Fray Bentos is a small city on the east bank of the Río Uruguay, and its fame comes from a corned-beef tin. In 1865, a company built a factory here to make Liebig's Extract of Meat, a concentrate of beef boiled down from the enormous herds of the pampas, and the plant grew into a giant that shipped meat products around the world. Later a British-owned company took it over, and the brand Fray Bentos, still sold on supermarket shelves as tinned pies in Britain, was born. The factory closed in the late 1970s, and today the whole complex, with its brick sheds, chimney and workers' houses, is a museum, listed by UNESCO in 2015 as an industrial landscape.
The setting is the broad brown river, nearly wide enough to look like a sea. On the Argentine shore, the city of Gualeguaychú is about twenty kilometres away, and the two countries are linked by the General San Martín bridge. In the 2000s, a pulp mill built near Fray Bentos led to a long dispute, when Argentine protesters blocked the bridge for years, so the crossing has some local memory. The countryside is rolling grassland, with cattle, eucalyptus and the occasional ombú tree.
A day ride from Buenos Aires means a long run on flat roads, through the Entre Ríos farmland, over the river and into Uruguay, so the main effort is distance. The roads are generally good, straight and wide, with truck traffic and speed control, and crosswinds from the river can be strong. Border formalities take time, requiring passports, vehicle papers and sometimes an insurance check, so allow an hour or more. In summer, the heat is heavy and thunderstorms build quickly in the afternoon. Spring and autumn are more comfortable.
Practically, Fray Bentos has fuel stations, supermarkets and small restaurants, and the riverfront has a promenade and cafes. Local food includes grilled beef, chivito sandwiches and the sweet dulce de leche, and mate is carried everywhere in a thermos. The museum is open most days and takes a couple of hours. Parking for motorbikes is easy, and the old town is compact. Fill up before leaving, because rural stretches have few stations.