A road trip along Uruguay’s Atlantic Coast

La Mano (The Hand), a sculpture by Chilean artist Mario Irarrazabal in Punta del Este, Uruguay. — Karol Kozlowski/Robert Harding/dpa

The former home of artist Carlos Paez Vilaro, now a labyrinthine museum and hotel called Casapueblo, has a way of confusing visitors. Perhaps it’s the Gaudi-esque architecture and Santorini colour palette that make you believe, for a fleeting moment, that you’re far away on some Mediterranean shore when you’re really in Uruguay.

This stretch of the Uruguayan coast from Punta Ballena to Jose Ignacio often confounds those who expect South America to be undeveloped, underprivileged or troubled. Here, it’s none of those things.