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Travel - International
AIR: Uruguay’s national airline is Primeras Líneas Uruguayas de Navegación Aérea (PLUNA) (PU) (website: www.pluna.com.uy), which operates flights to various destinations in Brazil and Argentina.
Approximate flight times: From Montevideo to London is 15 hours 15 minutes (including 1 hour 30 minutes stopover in Madrid) and to New York is 14 hours.
International airports: Montevideo (MVD) (Carrasco) is 19km (12 miles) from the city (travel time – 35 minutes). There is an airport bus to the city centre. Taxis are also available. Facilities include a duty-free shop (0700-last flight), post office, restaurants, car hire and a bank/bureau de change (0900-2100).
Air passes: The Mercosur Airpass: Valid within Argentina, Brazil, Chile (except Easter Island), Paraguay and Uruguay. Participating airlines include Aerolineas Argentinas (AR) (however, flights on this airline cannot be combined with any others, as it has no agreements and its tickets are not accepted by other airlines), Austral (AU), LAN-Chile (LA), LAPA (MJ), Pluna (PU), Transbrasil Airlines (TR) and VARIG (RG) with the subsidiary airlines of Nordeste (JH) and Rio Sul (SL). The pass can only be purchased by passengers who live outside South America, who have a return ticket. Only eight flight coupons are allowed with a maximum of four coupons for each country and is valid for seven to a maximum of 30 days. At least two countries must be visited (to a maximum of five) and the flight route cannot be changed. A maximum of two stopovers is allowed per country.
The Visit South America Pass: Must be bought outside South America in country of residence and allows unlimited travel to 36 cities in the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile (except Easter Island), Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Participating airlines include LAN-Chile (LA), Aer Lingus (EI), American Airlines (AA), British Airways (BA), Cathay Pacific (CX), Finnair (AY), IBERIA (IB) and Qantas (QF). A minimum of three flights must be booked, with no maximum; the maximum stay is 60 days, with no minimum, and prices depend on the amount of flight zones covered. For both air passes children under 12 years of age are entitled to a 33 per cent discount and infants (under two years old) only pay ten per cent of the adult fare. For further details contact one of the participating airlines.
Departure tax: US$12 is levied on international departures (US$6 to Buenos Aires).
SEA: Montevideo, the main international port, is served by cargo lines from the USA and Europe. There is a night-ferry service from Buenos Aires to Montevideo (travel time – 10 hours). High-speed ferries (called ‘planes’ due to their speed) also operate between Montevideo and Buenos Aires (travel time – 2 hours 30 minutes) (website: www.buquebus.com). There are also services from Colonia (160km/100 miles west of Montevideo) to Buenos Aires by ferry and a thrice-daily hydrofoil service. A port departure tax may be levied.
ROAD: Coaches and buses travel regularly between Brazil and Uruguay – these are modern coaches with bar, TV, WC and radio. The travel time between Montevideo and Porto Alegre (Brazil) is 14 hours; to Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) is 59 hours. Buses run by COT depart weekly for Asunción and Iguazú Falls in Paraguay, while other services, also weekly, link Montevideo with Santiago, Rio de Janeiro and Florianópolis in Brazil and with northern and southern regions of Argentina.
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