Montevideo

Driving looks and feels dangerous. It isn't. It's just scary to start (and I've got over a million miles in a truck across North America). That's probably why the 'dangerous' reviews. Was surprised to find EVERY time something happened, like a car door randomly opening in front of you or sudden lane disappearance, the drivers in the lane you needed made space. Drivers have exceptional road awareness. It's just that it's scary doing 75 km/h in a bumper to bumper traffic jam. Being a pedestrian is scary as cars have right of way. This is pretty normal around the world so not exceptional. Food is excellent. But not cheap. Service IS good if you're not a RICHARD. People unbelievably helpful and accommodating to foreigners. Huge, clean beaches along the ENTIRE ocean. You can drive an hour from the city, nothing around, no beach flotsam, sargasm or trash. It HAS to have been groomed as not even dead fish. But why? Nobody around. Amazed us. Bums look scary. Looks like you'll need shots if you come into contact. They just go away if you're firm. Wouldn't walk the ports at night. But you're an idiot if you do that ANYWHERE. LOVED THE PLACE. Would really like to move here. Only it's expensive. I'll keep looking but for us... to of our list to stay.

Phone speeds by OOKLA fast exceed this sites noted data speed. I clocked 250 to over 350 consistently within towns. (352 down 43 up / 246 down 40 up w/5g; my worst was Christmas Day at 60 down 30 up and it dropped to LTE. But virtually every single person was off work. Good luck finding food. (Plan appropriately). In the deep country it was slower but the phone had no issues. Was something like 100mbs. Probably every time you throw a stone in the city you'll hit a tech or remote worker. Lost count of how many I randomly met in the street.
I didn't see much trash. We even discussed that there was so little. Researched foods in markets. Don't understand the complaint unless it's just someone that expected the identical choices and brands from home. Chivito is not like a hamburger unless you're vegetarian. If you visit I'd recommend one. Just understand it's bigger than your mouth and it'll be messy. If you want to sit in public laughing like an idiot and taking pictures of your food... order a Big Mac. Wife and i still tear up thinking about it. Hilariously sized. If you're actually hungry don't order anything from the typical menu and go with the local menu. Although, unless you're stuck you can find real food for only slightly more. Use a foreign credit card for car and hotels and tax is removed instantly. (There will be something like a 4 grand hold put on your card if you use the cards rental car insurance). I used Samsung Pay for almost everything. Only one beach restaurant didn't take cards. Even a town that had guys riding in a tractor bucket and a cow actually crossing the street accepted my phone. Speaking of... go to the Garzon Bodega. Beautiful, excellent wine, great food, etc. Just know you're SUPPOSED to book ahead. Sidewalks do suck. Seems that there are public works going on to replace and update but that's a lot of work with only so much cash. Probably they'll never catch up due to neglect in the past. But that's due to America screwing around and placing dictators where they don't like democracies that don't agree with them so don't blame Uruguay. The whole country has tap water that is TECHNICALLY drinkable. No bugs in it. Industrial waste? There have been some issues. We were warned.

Let's start with the trash - it is everywhere and no one seems to care. Even in the expensive barrios of multi-million dollar houses, you will see it. Sidewalks are dilapidated and the vegetation in public areas is overgrown - trees are left unchecked many of which overgrow into overhead power cables, or their roots tear up the street. "Ciudad Vieja", the old part of Montevideo could've been nice, but Uruguayans stopped caring about it a long time ago. Now it's just ugly and depressing. Tap water is drinkable, so don't buy it in a bottle - it'll only end up on the sidewalk, the beach or the sea. Prices for everything other than Beef (which is delicious) are eye-watering. The Rambla, Montevideo's beachside promenade is the jewel of the city, it's a great place to run and workout. Restaurants and Cafeterias are mediocre and expensive for what you get and customer service is derisible. In both Supermarkets and Restaurants, the food choice is limited - Uruguayans seem to live on a diet of Milanesa (bland, thinly cut sliced beef cooked in breadcrumbs) and Zapallito (a small flavourless pumpkin), and ignore the bounty of seafood that must exist off their coast. They are also very proud of the Chivito, their national dish which is nothing more than a Hamburger, but worse. Others have mentioned the Drivers and this is something rather peculiar. The average Uruguayan seems relaxed, chilled even, yet behind the wheel they are, and I'm going to generalise here, maniacs. They are reckless idiots. They have no respect for other road users, especially cyclists and pedestrians. As for the rest of Uruguay, there really isn't anything outside of the capital. Many Uruguayans consider Punta del Este to be their Miami, but if you want a Miami experience, that's where you should go. It will be cheaper, cleaner, and a lot more fun and you are less likely to be involved in a road traffic accident.

Everything in Uruguay works so well, great people, food, coffee, infrastructure. Their airport is also absolutely gorgeous (and super efficient).

GDP per capita of $25,000 per year, highest in Latin America and everyone here is highly educated as it's 100% free! It's #1 in many things in Latin America. Richest per capita. Highest educated. Highest IQ. Highest quality of life. Least corrupt. Most democratic. A breath of fresh air in a region plagued by problems.

Caveat is it's small, it's kinda a city state like Singapore. Easier to get 3 million people to behave than 200+ million!

Make sure you stay in the right area, Pocitos and Punta Carretas is nice. Ciudad Viejo (old city) is very bad and can be dangerous with junkies and homeless everywhere. They really have to clean that area up I think.

I've casually found this page, living in Montevideo for a twelve year now I want to write a little comment about some of the things I've read here.
1) the cost of living: yes, it's expensive. no, you don't need 4000 usd/month. Of course you can spend it if you want, but actually we're a family of four and our monthly balance is about 3000$. we don't own a car, we don't go out every evening, we don't live in punta carretas. of course, if you want to live in the most expensive neighborhood and want to dinner out sushi every day you need a lot of money, but normally 4000 usd/month for one person are a very good amount
2) internet speed: Montevideo and most of uruguay have optic fiber, for 50 usd/month you can get a 100/30 mpbs connection, the problem maybe the international bandwidth (I can use ssh to remote server in europe with a slightly delay), we watch netflix etc with no problem. also you can buy an LTE mobile chip with a very good speed (I can do RDP with no problems at all) but more delay in international routing.
3) tap water: it's generally drinkable, maybe you can buy a filter, but lot of people drink it
4) yes, the city can be pretty boring compared to other options (like buenos aires, for example) and there's no much variety
5) safety: yes, it's safer than other latin america cities, but if you go around with dollars sticking out of your pocket, an iphone in one hand, an ipad in the other, the latest model of nikon around your neck, an open backpack with a laptop sticking out of it and looking around bewildered, maybe even in a complicated barrio... well, you increase the chances of being robbed... since it's not tokyo (and there are complicated areas there too) you need to have some ability to understand the context

Hope this help!

I really like Montevideo. There may be a little bit of crime here and there - but coming from LA (like me), Montevideo is a picnic, frankly. If you're into architecture you will LOVE walking around here. Also, check out Eater's list of restaurants. There is some REALLY good food there. It's just not going to hit you in the face, like it does in NYC, or something. They also love their sweets - very good bakeries. And, a surprising number of great places to work and have a coffee. All those beautiful old homes have been converted to cafes and restaurants. As a digital nomad, that was really nice!

Everything (and everyone haha) seems to be old. Not a kind of place to have fun and enjoy. Food is great, but pricey — you can find the same or even better for a cheaper price in Buenos Aires. Legalization of marijuana isn’t something good to celebrate in my opinion and just created a weird environment. There are better places to go.

Most of the city felt a bit run down, trash in the streets, not much to see or do, and everything seemed really expensive. The Uruguayan people were nice and helpful, but once those nice folks got behind the wheel of a car they seemed to transform: Trying to cross the street as a pedestrian was annoyingly stressful. It wasn't easy to find good restaurants or coffee and they were all really expensive for what you got. I heard that Montevideo was safer than other South American countries but all that news did was make me not want to visit other South American countries because it didn't feel safe at all compared to Eastern and Western Europe.

One positive is that foreign credit cards are supposed to have IVA tax reimbursed, which is quite a bit in restaurants (+20%) although this didn't work properly on all of my US credit cards. However even with the tax break it didn't feel like a great deal most of the time.