10 Easy Steps to Get from Iguazu Falls to Asuncion

Last Updated on April 15, 2024 by Adam Watts

No fancy intro here: this is just a guide on how to get from Iguazu Falls to Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay.

How to get from Iguazu Falls to Asuncion

1. For the sake of argument, let’s say you’re starting in Puerto Iguazu, the Argentine side of Iguazu Falls, which is further from Paraguay.
2. Solicit the services of a taxi driver. We went with a guy called Sergio, whom we were already acquainted with because he was part of our hotel, so we assume he didn’t rip us off. We paid $1700 for the trip. Woah, calm down, stop freaking out. That’s 1700 Argentine pesos, not US dollars. That’s about $35 USD at time of writing.
3. Sergio drove us through:
   1. Exiting Argentina.
   2. Entering Brazil.
   3. Exiting Brazil.
   4. Entering Paraguay.
4. All of the above border crossings were straightforward to get from Iguazu Falls to Asuncion. We either stayed in the car and had Sergio present our passports to the customs officials, or we went into queue-free buildings and got stamps ourselves. It’s not hard. Even if you don’t speak Spanish you don’t need to communicate much; just hand over your passport, smile, and don’t look like you’re smuggling a trunk full of cocaine. Easy.
5. The border town in Paraguay is Ciudad del Este (CDE), which is a shopping hub. Don’t picture 5th Avenue in New York or Oxford Street in London though, Ciudad del Este’s main goods are things like fake black market smart TVs on which the language is set permanently to Russian. You can probably give the place a miss. It also has a bad reputation for safety, is busier than a beehive on speed, and is just plain gross.
6. In CDE, Sergio dropped us off at the bus terminal, then we hurried inside where a dozen different booths all shouted at us to buy a ticket with them. It’s confusing, but the main bus company in Paraguay is NSA (thankfully no relation to the NSA in the US), so go with them.
7. We got two “semi-cama” seats at the top-front of the bus that recline a long way down but not flat. We paid $20 in USD (we didn’t have any Paraguayan guarani) for both of us one-way to Asuncion, which seemed reasonable in my mind.
8. We waited for 40 minutes in the VIP lounge area that had a water cooler and comfortable seats, then headed onto the bus.
9. The bus was great – really clean and modern and one of the most comfortable buses I’ve been on in my life. The five-hour journey to Asuncion passed quickly and easily and that’s all there is to it.
10. Good job, you made it. Now get planning your next destination already. Head up to Bolivia, it’s more interesting! You can cycle the world’s most dangerous road there.

That’s the guide on how to get from Iguazu Falls to Asuncion.

As a little addendum while I have your attention: let me be clear: you don’t need to make this journey. I want to be delicate and sensitive here, but Asuncion is – how should I say this? – boring as hell. Even the hotel receptionist when we checked in looked at us like we’d just walked out of a swamp and gave us a look that meant: “WHY ARE YOU HERE?!?!”

But I’m preaching to the choir. If you’re reading this, your thought process was probably like mine. You probably planned a trip to Iguazu Falls, then looked at a map and thought, “huh, Paraguay is right there. Why not?” And why not indeed.

If you’re staying in Asuncion for a few days, I recommend you read the New York Times’ 36 hours in Asuncion article, which doesn’t admit that Asuncion isn’t worth visiting. Or seriously, just read up on other places to go in South America.

And if you just like reading guides on getting from one place to another, read about getting from Albania to Kosovo by bus.

If you’re looking for things to do around Iguazu Falls, check out Viator’s tours below. Note: I’ll earn a small affiliate commission at no cost to you if you click through and purchase from Viator and I also frequently use Viator for day trips and activities on my own trips and have never had a bad experience.

They do also have a few tours for Asuncion here!