The river, running 220 miles along Uruguay's fertile coastal lowlands, is the widest in the world. An ecologist's dream, it is stunning in its simplistic beauty. Its silty waters are paint-brushed and swirled with cinnamon, gingerbread, and pumpkin, and here and there the ebb and flow of the currents carve a scattered archipelago of rich, green islands and sea-polished sandbars. A mélange of water birds dance and skitter on the river's edge, their stilted legs holding strong against the tide. The river leads to several small villages that are worth exploring, including tree-infused, well-shaded Colonia.

Marked by a lighthouse whose cupola defines the harbor, Colonia, dating back to the 15th century, is an amalgamation of narrow cobblestone and brick streets, antique and curio shops whose open doorways jangle with the lullaby of homemade wind chimes, and lively restaurants and bistros painted anywhere from shocking pink to canary yellow.

Colonia tells the story of Uruguay, its fight for independence from Spain and Portugal, and its deep maritime links to the past. With its colonial architecture and profusion of vibrant flowers - a variety of hibiscus, fuchsia-tipped four o'clocks, and scarlet-dipped geraniums line the streets - exploring its Old World ruins, harbors, and churches is an exercise in both romance and history.

If Uruguay in itself is an ecologist's dream, then the village of Carmelo, just across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires, is an antique car collector's dream. Preservation of classic automobiles from the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s seems to be a pastime here, and it's entertaining in and of itself just to search out the old cars on the town's colorful squares. But Carmelo's real intrigue is that the town was once a center for bandits and smugglers, which only somehow seems fitting that it now houses one of the area's glittering casinos.

Carmelo is also becoming a center for wine. The climate, with its cool evenings and warm days, is perfect for growing grapes, and the boutique wine industry - and in some cases, as with Narbona, the cheese industry - has really exploded over the past few years. With the backdrop of vineyards heavy with chardonnay and Shiraz grapes dappling the sun-baked hillsides around the town, you might want to sample a glass of vino at one of the local restaurants. (CONTINUED...)