Iguaçu waterfalls


Arrival

To get from Paraty to Foz do Iguaçu there are different options. If you have enough time, you could take an extremely long bus ride. We have chosen to take a flight from Rio. To get to Rio we used a very comfortable Costa Verde bus for 72.50 BRL. The ride takes about 4 hours (including a short break) and you arrive at the Novo Rio Bus Station. From the bus station we took a taxi to the domestic airport Santos Dumont for 47 BRL (20 minutes).

Unfortunately it was no direct flight and we had a relatively long stop in Sao Paulo.

The airport at Foz do Iguaçu is about 20 minutes away from the “center”. We stayed at the Pietro Angelo hotel, a free transfer was included. If you don’t have a free transfer, you have to pay around 50 BRL for a taxi or 3.8 BRL for a public bus ride.

In the evening we went to a typical dinner place: a self service restaurant called Familiglia Maran where you pay per kilo. The food was very nice and very cheap.

By this time of our trip we needed to do our laundry. Most hotels offer laundry services, but it can be expensive - you pay per pair of socks :). So just check on google maps if you can find a normal laundry shop and you only pay around 12-13 BRL per kilo.



Day 1

The next day in the morning we went to the Brazilian side of the Iguaçu waterfalls. We decided to take the public bus from the Urban Bus Terminal (TTU) for 3.80 BRL. The bus brings you directly to the entrance of the park. The park is close to the airport, so if you plan to departure right after your visit of the waterfalls, you can grab all your stuff and leave it at the lockers at the park entrance. Then you don’t need to go back to the city center again.

When we arrived at the park (entrance fee 57 BRL including bus within the park, credit cards are accepted) we saw somebody from Macuco Safari and asked if we can organize a boat trip. They offer a combined English tour including a short guided electric “train” ride, a guided walk and then the boat tour to the waterfalls for 198 BRL. Although it is not cheap, it was really worth it. Especially the boat tour: be prepared to get soaking wet! Before you go on the boat, you can change and we highly recommend to bring an extra set of clothes you leave in the lockers. We saw some people using ponchos and these were helpful but only to a certain extend. The total tour takes about 1.5 hours, the boat ride is 40 minutes and you go through some waterfalls. It’s really an adventurous experience (see also our video). You can start the tour whenever you want. We did it as the first thing after entering the park.





In the park you will see many racoons, some monkeys and many birds. There are some nice hikes and you’ll have a great view from the observation deck. Even if you don’t do the boat tour, bring a poncho.




In total we spent about half a day at the Brazilian side, afterwards we walked to the bird park which is really close by. The entrance fee is 30 BRL and you’ll need about 1.5 hours in there. It is a cool experience to walk through the cages having macaws, toucans and many other birds around you. After the bird park we took the bus again to get back to the city center and we had dinner at a typical restaurant: Churrascaria do Gaucho. You have a big buffet of side dishes and vegetables and then you’ll have waiters coming to your table with different kinds of meat. It was all you can eat for 30 BRL.

The next day we went to the Argentinian side of the waterfalls. After doing some investigation what would be the best option to go there, we decided to book a tour. You could also take a bus (which is quite time consuming and you could have a hassle at the border) or a taxi (quite expensive as far as we have seen). The organized tour cost 80 BRL per person in a small group of 8 people for a full day. It included the transfer (hotel pick up & return), an English speaking guide, somebody taking care of your immigration papers and a stop to exchange money. You will need 330 ARS in cash for the entrance and 20 ARS when going back to Brazil. The restaurants in the park accept credit cards. As always with organized groups, be aware that it sometimes can take time to pick up everybody. In total it took us 1.5 to 2 hours from the hotel to get to the Argentinian side - but that is including the currency exchange stop and the stop for the immigration. When we arrived at the park, we were asked if we want to do a boat tour. Since we already did one the day before we declined. And we were really glad about it, because during the time some of our group did the boat tour, we had a beautiful hike to some great viewpoints. The absolute highlight of the tour, actually of our whole time at the waterfalls, was the Devil’s throat. The amount of water going down is just breathtaking. We were glad to be there in May, there were not many people around, so we could experience the falls with many rainbows undisturbed. The second advantage of going there in May is that you will have less (almost none) mosquitoes.





We definitely recommend doing both sides of the waterfalls, but if you only have one day and you need to decide between the Argentinian and Brazilian side, go for the Argentinian one.


Before we left Iguacu on the next day, we still had some time to walk through the city. All guide books were right: there is not much to see, just some shops but no real sights.

Back to the full itinerary & FAQs
Video: 50 things to do in Brazil

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