Carrasco Airport guide

Uruguay's main gateway

Most international visitors to Uruguay land at Carrasco International Airport, officially the Carrasco/General Cesáreo L. Berisso International Airport, carrying the IATA code MVD. It sits within Montevideo itself, in Carrasco — the same leafy, low-density neighborhood described elsewhere on this site as the city's quietest and most garden-like — rather than out in an anonymous industrial zone the way some capital-city airports do, which makes the drive in noticeably pleasant as arrivals go.

As Uruguay's largest airport and its principal international gateway, Carrasco handles the country's main long-haul and regional connections, including the flights that bring most visitors from outside South America. Its terminal, redeveloped in the 2000s, is compact and modern by regional standards — clear signage, a manageable single-building layout, and none of the sprawling, multi-terminal complexity that can make arrival at a bigger regional hub a chore.

Getting into the city

Taxis and rideshare apps are the standard way to get from Carrasco into the rest of Montevideo, and the ride is straightforward — the airport sits close enough to the city's eastern neighborhoods that even a trip to Ciudad Vieja, on the far side of town, is a manageable, single continuous drive rather than a multi-stage journey. Official taxi ranks operate directly outside the arrivals area, and rideshare pickup points are typically well signed, though it's worth confirming current pickup arrangements at the terminal itself, since airport rideshare rules do shift from time to time.

A bus service also connects the airport to central Montevideo for travelers prioritizing cost over convenience, though it runs less frequently than a taxi or rideshare and generally takes longer door to door — worth considering if you're arriving without heavy luggage and aren't in a hurry, less practical after a long international flight with bags to manage.

Whichever option you choose, budgeting a little extra time for the drive during Montevideo's rush hours is sensible, though the city's traffic is genuinely mild by the standards of a South American capital — this is rarely the kind of arrival that eats hours of your first day.

Airport facilities and connections

Carrasco's terminal, opened in its current form in the late 2000s, was designed with a distinctive curved roofline that's become something of a minor landmark in its own right, and it holds the kind of facilities you'd expect from a well-run mid-size international airport — cafés and restaurants, duty-free shopping, currency exchange, and free WiFi throughout the public areas. None of it is overwhelming in scale, which is very much the point: connections between gates, check-in and arrivals are all short walks rather than a cross-terminal trek.

As Uruguay's principal gateway, Carrasco carries the country's main long-haul connections to Europe and North America alongside a dense web of regional routes to Argentina, Brazil, Chile and the wider Southern Cone — for travelers combining Uruguay with a broader South America trip, it's worth checking regional connections through Carrasco directly rather than assuming a routing back through a hub like Buenos Aires or São Paulo is the only option.

Practical arrival tips

Immigration and customs at Carrasco are generally efficient by regional standards, and for passport holders from visa-exempt countries the process is usually a straightforward passport check rather than an extended interview — though it's worth double-checking current entry requirements for your specific nationality before you fly, since those rules sit outside this site's control and do shift.

Currency exchange counters and ATMs are available in the arrivals area if you land without any Uruguayan pesos on hand, though most tourist-facing businesses in Montevideo, Punta del Este and Colonia accept cards widely, so changing a modest amount for taxis, small purchases and bus tickets is usually enough rather than a large sum. If your trip continues straight on to the coast or Colonia by bus, note that Tres Cruces, the intercity bus terminal, is a separate location from the airport — plan a transfer into the city first rather than expecting a direct bus connection from Carrasco itself.

Departing: what to expect on the way out

Departure at Carrasco mirrors the easy arrival experience — check-in and security are generally efficient outside the very busiest peak-summer departure banks, and the compact terminal layout means the walk from check-in to your gate is short even on a mildly delayed schedule. As with any international departure, arriving with a comfortable buffer before your flight is still the sensible habit, particularly during the Southern Hemisphere summer when the airport handles its highest volumes of the year alongside Montevideo's own peak tourist season.

If your Uruguay trip ends on the coast rather than in the capital, remember that getting back to Carrasco from Punta del Este takes the same roughly 2 hours as the outbound trip — build that transfer time into your departure-day planning rather than treating the coast-to-airport leg as an afterthought, especially for an early flight.

Punta del Este's own airport: the coast-only alternative

Travelers whose trip is focused entirely on the Punta del Este coast, rather than Montevideo and the wider country, have a second option worth knowing about: Capitán de Corbeta Carlos A. Curbelo International Airport, a smaller international airport serving the coast directly, located near Laguna del Sauce in Maldonado department a short distance from Punta del Este itself. It's considerably smaller than Carrasco and generally carries fewer international connections, with service that tends to be denser during the peak summer season when demand for the coast is highest.

For a trip built entirely around Punta del Este, José Ignacio and the Maldonado coast, flying directly into this smaller airport can shave a meaningful chunk of transfer time off the trip compared with landing at Carrasco and then travelling out to the coast by bus or car. For anyone splitting time between Montevideo and the coast, though, Carrasco remains the more useful arrival point, since it sits closer to the capital and generally offers a wider range of international routings.

Whichever airport fits your plan, check current route maps and seasonal schedules directly before booking — regional and seasonal service to the coast's airport in particular shifts more than the country's main gateway does.