GUALEGUAYCHÚ

Entre Ríos’s biggest party town, the riverside city of Gualeguaychú, hosts one of Argentina’s top Carnaval celebrations—not quite Rio, but well worth seeing if you’re in Buenos Aires instead of Brazil. Dating from 1783, it has a smattering of colonial constructions, but is most popular with Argentines for access to its namesake river. To the east, the Puente Internacional General Libertador San Martín offers the southernmost bridge access into Uruguay, to the city of Fray Bentos.

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Orientation
Gualeguaychú (population 73,330) is 220 kilometers north of Buenos Aires via RN 14 and an eastbound lateral that leads directly to the central Plaza San Martín, a square occupying four full blocks. One block south of the plaza, Avenida 25 de Mayo is the main commercial street. Several blocks east, the Río Gualeguaychú, a tributary of the much larger Río Uruguay, meanders southward.

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Sights and Activities
The city’s only national historical monument is the Teatro Gualeguaychú Urquiza 705), dating from 1914. It is still the city’s principal high-culture venue, with theater, music, and dance performances.

At the northeast corner of Plaza San Martín, Gualeguaychú’s oldest construction (1800) is the Solar de los Haedo (San José 105, 9 a.m.–noon Wed.–Sun., and 5–8 p.m. Fri. and Sat. only), which Italian patriot Giuseppe Garibaldi used as his headquarters during the Uruguayan struggle against Rosas. Now the municipal museum. The Instituto Magnasco (Camila Nievas 78, tel. 03446/427287, 10 a.m.–noon and 4–8 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m.–noon Sat.) is a newly renovated private facility focusing on local art, history, and numismatics.

Also dating from late colonial times, the Casa de Andrade (Andrade and Borques) was home to versatile Olegario Andrade, a mid-19th-century politician, poet, journalist, and diplomat. José S. Álvarez, better known by his pen name, Fray Mocho, resided at the Casa de Fray Mocho (Fray Mocho 135); Álvarez founded the satirical magazine Caras y Caretas. Neither the Andrade nor the Fray Mocho house is normally open to the public.

Culture and revelry are not necessarily contradictory in Gualeguaychú, whose enclosed Corsódromo, on the grounds of the Estación Ferrocarril Urquiza, the old railroad station at the foot of Avenida Rocamora and Avenida Irazusta, is the main site for the midsummer Carnaval parades. The train station is also home to the open-air Museo Ferroviario, which displays antique steam locomotives, dining cars, and other railway equipment.

East of the river, reached by bridge, low-lying Parque Unzué is Gualeguaychú’s favorite recreational resource for campers, picnickers, swimmers, and the like. It is also the site of the city’s Museo Arqueológico Monseñor Manuel Almeida (archaeological museum, tel. 03446/432643, 9 a.m.–1 p.m. and 6–10 p.m. daily), which offers guided tours during its afternoon hours.

For a roll on the river, the Expreso Ciudad de Gualeguaychú (tel. 03446/423248) takes hour-long excursions (US$2) from the Puerto Municipal on the Costanera at the foot of Avenida Irazusta.

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Entertainment and Events
The landmark Teatro Municipal (Urquiza 705, tel. 03446/431757) remains the principal performing arts locale. Cinemania (Camilo Nievas 283, www.cinemania.vaporvos.com.ar) shows recent movies.

Oriented toward visitors from Buenos Aires, Gualeguaychú’s Carnaval del País celebrations takes place weekends in mid- to late summer, depending on the Lenten calendar. If bad weather intervenes, though, the final weekend may even be pushed back in Lent. Admission to the Corsódromo costs around US$4 pp, with reserved seats for another US$2–3 pp.

The city’s other big parade is October’s Fiesta Provincial de Carrozas Estudiantiles, when secondary students display colorful floats on city streets.

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Information and Services
Gualeguaychú’s Oficina de Información Turística Puerto is on the riverfront Paseo del Puerto (Tiscornia and Goldaracena, tel. 03446/423668, informacion@gualeguaychuturismo.com, www.gualeguaychuturismo.com). At the bus station, it also has a convenient Oficina de Información Turística terminal (Avenida Artigas and Blvd. Jurado, tel. 03446/440706). Both have helpful personnel, thorough information including accommodations details, and many brochures, but their maps are poor. Hours are 8 a.m.–10 p.m. daily in summer, 8 a.m.–8 p.m. the rest of the year.

For motorists, ACA is at Urquiza 1001, tel. 03446/426088.

Half a dozen banks along Avenida 25 de Mayo have ATMs, but there are no exchange houses.

Correo Argentino is at Urquiza and Angel Elías; the postal code is 2820. There are Telecentros at the bus terminal and at 25 de Mayo 562. Cibernet (25 de Mayo 874) has fast Internet access.

For medical services, Hospital Centenario is west of downtown (25 de Mayo and Pasteur, tel. 03447/427831).

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Getting There and Around
Gualeguaychú’s shiny new Terminal de Ómnibus (Avenida Artigas and Blvd. Jurado, tel. 03446/440688) is a long-overdue replacement for the dilapidated downtown bus station. Its west-side location, though, is less convenient to all services.

At noon and 7 p.m. there are international connections to Fray Bentos, Uruguay, with Ciudad de Gualeguay (tel. 03446/440555), which continues to Mercedes (which has frequent connections to Montevideo). Cauvi (tel. 03446/440779) has direct service to Montevideo, but fewer departures. Encon (also tel. 03446/440779) stops in Gualeguaychú en route between Córdoba and Montevideo.

Sample destinations, fares, and times include Fray Bentos (US$2, one hour); Mercedes, Uruguay (US$2.50, 1.5 hours); Buenos Aires (US$8, three hours); Paraná (US$9, four hours); and Córdoba (US$20, 11 hours).