Salto is a city on the Uruguay River in the country's north, best known as the gateway to the region's thermal hot springs resorts, and a rental car is the practical way to reach both the springs themselves and the wider agricultural countryside surrounding the city. Most visitors arrive via Salto's small domestic airport or drive up from Montevideo, and rental desks in town are run by international and local operators, with pickup generally quick given the modest scale of the city's tourism infrastructure compared with the capital.
From central Salto, the well-known thermal complexes at Dayman lie just south of the city, a short fifteen-to-twenty-minute drive, while other springs resorts scattered further along the riverside area can take thirty minutes to an hour depending on which complex you are headed to. Heading south toward Montevideo, Route 3 is the main highway connecting Salto to the capital, a long and mostly straightforward drive of roughly five to six hours through the rolling farmland and ranching country typical of Uruguay's interior.
Driving is on the right throughout Uruguay, and Route 3 and the roads immediately around Salto are generally well paved and lightly trafficked outside the city itself, making for relaxed if long-distance highway driving. Uruguay's toll system applies at intervals along some of its national routes, generally collected in cash at staffed booths, so keep local currency handy for longer trips down Route 3. Rural roads branching off toward smaller towns and estancias can be gravel or unpaved, so a standard sedan suits the main highway and springs-resort routes fine, while anything further into the countryside benefits from a bit more clearance. Fuel stations are frequent in Salto and along Route 3's main towns but thin out on quieter rural stretches, so it is worth topping up before venturing off the principal route into Uruguay's quiet northern countryside.