How do you add Paraguay to a South America itinerary?

• Foz do Iguaçu - Ciudad del Este: the Friendship Bridge, one of South America's busiest crossings, with long lines at peak hours. The new Integration Bridge admits only cars of border-area residents with a special document.
• Posadas - Encarnación: the San Roque González de Santa Cruz bridge, 2,550 m long, used by cars, international buses and the binational train.
• Clorinda - Puerto Falcón: the San Ignacio de Loyola bridge, open 24 hours, about 40 km from Asunción.
• Rivers and dry borders: there are ferries such as Itá Enramada-Puerto Pilcomayo and Alberdi-Formosa, and dry borders between Pedro Juan Caballero and Ponta Porã or between Salto del Guairá and Mundo Novo.

At dry borders there is no automatic control: find the Migraciones office and get your entry stamped, because without that record you can run into trouble when leaving.

This is the most natural one if you're coming from Brazil or doing the falls. You sleep in Foz or Puerto Iguazú, cross into Ciudad del Este for Itaipú, Monday Falls and the triple frontier, and continue to Asunción overland. Remember that the falls are seen from Argentina and Brazil, not from Paraguay.

Ciudad del Este is about 327 km from Asunción, roughly 5 hours by car on route PY02, which has four toll stations paid in cash in guaraníes. By bus the trip takes about 5 to 6 hours with companies such as NSA, San Luis, Crucero del Este and Expreso Guaraní. When heading into the interior, get your entry stamped at Migraciones.

If you're coming from Buenos Aires or northeastern Argentina and have already seen the Argentine missions, you cross from Posadas to Encarnación, the Pearl of the South, about 365 km from Asunción (5 hours 30 minutes on the PY01). From Encarnación it is 28 km to Trinidad and about 10 km more to Jesús, the two World Heritage missions. You then head up to Asunción via Santa María de Fe and San Ignacio.

The Posadas-Encarnación train uses the same bridge, with integrated immigration control on the Argentine side since July 2025, but it has had suspensions: confirm that it is running. There are also frequent international buses.

The Transchaco (PY09) is paved from Asunción to the Central Chaco: Filadelfia is about 470 km away, roughly 6 hours by car or 7 by overnight bus. Mariscal Estigarribia, about 525 km out, is the junction with the Bioceanic road (PY15) and the last big service hub before the Bolivian border. Stel Turismo runs a bus from Asunción to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, along this route.

Before continuing to Bolivia, ask where to get your exit stamp: for years it was done in Mariscal Estigarribia and there are reports of a Paraguayan post at the border. Carry fuel and water, avoid driving at night and don't count on phone signal for long stretches.

• 3 days: historic Asunción and a pass through Caacupé and Lake Ypacaraí.
• 7 days: Asunción, the Jesuit missions, Encarnación and the East with Itaipú and Monday Falls.
• 14 days: add the Mennonite Chaco.

Citizens of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru enter with a valid national ID. Those from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand need no visa for up to 90 days, with the exemption valid until August 13, 2027: confirm it if you travel near that date. Paraguay uses UTC-3 all year, the same time as Buenos Aires and São Paulo.

If you arrive by air, Asunción has flights on Aerolíneas Argentinas, JetSMART, LATAM, Gol, Copa, Boliviana de Aviación and others, with connections through Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Panama, Santiago, Lima and Bogotá.