Explore Brazil’s Iguazu Falls: Your Ultimate Adventure Restart Guide

After a long journey, I finally arrived at Iguazu Falls.
Super practical travel guide
Accommodation in Iguazu: I chose the Selina hotel, a chain of youth hostels. The dorm bed costs $10. The hostel is quite large and has a communal kitchen. There’s a large supermarket 50 meters away, which also offers cheap buffets.

The staff speak English fluently. Across the street from the hostel, there’s a bus that goes directly to Iguazu Falls.
🚌 How to get to Iguazu: Take bus number 120 from the city, which costs 5 reais. Buses run every 20-30 minutes and accept both cash and card. The final stop is right at the entrance to the Bird Park, which is also the entrance to Iguazu Falls (don’t assume the border on the map is the entrance; I initially thought so).

You can also take an Uber to the Bird Park for around 40 reais. If you go early in the morning, you can visit the Bird Park.
🎫 The entrance fee for Iguazu Falls is 100 reais. There are staff at the entrance who will guide you to buy tickets from the machines, which include the cost of the shuttle buses inside.

As for the boat ride under the falls, you can buy it once inside, at the second stop, for 355 reais. You can do this until 4 PM. We arrived around 4 PM and were still able to buy tickets, but we were among the last group to do the boat ride.
Touring: It’s recommended to go straight to the fourth and final stop, which is the waterfall viewing platform.

You can take close-up photos of the falls and will likely spend about an hour there. If you have more time and energy, you can get off at the third stop and walk up the trail to the falls. After viewing and taking photos, take the shuttle to the second stop for the boat ride. Choose the safari+ package, which includes the shuttle and the boat ride.

You can choose between a wet or dry boat. I strongly recommend the wet boat; if you’re going to do the boat ride, you might as well get soaked! [Laughing] But be warned, you will get completely drenched.
⚠️ Strong recommendation: If you’re not wearing a waterproof jacket, buy a raincoat. It really does feel like it’s raining under the falls, and you will get wet, especially when you get very close to the falls.

It’s just like being in the rain. Bring a waterproof phone case, as you’ll need it for taking photos at the falls and during the boat ride. If you’re using a camera, make sure it’s well protected. I was lucky that my Pocket 3 had basic waterproofing, but water got into the charging port of my phone.

💨 Whether or not to do the boat ride, since you’ve come all this way, even if it’s cold enough for a down jacket, you should definitely do it. When doing the boat ride, leave a set of dry clothes in the locker. You’ll still need a raincoat, which they sell for 15 reais at the boat ride area. Lockers cost 10 reais.

My friend bought one, and their clothes and pants stayed dry after the ride. I didn’t buy one, relying on my waterproof jacket, but my pants got completely soaked.

It was also bitterly cold that day, with the temperature hovering at just 10 degrees, so I was grateful to have a set of dry clothes stashed in my locker.

🇦🇷 Can you visit the Argentine side of Iguazu Falls? You’ll need an Argentine visa, and considering the time it takes to cross the border, it’s best to allocate an entire day for the trip. However, if you have the visa, I highly recommend making the journey. The views from the Argentine side are said to be breathtakingly different, offering a unique and unforgettable perspective.