VacationSelector
Palacio Salvo under a blue sky, Montevideo
MontevideoPalacio Salvo under a blue sky
The Iguazu Falls in the green jungle, Puerto Iguazu
Puerto IguazuThe Iguazu Falls in the green jungle

Photos: Montevideo by Andrés Franchi Ugart…, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped; Puerto Iguazu by Muhammed Ballan, Pexels License.

Montevideo or Puerto Iguazu?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Montevideo for

  • beaches
  • live music and the arts
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Montevideo’s own page.

Choose Puerto Iguazu for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Puerto Iguazu’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Montevideo 55, Puerto Iguazu 5: Montevideo leads by 50 points.
Food & drink. Montevideo 57, Puerto Iguazu 28: Montevideo leads by 29 points.
Culture & sights. Montevideo 54, Puerto Iguazu 9: Montevideo leads by 45 points.
Nightlife. Montevideo 50, Puerto Iguazu 14: Montevideo leads by 36 points.
Nature & outdoors. Montevideo 34, Puerto Iguazu 95: Puerto Iguazu leads by 61 points.
Day trips. Montevideo 55, Puerto Iguazu 33: Montevideo leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Montevideo and Puerto Iguazu are level on 55.
Getting around. Montevideo and Puerto Iguazu are level on 54.
Shopping & style. Montevideo 36, Puerto Iguazu 17: Montevideo leads by 19 points.
Affordability. Montevideo 42, Puerto Iguazu 48: Puerto Iguazu leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Montevideo 57, Puerto Iguazu 7: Montevideo leads by 50 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Montevideo 38, Puerto Iguazu 34: Montevideo leads by 4 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Montevideo and Puerto Iguazu.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Montevideo
Best match
49match

Wins on beaches and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Puerto Iguazu
33match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Montevideo in July

15 °Cdaytime high
6 °Cnight-time low
99 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
11 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Puerto Iguazu in July

22 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
103 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
No seasea
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
MontevideoPuerto Iguazu

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Montevideo: 1991-2020 normals, Carrasco (19.2 km from centre). Puerto Iguazu: 1991-2020 normals, Iguazu Aerodrome (17.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMontevideoPuerto Iguazu
Official language-Spanish
CurrencyPeso Uruguayo (UYU)Argentine Peso (ARS)
SocketsCFIL230 V, 50 HzCI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-3UTC-3
Emergency number911117 or 911
Elevation41 m162 m
Main airportCarrasco General Cesáreo L. Berisso International Airport (MVD)17 km from centre15 non-stop destinationsCataratas Del Iguazú International Airport (IGR)18 km from centre8 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year15 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureMontevideoPuerto Iguazu
City population1,302,95454,903
People per km²1,785-
Museums within 10 km360
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C4 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Montevideo or Puerto Iguazu somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.