SindreS

Hi, I'm going to Rio soon and I'm going to stay there for 2 weeks. I was wondering if anybody had experience with taking a trip to Iguaçu Falls for some days? I Will probably visit Argentina and Paraguay as well, when we are there. How much is it for airplane tickets and how many days do you need to see it all? Is the trip worth it?

IaninDC

My experience is dated, but we went to Iguazu Falls from Rio back in 2000. There are plenty of domestic flights between SDU and GIG to IGU although I'm not sure what the airfares run these days. I found it best to go to a travel agent who can get you non-Expedia (ie, less expensive) airfares.

You'll need about 3 days at Foz - 2 for the fall and one for transport. The Brazilian side can be managed in an afternoon since most of it is panoramic (ie, lookouts). The Argentine side needs an entire day because of all the trails. But overall, it's definitely worth it to visit Iguazu.

We also hopped a bus last minute from the Foz rodoviaria to Asuncion, Paraguay. I was surprised what a pleasant little city this was. You should give it a try if you have the time.

Texagg09

I went 2 years ago. It is really something to see. We drove from Sao Paulo and stayed for 3 days. Make sure you visit Argentina so you can look across the border at the prettier side

We also crossed over to Paraguay. Not much to see there.

SindreS

Thanks for the tips! I really want to go, but the price for the flight is pretty high. We will end up paying almost as much to get from Rio-Iguazu-Rio as Norway-Rio-Norway. But I'll definetly look for offers, (probably way to late now tho).

C010T3

Not necessarily!

You should try Webjet (webjet.com.br) and Azul (voeazul.com.br)! Well, I don't know where you're looking, but the Brazilian websites usually offer better fares than travel agents abroad. You can also look on voegol.com.br, tam.com.br, aerolineas.com.ar. Just remember that AR flies GIG-IGR, not GIG-IGU like all other carriers. With Azul you actually have to fly GIG/SDU-VCP-IGU.

HMPS

check out GOL Airlines.

SindreS

Thanks for the links, found some pretty cheap at WebJet. Around 466 for the trip on some good dates. (13. Feb- 15 Feb). If anyone can find something cheaper I would be grateful!

Is the price you see at the beginning the end price or will there come additional fees?

C010T3

Only the airport fees, which are R$ 21,57 each way, I think.
Beware that they only take Visa or Amex as foreign-issued credit cards.

carbonaddict

Was in iguazu 2 weeks ago - see my account in answer to a iguazu query in south America thread. Fantastic experience - do it if you can. We flew into IGU on LAN from Lima then on GOL to Rio ( with touchdown in Curitiba) for around 100 dollars, booked on their web site. They were very good. There was a big variation in flight prices so check options carefully - I think ours was cheap because of the touchdown and also because it went into santos dumont rather than GIG.

C010T3

Flights from/to SDU are actually more expensive than from/to GIG.

dbuckho

My experience is also dated - back in 2001. But we did the following:

- Flew GIG-IGU early morning on Varig (direct flight, but with a quick touch down along the way - I think in CWB).
- Had a driver pick us up on the Brazil side, saw the falls from there for a few hours, then drove us across the border to the Sheraton on the Argentina side to spend the night.
- Woke up early the next morning and explored the Argentina side of the falls.
- Took a late afternoon flight IGR-AEP on LAPA and continued the trip from Buenos Aires onward.

We could have stayed another night there as there were more trails to explore on the Argentina side. But we also had other places we wanted to explore over our two plus weeks in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. Glad we made the visit as short as it was.

At the time, I had a MercoSur Airpass which made the flying very affordable. Though I ended up purchasing the GIG-IGU flight on Varig's Brazil site as it was even cheaper than the pass segment and much cheaper than what the US/external sites were showing. Definitely check the Brazil/domestic sites of the airline options for specials.

RafKa

Note that Aerolineas has recently started flying direct GIG-IGR (that's on the Argentinean side) for a very competitive USD 210 rtn. Besides, hotels on the Argentinean side are much cheaper and better (not to mention the food!). Look up Los Troncos Hotel in Iguazu. Once there you can also organize small taxi excursions to the Brazilian side of the falls and Paraguay (Ciudad del Este must rank as one of the ugliest most uninteresting places on Earth).