Shopping in Montevideo

Shopping

By Amanda Massello

Uruguayans like to shop. It comes as no surprise then that Uruguay’s capital and most populous city presents many, varied shopping options to the visitor, including four large malls, called “shoppings,” and a plethora of outdoor markets to choose from. Tres Cruces—a neighborhood wedged between El Centro and Pocitos—has a combined shopping mall and bus terminal with several restaurants and cheap stores for all your last-minute travel needs. Punta Carretas is the nicest of the shoppings and features a food court with views of the coast. Most of the malls also have a grocery store, pharmacy, dry cleaner and post office housed on the premises. Ironically, Punta Carretas Shopping, while serving today as a place where the elite go to see and be seen and have coffee, was formerly the site of a maximum-security prison. Traces of this past can be seen in the front gate facing Ellaurí. Not all shopping in Montevideo is done indoors, however: For tourist souvenirs, the Ferias de Tristan Narvaja, Biarritz and Parque Rodó feature excellent, inexpensive hand-made goods. In Ciudad Vieja, the Peatonal Sarandí also hosts a myriad of vendors peddling artesanías and other keepsakes. The Mercado de la Abundancia near the Intendencia is another good venue for souvenir shopping.