The 12 Best Things To Do in Punta Del Este, Uruguay

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Punta del Este offers some of Uruguays’s most popular beaches and surf spots, but it’s also a place where you can swim with wild sea lions, see surrealist Latin American art, and attend a sun ceremony inside a sculpture-turned-hotel. Party at the beaches, the yacht harbor, or casino but take in its simple joys too, like walking the forested paths of Isla Gorriti or ordering a hot chocolate at a cat café as you pet a fluffy feline. While there’s plenty to splurge on here, there’s lots of activities that require little to no money that will still allow you to relish in Punta’s golden sand, fresh sea breeze, and air of refinery.

Attend Casapueblo’s Sun Ceremony

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A surrealist house-castle by the sea built by Uruguayan artist Carlos Páez Vilaró, Casapueblo hosts a daily ceremony to bid farewell to the sun at dusk. A recording of Páez Vilaró reading an original poem to the sun plays over a loudspeaker on one of the terraces as guests watch the orange orb descend into the Atlantic. Páez Vilaró built Casapueblo with gleaming white stucco and concrete over 36 years, modeling it after the nest of the hornero, a local bird. Its thirteen stories contain a hotel, restaurant, exhibition space of Páez Vilaró’s works, and a shop selling prints of his paintings. Located in Punta Ballena about 8 miles from Punta del Este, you can reach it by car, bus, or bike.

 

ADDRESS
Casapueblo, 20003 Punta Ballena Departamento de Maldonado, Uruguay