
Though not the cheapest in the country, Tienda Inglesa (supermarket) posts prices online, and they sell much more than just groceries. So check out prices there (and have a Spanish lesson at the same time 😉 —
Uruguay is a lovely place to live with money from elsewhere. Uruguay is not a lovely place to live if you do not have money, in-demand specialized skills, or a thriving online business. Lack of ability to communicate in the local language, especially in terms of making a living, will make it even less lovely for you.
— January 2018. Author is originally American (now Uruguayan citizen) who has lived here full time since September 2009, and witnessed numerous expatriate “crash, burn, return” stories. In perhaps half those cases, finances were a concern.
Links on this page last checked and updated 20230513