Overview
Take a trip to Colonia on your Uruguay Vacation
Colonia, located in southwestern Uruguay, facing Buenos Aires, is the country’s oldest city. It serves as the capital of the Colonia Department and is renowned for its UNESCO World Heritage Listed historic quarter which should be visited on Uruguay vacations.
The city was originally established as Colônia de Sacramento by the Portuguese in 1680. Its strategic location in the Rio de la Plata region allowed the settlement to become a successful smuggling port resulting in control of Colonia being contested at various times between Spain and Portugal. The area was given the designation “Villa” (village) in 1809 before achieving the status of “Cuidad” (city). Between 1822-1828, Colonia was subject to Brazilian control before Uruguay gained independence. After independence, Colonia continued to expand in the north and the east but maintained its original historic centre, Barrio Histórico, as built by the Portuguese.
Today Colonia retains its status as a port city and is also a trading centre. The Barrio Histórico is popular amongst tourists on Uruguay vacations as the architecture found there are a unique blend of Portuguese, Spanish and postcolonial influences. The area has been very well preserved and the variety of buildings and styles is remarkable. UNESCO celebrated the rich historical heritage of Colonia’s central quarter, naming it a World Heritage Site in 1995.
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Highlights of Uruguay: Beach & Culture
Montevideo and ColoniaSavour Uruguay’s quiet charm on this private-guided journey, from vineyard-dotted countryside to the stylish shores of the Atlantic coast.
9 days
From US$3,802/p.p.
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Uruguay Escape: River Plate Triangle
Montevideo and ColoniaDiscover Uruguay’s rich heritage and coastal charm, from Colonia’s historic streets to Montevideo’s vibrant culture and waterfront views.
6 days
From US$1,699/p.p.
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Highlights of Uruguay: Beach & Culture
Montevideo and ColoniaSavour Uruguay’s quiet charm on this private-guided journey, from vineyard-dotted countryside to the stylish shores of the Atlantic coast.
9 days
From US$3,802/p.p.
Request a Quote
Uruguay Escape: River Plate Triangle
Montevideo and ColoniaDiscover Uruguay’s rich heritage and coastal charm, from Colonia’s historic streets to Montevideo’s vibrant culture and waterfront views.
6 days
From US$1,699/p.p.
Request a Quote
Don't see the
perfect trip idea?
Request a custom quote.
Turn your travel dreams into reality with Goway. Our customized vacations take travellers to all corners of the world.
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Relax on the Colonia del Sacramento coast durin...
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As Uruguay's oldest city, Colonia provides many...
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ColoniaMostly Sunny
26°C / 79°F
24mm / 0.9"
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ExcellentBased on 5,265 ReviewsWe have used Goway Travel previously, and they are the best. Our travel specialist, Shalini Thakur, designed our trip to Italy exactly the way we wanted. They make traveling so low-stress. The itinerary is very detailed, giving you plenty of time to review prior to your trip. We have drivers that meet us at the airport and take us to and from all stops on our trip. No dealing with trains and buses and taxis and dragging your luggage all over.
They have great local guides for excursions, most in small groups of 10 or less. The trip is so much more meaningful with a knowledgeable guide to explain the history.
Our accommodations are always centrally located to our excursions, most of the time we are picked up at our hotel.
We like to keep busy on our trips, but Goway always plans a great balance that gives us time to rest a little after late nights or long days, so you don't get exhausted, which is nice as we are all in our late 60's.
Although we have never needed to use it, it gives peace of mind knowing Goway has 24/7 emergency contacts if you need anything.
We will definitely be contacting Shalini and Goway for our future trips.
David MerrifieldBig shout out to Melissa-Lee and her team at Goway. She crafted a personal adventure through Peru. We gave her our must see places and she nailed it.
The team on the ground was exceptional. The guides were all very knowledgeable. The hotels were all chosen carefully and exceeded our expectations. Could not have asked for a better tour.
We will definitely use them again.JoanneI began planning my Italy vacation with Avery more than a year before we traveled, and I want to start by giving her the recognition she deserves. Avery did an exceptional job planning this trip. From the beginning, I had a very clear vision of what I wanted to experience in Italy, and she listened carefully and captured it. The destinations, hotels, tours, transportation and overall flow of the trip were thoughtfully planned. Aside from three specific issues that I will address, everything came together extremely well.
One of the things I appreciated most was the attention to logistics. The hotels were conveniently located, our tour meeting points were generally close to our accommodations, and the routing between cities made sense. Those details may seem small during the planning process, but once you are actually traveling through multiple cities, they make an enormous difference. I especially appreciated the meet and greet services and arranged transfers because they removed much of the stress that comes with arriving somewhere unfamiliar. I did not have to constantly worry about where to go, how to get there or who I was supposed to meet. I was able to enjoy my vacation instead of managing the logistics of my vacation.
The people Avery arranged for us to work with in Italy were also excellent overall. Our drivers, guides and local representatives were professional, pleasant and easy to communicate with. We stayed at five hotels, and with the exception of Dharma Luxury Hotel in Rome, the other four were excellent. I loved them and would not change those selections. From a travel planning perspective, I would give Avery more than five stars. She listened, understood what I wanted and created the Italy experience I had envisioned. I would absolutely work with her again and recommend her to others.
There were, however, three specific issues during the trip that I believe deserve attention. These involved the third-party operator used for our Siena, San Gimignano and Chianti tour, our experience at Dharma Luxury Hotel in Rome, and the response from Goway’s emergency travel support. I want to separate these concerns from my experience with Avery because I do not believe they reflect the quality of the work she did planning our vacation.
My recommendations are therefore directed toward strengthening the third-party services surrounding the travel experience. I recommend that Goway review the operator used for the Siena, San Gimignano and Chianti tour, reconsider Dharma Luxury Hotel based on the maintenance and customer service issues I experienced and conduct a formal review of its emergency support provider, including whether the response to my request complied with the provider’s contractual service levels.
Overall, this was an incredible Italy vacation, and Avery deserves tremendous credit for making it happen. Planning an excellent vacation is important, and she accomplished that. At the same time, what happens when something does not go according to plan is also an important part of the travel experience. The three problems I encountered were specific and identifiable, and addressing those areas would make an already excellent travel planning experience significantly stronger.S MoolahKatie our travel agent planned a wonderful trip for us. Everything was taken care of and we didn’t have to worry about anything. I would highly recommend Go Way travel when planning a trip. 49ergirlI worked with Maria S. from Goway Travel to build a tailored trip to the Azores and mainland Portugal. Maria provided excellent, responsive and patient service, never pressured me into making decisions, offered multiple options for managing pricing, answered my many questions clearly and fully, and always met the timelines she would set to get back to me. Once I was on my trip, Maria checked in several times even though there was an operator on the ground at my destination; she even resolved a minor mix-up with one of my hotels and arranged for a special surprise on my birthday. I cannot speak highly enough of Maria's professionalism, follow-through, positivity, attention to detail and responsiveness. I highly recommend Goway and Maria for your travel plans, and will definitely use this company again for my future travels. Thank you so much for making my trip to Portugal so memorable, Maria! Michele B.Extremely delighted we took this trip to Bali with Goway. Ameet was fantastic. He helped me save on my flights and also guided me on the right hotel decisions. Extremely Charming and always a pleasure to chat to. We enjoyed the Komodo islands a lot thanks to our specialist who made the recommendation. Hid guidance on the places and restaurants was spot on and we and my gf enjoyed the trip so much. We will consider using Goway and Ameet for our Honeymoon as well.Garth CutosPrompt, professional service when booking our trip. Excellent suggestions to add to our experience. Shalini was very accommodating and went beyond our expectations to meet all of our requests. Loved the small group tour.OscarTouching base after our trip. As usual you did a great job helping plan and execute an amazing travel experience!! Everything was fantastic. Especially our hotel location. Since it's connected to the Victoria station it made getting around very easy. Thanks again for your help I'm sure we'll be booking our next trip soon...Leigh FerrisThe trip was planned perfectly, with the support of knowledgeable and dedicated local staff during any critical point of the trip.
The accommodations, transfers, transportation, guides' input and visits' setup met the highest standards and expectations.Nadia & Cristian We recently completed a trip to Crete, Greece - our third trip with GoWay - and I have run out of superlatives to laud their efforts. This was a self drive trip, and as has been our experience with GoWay, we were permitted to customize the standard offered itinerary to suit our personal preferences. Brooke, our agent on this trip, went the extra mile to make all the adjustments we requested, including providing for an English-speaking guide at the Phaistos archeological site. The hotels which Brooke booked on our behalf were truly excellent, and - again, per our wish - just outside of the urban chaos of Heraklion, Rethymno and Chania, but close enough to readily access the cities' benefits. Each hotel was a beachside sanctuary, and we spent several serene, idyllic days never leaving the hotel, and yet there was plenty of time for more distant and adventurous sight seeing.
I cannot overstate how happy we have been with our GoWay experiences - most notably in their willingness to listen to our preferences and make those manifest in the itinerary - and this most recent trip just confirms our already positive opinion of GoWay, and we will be certain to consider them again for our next travel adventure.Frank Venuti
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