Top balcony
Town views.
Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 3.0 · es:Usuario:Eligna — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Huguitoportal — CC BY-SA 3.0
An elegant white lighthouse at the heart of the historic quarter, built in 1857 on the ruins of the seventeenth-century San Francisco convent, so it rises among crumbling brown stone walls, a scene uniting two eras in one picture that has become the town's emblem. Visitors climb a narrow spiral stair inside to the upper balcony, revealing the old town's tiled roofs and trees, the vast Río de la Plata looking like a sea, and on clear days the towers of Buenos Aires on the far horizon. Around the lighthouse are the convent's stone ruins and a small garden, with Plaza Mayor and Calle de los Suspiros a few steps away. The light still guides ships on the river. The best time to climb is just before sunset, when the town and river turn golden. The stair is narrow and steep and unsuitable for anyone afraid of heights. Colonia is about two and a half hours by bus from Montevideo and an hour or more by ferry from Buenos Aires, so many visit in a day.
Town views.
Stone walls.
On the horizon.
Historic quarter near Plaza Mayor, Colonia del Sacramento
Calle de los SuspirosColonia's best-known and most photographed street, a short, narrow lane sloping 1 minute walk4.6
Historic Quarter of Colonia del SacramentoOne of South America's loveliest colonial towns, founded by the Portuguese in 162 minutes walk
Portón de Campo and the Walls of ColoniaThe old town's main gate, built by the Portuguese in 1745 in the walls that ring2 minutes walk4.9On clear days its towers appear on the far horizon across the river; sunset is the best time to climb.