Iguazu Falls
Iguaçu is two hundred and seventy-five waterfalls in a horseshoe three kilometres wide. Eighty per cent of them are in Argentina and eighty per cent of the view is from Brazil.
Iguazu Falls in a nutshell
Iguazu Falls: what to expect
We counted 71,000+ planned stops across Brazil on Stippl before writing this.
Iguaçu is around 275 separate falls across a horseshoe 2.7 kilometres wide, and the Devil's Throat drops 82 metres of it. Four fifths of the water is on the Argentine side, which is why Brazil gives you the panorama and Argentina gives you the close-up. The Brazilian walkway runs two kilometres to a catwalk under the throat itself. Itaipu, one of the largest dams on earth, is twenty minutes north, and the obelisks at the Marco das Três Fronteiras mark where three countries meet.
Iguaçu is the least Brazilian trip in Brazil. Barely a quarter of the trips carrying it stay inside the country, the lowest share we measure anywhere, because seven travellers in ten cross a border here and the falls are the crossing. It has no season either: every quarter of the year sits within a few points of the national picture, which is true of nowhere else in the country.
Nothing about the falls tells you how long to stay, so decide it yourself: 2 nights for one side, three for both. The stays here split almost evenly across one, two and three nights, the flattest distribution in Brazil. Bring a dry bag for the boat and expect to be soaked at the throat on either side. And skip Iguaçu if you are in a hurry, because doing one side properly still costs a full day.
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Download the appWho Iguazu Falls is for
Everyone, once
The falls are unskippable on any Brazil or Argentina itinerary, and most people give them 2 nights.
Anyone crossing to Argentina
Seven in ten Foz travellers cross, and the falls are the crossing.
Families
Paved walkways on both sides, a bird park next to the Brazilian entrance, and no hiking required.
Wildlife watchers
Coatis, toucans, capuchins and butterflies line the trails, and the bird park has the rest.
Maybe not for you: anyone planning a long stay, since this is the shortest typical visit of any Brazilian destination; anyone in a hurry, because doing both sides properly is three nights; and anyone who minds getting wet, as the Devil's Throat soaks you through.
The best time to visit Iguazu Falls
Hot summer
December to March
Hot, humid and the parks at their fullest with the Brazilian and Argentine holidays. The falls carry the most water after the summer rains, and the spray is welcome.
Autumn and spring
April to May and August to October
Mild, thinner crowds and the light at its best for the walkways. The window most people would choose.
Cool winter
June and July
The driest stretch and the coolest, with the Brazilian school holidays filling July. The water is lower but the falls are never small.
- January is the month most travellers plan Brazil for on Stippl, and Iguazu is planned about 95 days ahead. 13.7% of Iguazu plans are made inside a fortnight; the park never sells out, the hotels inside it do.
- The two sides are two days and two countries. The Brazilian side is the panorama and takes a morning; the Argentine side is the walkways and takes a day. The border crossing is quick outside the holiday weeks and slow in them.
- The water level swings with the rain upstream, not the season on the calendar. After heavy rain the Devil's Throat walkway can close for days; the park posts the closures and the boat trips stop with them.
- July is Brazilian school holidays and the busiest week of the winter. The Brazilian side's shuttle buses queue and the Macuco boat sells out; the early opening hour is the answer in that month.
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Things to do in Iguazu Falls
Photo by Marina Zvada via UnsplashThe Brazilian side
Walk the two-kilometre Trilha das Cataratas ending on the catwalk under the Devil's Throat, with the panorama of the whole horseshoe on the way, about €20. A morning, and the park bus takes you to the trailhead.
The Argentine side
Walk the Lower and Upper Circuits among and above the falls, then take the train to the Devil's Throat balcony, about €25 and a full day. The border crossing is quick outside the holiday weeks.
The boat under the falls
Take the boat that goes under the falls, run on both sides, about €40, and the reason to bring a dry bag. Everything gets wet, including the camera.
Itaipu dam
Take the panoramic visit or the lit evening tour of the dam that powers a fifth of Brazil, about €12, twenty minutes from town. The evening one is the one to pick.
Parque das Aves
Walk the bird park next to the Brazilian entrance, with walk-through aviaries of Atlantic Forest species and the toucans at arm's length, about €15. An hour before or after the falls.
The Marco das Três Fronteiras
Stand at the river junction where three countries meet at sunset, about €5, with the obelisks on all three banks. The folk show afterwards is optional.
The neighbourhoods of Iguazu Falls
Avenida das Cataratas
The park road, resorts
The road out to the park lined with the resorts and the mid-range hotels, closer to the falls and further from dinner. For families and comfort who want the park first thing.
Minutes from the gate, and a taxi for every meal.
Foz centro
Bus terminal, cheap hotels
The working city: the bus terminal, the banks, the cheap hotels and most of the restaurants, with bus 120 to the park. For budget travellers and first visits without a car.
The buses and the restaurants, and nothing scenic.
Inside the park
One hotel, on the falls
One hotel only, on the falls themselves, with the park to yourself before and after opening hours. For a splurge and for the falls at dawn without the coaches.
The falls alone at dawn, and the price of the only room.
Puerto Iguazú
The Argentine base
The other base across the border for the Argentine side and its longer circuits, with hostels, hotels and a quieter town. For adventure and for the walkways from the door.
The bigger side of the falls, and a border stamp each way.
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Where to stay in Iguazu Falls
Stay in Foz centro for a first visit: the budget and mid-range supply, the restaurants and bus 120 to the park are all there, and the Avenida das Cataratas resorts are closer to the falls but further from dinner. Most people give Iguazu 2 nights on Stippl; three covers both sides. Sleeping in Puerto Iguazu, across the border, is a real alternative rather than a compromise.
Avenida das Cataratas
Resorts with pools and mid-range hotels along the park road, €70 to €200.
Foz centro
Hostels with dorms €10 to €18 and plain hotels, €30 to €70, near the bus terminal.
Inside the park
The one hotel on the falls themselves, from €400, with the park to yourself before opening.
Puerto Iguazú
Hostels from €12 a bed and quiet hotels, €40 to €120, on the Argentine side.
What to eat in Iguazu Falls
Grilled meats carved at your table until you flip the card
Grilled beef in the Argentine tradition, part of the triple-frontier food mix
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Iguazu customs and what not to do
A three-country city
Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic and Guarani are all spoken in Foz and the food follows; the Lebanese quarter and the Paraguayan market across the bridge are part of the place.
The coatis bite
They are everywhere on the trails, they are not tame, and they open bags; no food in hand on the walkways, and the park fines feeding.
Conservation areas first
Both parks were inscribed for the Atlantic Forest around the falls as much as for the water; stay on the walkways, no drones, and the butterflies land on you without being caught.
The border is a formality
Crossing to the Argentine side is a passport stamp each way and the bus does it; the Paraguayan side needs no stamp for the market, but keep the passport on you.
Do
- Queue for the Devil's Throat train at opening; it is twenty minutes then and two hours by eleven
- Do the Brazilian side in an afternoon and the Argentine side in a full day
- Carry a waterproof for the boat and the lower walkways
- Keep your passport on you for the crossings
Don't
- Feed or touch the coatis
- Carry food in your hand on the walkways
- Fly a drone in either park
- Plan both sides in one day
What a Iguazu Falls trip costs
Budget
€39
Hostel dorm, prato feito or marmitex set plates, city buses and the occasional overnight coach, free beaches and free blocos.
Mid-range
€105
A pousada double with breakfast and air conditioning, restaurant meals, Ubers, one or two domestic flights, paid attractions.
High-end
€340
Beachfront hotels, private guides, a Pantanal lodge with full board and boat safaris, Noronha, camarote seats at Carnaval.
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Fun facts about Iguazu Falls
One waterfall carries two World Heritage inscriptions. Argentina's park was listed in 1984 and Brazil's in 1986, separately, because the border runs through the falls.
Iguaçu is about 275 individual falls across 2.7 kilometres. The Devil's Throat at the centre drops 82 metres, and it is the single feature both sides are organised around.
80% of the falls are in Argentina and 80% of the view is from Brazil. The Brazilian side is the panorama and the Argentine side the close-up, which is why almost everyone does both.
Three countries meet at the river junction here. Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay touch where the Iguaçu joins the Paraná, marked by an obelisk on each bank.
Seven Foz travellers in ten cross a border. On Stippl it is the least Brazilian trip in Brazil: only 27.8% of trips through the falls stay inside the country.
One of the largest hydroelectric dams in the world is 20 minutes away. Itaipu, shared with Paraguay, is a visit in its own right, with the floodlit dam on Friday and Saturday nights.
Local tips for Iguazu Falls
The Brazilian park is about €22
Entry is paid at the gate or online and the park bus takes you to the trailhead; bus 120 from the urban terminal is the cheap way to the entrance. Mornings, before the coaches.
The Argentine park is about €45
Paid in pesos or by card at the gate, with the train to the Devil's Throat included. Cross by bus or with a guided day trip; the crossing is badly signposted on your own.
Take your passport
The Brazil to Argentina crossing on foot or by bus is a real immigration control, including for a day trip. Leave it in the safe on the Brazilian days.
How long to stay
Most people give Iguazu 2 nights on Stippl, and a third stay one: a day per side and out. Two nights is the honest minimum, and three months is the lead.
The walkways are slippery
Wet and railed and the spray does not stop; shoes with grip and a dry bag for the camera. The boat under the falls soaks everything.
Nothing valuable on show
Standard Brazilian city discipline in Foz: indoor ATMs, the phone in a pocket and a ride-hail at night. The parks themselves are as safe as anywhere in the country.
Iguazu Falls questions, answered
Decide which sides you are doing before you book anything. Iguazu Falls carries 6.4% of everything planned in Brazil on Stippl, and the Brazilian side is half a day while the Argentine side is a full one. Put two or three nights into Stippl and your passport in the day bag.
Two nights for one side, three for both. Travellers planning Iguazu Falls on Stippl give it 2 nights. Two is enough only if you are doing Brazil alone: the Argentine trails take a full day and the border crossing eats a piece of another.
For 31.2% of Iguazu Falls stops planned on Stippl that is the whole visit, and it means seeing one side between two flights. That works for the Brazilian panorama, which is quick. It does not work for the Argentine side, and the Argentine side is the better one.
Argentina, if you only do one. Brazil gives you the panorama, the whole thing framed at once, in about half a day. Argentina puts you on catwalks among the falls themselves, with far more trails and more wildlife, and it takes a full day. Most people who see both prefer Argentina.
Yes, to cross to the Argentine side or into Paraguay, and the border officials do check. Some Brazil-side operators handle the crossing for you and some do not, so ask before you book. Carry the passport itself rather than a copy, and allow an hour at the border in high season.
Yes, at the Devil's Throat, on both sides, and the boat trips soak you completely on purpose. Bring a poncho, which is sold everywhere and always costs more at the gate, and a dry bag for a phone or a camera. Sandals beat trainers here, for the simple reason that they dry.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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