In short
Uruguay regularly ranks first in Latin America for democracy, press freedom and freedom from corruption. That, more than the climate, explains its settled foreign population.
The rambla runs along the Río de la Plata for more than twenty kilometres, from the port to Carrasco. It is the city's spine and where it gathers in the evening.
What it really costs
Montevideo is dearer than Buenos Aires and than most capitals on the continent. Electricity, telecoms and imported food all cost.
In exchange, prices neither collapse nor spike: inflation is under control and the peso stable, which is not the case next door in Argentina. A budget set here holds from month to month.
What nobody tells you
The southern winter, June to August, is damp and windy rather than cold, and much housing is poorly insulated. Heating is a real budget item.
The country legalised cannabis in 2013, but sales are reserved for residents on a national register. Visitors have no access.
Punta del Este, two hours away, doubles its prices from December to February when Argentina comes down on holiday. Montevideo does not move.