Things to do
5-
Barrio Histórico
Portuguese and Spanish builders alternated here through the eighteenth century, which is why the cobbles, drainage and rooflines change from one street to the next across the walled quarter. A single ticket covers the small museums scattered through it. Late afternoon suits the light on the river wall, and golf carts are the usual way to cover the outer streets.
-
Calle de los Suspiros
Rough cobbles slope down to the river along a lane of low colonial houses, each with a different roofline and window height, and no pavement to speak of. The name is attached to several stories, among them condemned prisoners and drowned sailors. It photographs well early, before the first ferry crowd arrives, and the stones are uneven.
-
Colonia Lighthouse
A nineteenth century tower built on the ruins of the San Francisco convent, its spiral stair climbing to a gallery over the rooftops, the river and the Argentine horizon. The climb is short and the top is cramped when a ferry has just landed. It closes in high wind, and sunset is the busiest slot.
-
Plaza de Toros Real de San Carlos
A Moorish styled bullring went up outside town in 1910 and held only a handful of seasons before bullfighting was banned in the country. Decades of neglect left the arcades open to the sky; partial restoration now allows access to the stands and the shell. It sits a few kilometres north, reached by bike or bus along the shore.
-
Portón de Campo
The reconstructed city gate and its wooden drawbridge mark where the Portuguese defensive wall crossed the peninsula in the 1740s. Steps beside it lead up onto the rampart for a view back over the tiled roofs. It stands at the entrance to the historic quarter, so the frame is rarely empty of visitors; early morning is the exception.