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Home › Uruguay Tours › Optional tours in Montevideo › El Milongón dinner show
Optional evening · Montevideo · Dinner and show, with transfers

El Milongón: a night of candombe, tango and dinner in Montevideo

Montevideo has its own music, and it is not only tango: it is candombe, the drums the Afro-Uruguayan neighbourhoods have played since the days of the colony, and the folklore of the countryside. El Milongon puts all of it on one stage, with tango and milonga too, in a dinner show that has been running for decades. We take you there from your hotel, dinner and wine are included, and we bring you back when the last drum stops.

Where
El Milongón, Montevideo
Starts
In the evening, dinner before the show
On stage
Candombe, tango, milonga, folklore
Dinner
Three courses with wine, included
The day

From your hotel to a table at El Milongón, and back after the last drum

El Milongon is a house of Uruguayan music in the old quarter of the city: a dining room with a stage, where the night opens with a welcome drink and dinner and goes on to a show in several acts, from the gaucho folklore of the interior to the tango and milonga of the Rio de la Plata, and ends with the candombe drums, the sound of Montevideo's Carnival, which is the part nobody expects and everybody remembers.

We collect you at your hotel in the evening, in a regular service or a private one, and bring you back after the show. The show runs on most nights of the week; we confirm the night for your dates when we build your trip.

This is an optional tour. 01Argentina sells the trip complete — ferry or flights, hotel, transfers and your days — and this is one of the extras you can add to your stay in Montevideo.
The details

Step by step

01 · Pick-up at your hotel

We collect you at your hotel in the early evening and take you to El Milongon, in time to be seated, have the welcome drink and order dinner before the lights go down.

02 · Dinner

A three-course dinner at your table — starter, main course of your choice, dessert — with wine, soft drinks and water, served before and during the first part of the show.

Dancers in traditional dress and a tango couple on the stage of El Milongon

03 · Folklore and tango

The show opens with the music of the Uruguayan countryside, the gauchos and their dances, and moves to the tango and the milonga, which Montevideo shares with Buenos Aires and claims as its own: singers, musicians and dancers in period dress, a few metres from your table.

04 · Candombe

The finale is the candombe: the three drums of the Afro-Uruguayan tradition, the dancers and the characters of the Montevideo Carnival, loud enough to feel in the chest. Then the transfer back to your hotel.

Three candombe drummers in white suits and hats on the stage of El Milongon
Good to know

What to know before a night at El Milongón

It is a sit-down dinner show, about two and a half hours from the first drink to the last drum, in a room that fills up; we book your table when we build the trip. Dress as you like: it is a restaurant night, not a formal one. Vegetarian menus are available if you tell us in advance.

The show is in Spanish with music that needs no translation; the guide on the transfer explains what you are about to see. Children are welcome. The night ends late by Uruguayan standards, around eleven, so it pairs well with a slow morning or the bike tour the next day.

The detail

What this Montevideo extra includes

Included

  • Transfer from and to your hotel in Montevideo
  • Admission to the show at El Milongón: candombe, tango, milonga and folklore
  • Welcome drink
  • Dinner: starter, main course, dessert, wine, soft drinks and water

Not included

  • Extra drinks outside the dinner
  • Tips
Questions

What travellers ask about this Montevideo extra

Is the El Milongón dinner show sold on its own?

No. It is an evening we add to your Uruguay trip: 01Argentina arranges the whole stay — the ferry or flights, your hotel, your transfers and your days — and this is one of the nights you can add in Montevideo. When you write, we send you the detail for your dates.

Is the transfer to El Milongón private or a regular service?

Either. The transfer runs as a regular service shared with other travellers or as a private one for your party alone. Tell us when you write and we quote it both ways. The show itself is in a shared room, as any show is.

Is the El Milongón show in English?

The show is music and dance, in Spanish where there are words, and it needs no translation. The transfer is with an English-speaking guide who explains the programme on the way.

Which nights does the El Milongón dinner show run?

Most nights of the week, with the calendar changing by season. Tell us your dates and we confirm the night and book your table before you travel.

What is the difference between tango in Buenos Aires and the show at El Milongón?

The tango is the same river music, born on both banks of the Rio de la Plata. What you will not see in Buenos Aires is the candombe, the drum tradition of Montevideo's Afro-Uruguayan neighbourhoods, nor the folklore of the Uruguayan countryside. If you have seen a tango show in Buenos Aires, this is the other half of the story.

Is dinner included in the El Milongón show?

Yes. We sell the evening with dinner: a welcome drink, starter, main course, dessert, wine, soft drinks and water. You sit down to eat before the show and the performance comes to you.

Add a night at El Milongón to your days in Montevideo

Tell us when you are travelling and how many days you have in Montevideo, and we will come back within 24 hours with the whole trip laid out — this extra included if it fits.

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