Rivera

Rivera is a city in the northern interior of Uruguay. It's the capital of Rivera Department, located on the border with Brazil, right across from the Brazilian city of Santana do Livramento. Full of large hills and cheap shopping, Rivera's main attraction is its location on the border. Uruguayans come for the inexpensive goods on the Brazilian side, and Brazilians come for the duty-free shops on the Uruguayan side. Travellers from other countries can take advantage of both. Rivera also gives you the chance to stand with a foot in each country—a cool photo opportunity.

To a large extent, Rivera and Santana function as one city: you can easily take a day trip from one to the other without even bringing your passport. You may not even notice you're crossing the border, which is marked by inconspicuous white border markers. If you decide to venture further into the other country, though, make sure to stop at immigration (located next to Siñeriz Shopping) to get your passport stamped out of one country and into the other.

That being said, they are two different cities, with separate bus systems and administration and somewhat different vibes. Being in Uruguay, Rivera tends to be a bit more expensive than Santana, serves more Uruguayan foods like chivitos and milanesas, and has more Spanish than Portuguese. On both sides of the border, though, it's not uncommon to have a conversation where one side is speaking Spanish and the other Portuguese, or where both sides are speaking Portuñol, a mixture of the two languages.

By car
Rivera is on Uruguay Route 5 from Montevideo and Route 27 from Vichadero.

From Brazil, take BR-158 to Santana do Livramento and cross the Uruguayan border to enter Rivera.

By bus
Intercity buses from nearby cities and from Montevideo arrive at the in central Rivera.

By train
From Tacuarembó there's twice weekly (Monday and Friday) a train. The train leaves at 7:00 in Tacuarembo and arrives at 9:10 at the. For the return trip, leaving Rivera at 18:00 and arriving in Tacuarembo at 20:10 (Monday and Friday).

By plane
Rivera International Airport no longer has regular commercial flights. The nearest commercial airport is Rubem Berta International Airport, in the Brazilian city of Uruguaiana, by 233 km from Rivera. On the Uruguayan side of the border, the nearest airport to Rivera is Carrasco International Airport in Montevideo, 511 km away.

Get around
Rivera is small enough to get around by walking. The main street is called Sarandí.

There are also local bus lines and taxis.

Buy
Lots of shopping, including duty-free shops chiefly catering to Brazilians, on Sarandí, the main street, especially near the border. Uruguayans aren't allowed to shop at the duty-free shops—you have to show a foreign ID such as a passport to make purchases at them. Santana also has lots of stores on its side of the border, where Uruguayans go to buy cheap goods.

Prices tend to be listed in pesos in Rivera and in reais in Santana, but stores on both sides are happy to accept either currency. Currency exchange places, as well as lots of stands selling contraband, can be found on the border near the Plaza Internacional. The unlicensed currency exchange stands right on the border offer very good rates, better than the official exchange places nearby. They accept US dollars as well as pesos and reais.

Beyond the wide selection of duty-free shops, small stands, and cheap stores near the border, there are a couple of larger malls:



Eat
A Riverense specialty is xis, a sort of cheeseburger-like sandwich. You can also find standard Uruguayan fare like milanesas, chivitos, and pizza, as well as Brazilian-style restaurants like pay-by-the-kilo buffets. Naturally, Brazilian restaurants are more plentiful on their side of the border.

Rivera is one of the few places in the world that once had a McDonald's but no longer does—the large McDonald's that was built near the border couldn't attract enough business and finally had to close.



Sleep
Cheaper options can be found in the adjacent Brazilian city of Santana do Livramento.

Stay safe
Avoid the border area (including the Plaza Internacional) at night. If you're led across the border, Uruguayan police won't be able to help you.

Consulates

 * 🇧🇷 Brazil

Go next

 * The city of Santana do Livramento in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, is right across the border.
 * Tacuarembó