Just a three -hour ferry ride apart, Argentina's Buenos Aires and Uruguay's Montevideo provide a doubly intoxicating experience for ROB CROSSAN

FOOTBALL and steak, the twin passions of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, were surrounding me. I was in La Popular restaurant in the Argentine capital, where the walls and ceiling are covered with football shirts, from the blue and yellow of Boca Juniors (Diego Maradona's old team) to the almost wilfully vile black and turquoise away kit of Racing Club, just two of the city's 10 professional clubs.

In front of me, on a typically sultry evening, was a parrilla (pronounced pareesha) grill the size of a car bonnet. A sturdy-looking chef was busy placing many sumptuous cuts of sirloin, rump and the locals' choice cut of bife de chorizo (top loin) on to the range while I imbibed an oversized glass of a particularly ruddy Malbec.

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It was well past midnight but customers were just starting to appear through the doors for their evening meal.

Hirsute men in designer black shirts open almost to the waist were accompanied by vivacious women in cocktail dresses.

Few tourists realise how easy it is to see Buenos Aires and Montevideo in one weekend.

The grandiosity of the former's boulevards and parks may win the attention of most travellers to the region but, separated only by the shallow waters of the Río de la Plata estuary, the relatively undiscovered capital of Uruguay, a three-hour ferry ride away, has its own charms.

Let's start, though, with Argentina. This year it celebrates the bicentenary of the revolution that led to independence so millions have been spent sprucing up the capital. Countless taxi drivers, waiters and barflies told me they'd never seen their city looking so beautiful.

Although not quite the bargain it was a decade ago, at 15p per journey, it's still cheap to use the underground Metro to get between neighbourhoods (or barrios).

The bohemian area of Palermo was particularly suited to my leisurely strolls in the heat. Wide, shaded streets are lined with sushi bars, boutiques and slinky cocktail bars and surreal, stencil-art murals.

It was also the location of my stylish boutique hotel, Mine, a slick operation with just 20 rooms decorated in earthy greens and blues overlooking a bijou pool.

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Heading downtown, I walked the tree-lined cobbled streets of San Telmo with their pretty colonial buildings. Traditionally one of the homes of tango, it's a barrio rich in atmosphere.

I dropped in for a fearsomely strong coffee at Bar El Federal with its dusty bottles behind the counter, wobbly wooden tables, genial waiters and a ceiling fan that looked like it hadn't moved since Eva Perón was in her prime. It was a wonderfully retro way to experience everyday Buenos Aires.

Ferries run twice a day between here and Montevideo and the early morning boat, departing at 7.30, provided a wonderful opportunity to admire the city's skyline. As we ploughed briskly through muddy waters in our sparkingly clean vessel, I breakfasted on fresh baguettes stuffed with ham and cheese.

Montevideo is not, as so many porteños (slang for Buenos Aires natives) told me, somewhat disparagingly, the size of one of their barrios.

It's a huge city of 1.5 million people, half the population of the entire country. The atmosphere in the old town however is rather more sedate than its famous neighbour.

I strolled around the La Plaza Independencia, the historic heart of the old city, overlooked by the impressively Gotham City-esque Palacio Salvo, an imposing skyscraper from the Twenties that for decades was the tallest building in the whole of South America at 328ft.

Originally intended to be a hotel, it never received the visitor numbers to fill such a vast space, so it now serves as offices with a huge stone arcade running around the entrance which houses jewellery stores and coffee shops.

Down by the port, the warren of cobbled side streets often cross the fine line from charmingly dilapidated to plain old seedy but I pushed on to find the incredible Mercado del Puerto, one of the great food markets in South America.

Inside this cavernous warehouse, dating from the late 19th century, are dozens of lunch counters where, propped on stools, the seriously carnivorous can see steaks, kidneys, chorizo sausages, sweetbreads, blood sausages and ribs cooking on open grills.

My appetite wasn't up to this level of belt-stretching and so I opted for a sensational empanada, a small, hot Latin version of the Cornish pasty, at the Carolina stall, which offered at least two dozen varieties.

Mine was filled with calamari and at just 50p a go, will get my vote as contender for one of the tastiest lunch bargains on the planet.
Montevideo has rustic charm but for a real taste of South American glamour, I drove 90 minutes along the coast to Punta del Este, also known as the St Tropez of South America. This is the resort town where wealthy Argentinians and Brazilians flock in their thousands, along with celebrities such as Naomi Campbell and Richard Branson, to take advantage of the high-end restaurants, luxury hotels and mile upon mile of white sands fringing the Atlantic Ocean.

Bikini Beach is the most popular spot for posing, lounging and smooching and in summer there are catwalk shows and outdoor roulette tables on sands the colour of butter.

Paddling in the ocean, surrounded by wealthy local playboys and society girls, I wondered why Uruguay's charms are often given such short shrift by the porteños.

The steaks and samba of Argentina never fail to impress but Buenos Aires's captivating neighbour may just have the edge in terms of beaches, glamour and some seriously impressive street food.

THE KNOWLEDGE:
W&O Travel South American Experience (0845 277 3366/www.wandotravel.com) offers five nights in Buenos Aires and Montevideo from £1,945pp (two sharing), B&B.

Price includes two nights at the Mine Hotel Boutique, Buenos Aires, three nights at the Radisson Montevideo Victoria Plaza Hotel, return flights from Heathrow to Buenos Aires and transfers including return ferry crossings from Buenos Aires to Montevideo.

Argentina Tourism: 0207 318 1300/www.turismo.gov.ar.

Uruguay Tourism: 0207 937 4170