THE FALLS OF IGUAZU
Welcome to Iguazu Falls! One of the most important destinations in Argentina, Brazil and South America!
Every year, millions of people come to visit this beautiful natural attraction that Argentina and Brazil have to offer. During 2019, the park received 1,640,000 visitors, both local and TOURIST.
everyone is amazed at this natural wonder!
The Iguazu National Park consists of two national parks, one in Foz de Iguazu (Brazil) and the other one in Puerto Iguazu (Argentina). The curious thing is that although one only sees the falls as the main attraction, the park has a size of 252,982 hectares (67,720 on the Argentine side and 185,262 on the Brazilian side).
These falls in Argentina and Brazil managed to attract so much attention that almost at the same time they were declared National Parks (1934 in Argentina and 1939 in Brazil). And after some years and millions of visitors fascinated by the landscape and the sound of this natural attraction, UNESCO declared them as World Heritage Site in 1984, and reaffirmed as Exceptional Universal Value (their cultural and nature it’s so important that it’s conservation should be of worldwide interest) in 2013.
Why are they so famous? It is enough to just see photos and videos to be amazed by its beauty. But it is not only about tourism: the Iguazu National Park is home to many species of animals and flora that create an important natural ecosystem connected to all Latin America.
Each visitor who comes to the Iguazu Falls collaborates to continue the conservation work for the area. And obviously, Iguazu Falls have allowed the development of local economies, making the city of Puerto Iguazu and Foz de Iguazu grow and improve the quality of life of its inhabitants.
Iguazu Falls on the Argentine side has the largest tourist portion of the national park, as it offers several trails and roads to get to know the place. However, in size it is still much smaller than the Brazilian side, since there are 67,720 hectares here (while in Brazil there are 185,262 hectares).
The national park is 18 kilometres from Puerto Iguazu. In that city is the great part of the hotels offer of the region, and you must go through there to cross to Foz de Iguazu and visit the Brazilian side.
Puerto Iguazu is located at approximately 1:50 hours by plane from Buenos Aires. There is also a bus offer, although it usually takes approximately 20 hours to arrive.
The Iguazu National Park on the Argentine side has 6 different circuits to do, Superior Circuit, Lower Circuit, Devil's Throat, Macuco Trail, Rainforest Ecological Train, Green Trail.
Iguazu Falls on the Brazilian side, as a national park, was created in 1939, and unlike on the Argentine side, this national park has approximately 180,000 hectares (three times more than the Argentine one).
Combined with the Argentine side, the Parque Nacional do Iguazu completes the visit with a beautiful panoramic view of the Iguazu Falls.
Circuits
The Parque Nacional do Iguazu has the peculiarity that it only has one circuit, of approximately 1500 meters. But this section can take approximately 2 hours to complete, since during the journey you will be constantly seeing the falls, so you will surely make several stops to take photos and look at the place.
At the end of the tour, you will find the best part of this national park, as you can be just over 100 meters from an imposing 200-meter jump that will get wet (along the way you can buy pilots to avoid getting clothes or electronic devices like camera photography and phones, get wet).
To get to the beginning of the circuit, you must take the bus that is always at the park entrance. After buying the ticket, you should go to the right where you will see a delimited path to take the bus. There is usually a bus every 20-30 minutes.
The bus will make three stops, the first is the entrance to take the Macuco Safari (highly recommended!), the second is at the beginning of the main circuit entrance, and the last stop is at the end of this circuit, where you can take the elevator to the platform where you can see the best views of the falls.
The path has no difficulty, but you should know that there are several stairs that go up and down. If you want you can skip the second stop and go directly to the end, this way you will avoid the stairs. There you will find an elevator.
