The Best Backpacking Destinations in South America

Punta del Este, Uruguay

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Though Punta del Este has a reputation of wealth and decadence, it’s a surprisingly convenient and affordable place to backpack, if you know where to look (and go in low season). The city is easily reached from Montevideo and Colonia Sacramento by bus. Stay in one of the hostels by Brava Beach to easily walk to sights such as La Mano, the massive hand sculpture rising out of the sand, or the graffiti-decorated shrine to Punta’s patron saint Our Lady of the Candelaria on El Emir Beach. Buy seafood from the fishermen at the harbor and do your own cooking. When not tanning, swimming, or surfing, get a bike (some hostels lend them for free) and cycle the 10.5 miles to Casapueblo, a gleaming stucco white Seusian construction perched on a sea cliff built by hand by Uruguayan artist Carlos Páez Vilaró.