Foz do Iguacu: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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The Iguaçu falls — in Guaraní, big water — are some two hundred and seventy-five drops along almost three kilometres of the Iguaçu river, on the border of Brazil and Argentina. Most of the falls are on the Argentine side, so it is Brazil that has the view of them all. Half a day; a park bus runs from the gate to the trail. Wear something that can get soaked.

A short history of Foz do Iguacu

The town began in 1889 as a Brazilian military colony, at the point where Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay meet. In 1914 it became a municipality. In 1939 the national park was created around the Iguaçu Falls, which comprise about 275 waterfalls along almost three kilometres, and in 1986 it was declared a World Heritage Site. In the 1970s construction began on the Itaipu Dam on the Paraná River, one of the largest hydroelectric power stations in the world, and the city grew several times over thanks to the workers who came to it. The city has a large Lebanese community and one of the largest mosques in Brazil.

The ten best sights in Foz do Iguacu

1
Trilha das Cataratas
The Brazilian side: the panorama
2
Macuco Safari
A boat into the spray
3
Parque das Aves
Walk-through aviaries by the park gate
4
Garganta del Diablo
The Argentine walkway over the edge
5
Circuito Superior
Walkways along the top of the falls
6
Puerto Canoas
The upper river above the falls
7
Itaipu Dam
Book the tour ahead
8
Ecomuseu de Itaipu
The story of the dam
9
Marco das Três Fronteiras
Three countries at sunset
10
Hito Tres Fronteras
The Argentine side of the meeting

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What is an audio walk?

Tours in Foz do Iguacu →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Foz do Iguacu:

Free walking tours in Foz do Iguacu

The falls from Brazil

Parque das Aves · Just outside the park gate, a bird park of the Atlantic forest where many of the birds were rescued from trafficking; visitors walk inside the aviaries among toucans and macaws.
Macuco Safari · A trail through the forest and then a speedboat up the river, which drives straight under the edge of the falls until everyone aboard is drenched.
Trilha das Cataratas · A path of about a kilometre along the Brazilian cliff, with the whole wall of falls across the gorge. The story goes that Eleanor Roosevelt, seeing them, said only: poor Niagara.
Garganta del Diablo · At the end of the Brazilian trail a walkway goes out over the river toward the Devil’s Throat, a U-shaped chasm where about half the river falls at once; on the Argentine side a walkway reaches its very lip.
Airport · On the road between town and the falls, closer to the park than to the city — many visitors land, see the falls the same afternoon, and never stay in Foz at all.
Avenida Brasil · The main street of Foz, a city that grew from a frontier post into a city of a quarter of a million in a few decades, much of it during the building of the Itaipu dam.

The falls from Argentina

Across the border, the Argentine park puts you on top of the falls rather than in front of them, with walkways along the edges and out over the river. A full day; take your passport, and arrive at opening — the walkway to the Devil’s Throat fills by mid-morning.

Fraternity Bridge · The bridge over the Iguaçu to Argentina, opened in 1985 and named after Tancredo Neves, the president-elect of Brazil who died that year before taking office; the kerbs are painted in the colours of each country.
Estación Cataratas · A small narrow-gauge train runs through the forest from the park entrance to the trails, so that cars never reach the falls.
Circuito Superior · Walkways along the top of a row of falls, where you stand beside the water as it goes over; coatis wander the paths looking for food — they bite and scratch, and feeding them is forbidden.
Puerto Canoas · The last station of the train, on the wide, calm upper river; from here a walkway of about a kilometre crosses the islands of the river to the falls, with no hint of what is ahead until the roar.
Garganta del Diablo · The walkway ends at the lip of the Devil’s Throat, some eighty metres above the bottom, in a cloud of spray where swifts nest behind the falling water.
Puerto Iguazú · The small Argentine town of the falls, quieter than Foz, with restaurants of the Argentine kind — beef and empanadas — and a crafts market of the Guaraní communities of Misiones.

The dam and the three frontiers

Foz sits where the Iguaçu meets the Paraná, at the meeting point of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, a border region of trade, immigrants and, at times, smuggling. Note for Israelis: Argentine prosecutors and US officials have long named the Triple Frontier as a financing hub for Hezbollah, linked in the investigations of the 1992 and 1994 bombings in Buenos Aires; it is a working tourist area, but keep a low profile. Half a day by car.

Itaipu Dam · A Brazil–Paraguay dam on the Paraná, among the largest producers of hydroelectric power in the world. When its reservoir filled in 1982 it drowned the Guaíra falls, the Sete Quedas, which by volume were among the greatest waterfalls on earth.
Ecomuseu de Itaipu · A museum of the region before and after the dam: the forest, the Guaraní peoples, the farms and towns flooded by the reservoir, and the tens of thousands of workers who built it.
Chen Tien Buddhist Temple · A temple of the Chinese community of Foz, with a large Buddha and rows of statues looking across the Paraná to Paraguay.
Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Mosque · Opened in 1983 for the large Arab community of Foz, mostly of Lebanese origin, which came from the 1950s onward to trade on the border; it is among the largest Muslim communities in Brazil.
Friendship Bridge · The bridge to Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, opened in 1965 and crossed every day by tens of thousands of shoppers and traders on foot, by motorbike and by car — the queues can take hours.
Marco das Três Fronteiras · Where the Iguaçu flows into the Paraná, each country has an obelisk painted in its colours on its own bank, and from each you can see the other two; at sunset there is a show of lights and music.

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Getting to Foz do Iguacu and getting around

Foz do Iguaçu Airport · On the road to the falls
International bus terminal · Long-distance buses
Estación Cataratas · The jungle train inside the park
Friendship Bridge · To Paraguay; long queues
Fraternity Bridge · To Argentina

Cheap eats in Foz do Iguacu

Foz eats from three countries and one community: Brazilian pastel and coxinha at the counters, Argentine empanadas across the bridge, Paraguayan chipa — a cheese bread of manioc flour sold from baskets — and, from the Lebanese community, esfihas and kibbeh. A snack costs one to four dollars.

Avenida Brasil · Esfihas and pastel
Puerto Iguazú · Empanadas and steak
Ciudad del Este · Chipa from the baskets

Nature and day trips near Foz do Iguacu

The falls, the forest around them and the birds.

Trilha das Cataratas · The panorama
Garganta del Diablo · The lip
Circuito Superior · Along the top

Things to do in Foz do Iguacu with kids

With children: macaws overhead, a jungle train and a boat into the falls.

Parque das Aves · Inside the aviaries
Estación Cataratas · The train
Macuco Safari · The soaking boat (age limits)

Museums in Foz do Iguacu

The dam and the region it changed.

Itaipu Dam · The tour of the dam
Ecomuseu de Itaipu · Before and after

Holy places in Foz do Iguacu

A border of many faiths: a mosque and a Buddhist temple within a few kilometres.

Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Mosque · Visits by arrangement
Chen Tien Buddhist Temple · The Buddha over the river

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Frequently asked questions about Foz do Iguacu

What is there to see in Foz do Iguacu?

The top sights in Foz do Iguacu are Trilha das Cataratas, Macuco Safari and Parque das Aves. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Foz do Iguacu?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Foz do Iguacu without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Foz do Iguacu?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Foz do Iguacu, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The falls from Brazil.

How do you get to Foz do Iguacu and get around?

The main ways are Foz do Iguaçu Airport, International bus terminal and Estación Cataratas. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Foz do Iguacu, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Foz do Iguacu that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

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