Must-see
Caacupé · Cordillera
Basílica de la Virgen de los Milagros de Caacupé
Paraguay's spiritual capital: a Marian basilica, the Virgin's spring and the country's largest pilgrimage.
54 km2–3 hours
Garcia.dennis · CC BY-SA 4.0Editorial selection by Asunción City, with data checked in September 2026.
Cordillera 5
Must-see
Yaguarón · Paraguarí
Templo de San Buenaventura de Yaguarón
A jewel of Guaraní Baroque: 18th-century altarpieces and a candidate for UNESCO World Heritage status.
48 km2–3 hours
Emboscada · Cordillera
Emboscada
A town of stone and Afro-Paraguayan heritage, where feathered Guaikurú dancers honor San Francisco Solano every July.
39 km2–3 hours
Valenzuela · Cordillera
Valenzuela
The pineapple town: a Franciscan church from 1783 with statues from the 1600s, and streams for cooling off.
107 kmHalf a day
Acahay · Paraguarí
Cerro Acahay (Monumento Natural Macizo Acahay)
An ancient volcanic complex visible from Asunción: trails, rock outcrops, caves and a crystal-clear stream on its slopes.
100 kmHalf a day
Misiones 11
UNESCOMust-see
Trinidad · Itapúa
Misión Jesuítica de la Santísima Trinidad del Paraná
Paraguay's best-preserved Jesuit reduction: reddish stone, musician angels and an evening light show.
398 kmHalf a day
UNESCOMust-see
Jesús · Itapúa
Misión Jesuítica de Jesús de Tavarangue
A colossal church that was never finished: trefoil arches in the middle of the countryside, a World Heritage Site.
408 km2-3 hours
Must-see
San Cosme y Damián · Itapúa
San Cosme y Damián: misión y Centro de Interpretación Astronómica Buenaventura Suárez
The mission where a Jesuit studied the stars in 1703; today, a planetarium, telescopes and dark skies beside the Paraná.
335 km1 day
Encarnación · Itapúa
Santuario de la Virgen de Itacuá
A Marian grotto on the rocks of the Paraná, with woodland, trails and a huge pilgrimage every 8 December.
380 km2-3 hours
Must-see
San Ignacio · Misiones
Tañarandy y la procesión de Viernes Santo (Yvága Rape)
Paraguay's most beautiful Good Friday: thousands of candles, traditional Passion chants and a living altarpiece.
225 km2-3 hours
Santa Rosa · Misiones
Santa Rosa de Lima y la Capilla de Loreto
A Jesuit chapel with Guaraní frescoes and a painted starry ceiling, beside a red-stone bell tower.
245 km2-3 hours
Santa María · Misiones
Santa María de Fe
A peaceful Jesuit town with a Baroque museum, embroidery artisans and howler monkeys in the plaza.
230 kmHalf a day
San Ignacio · Misiones
San Ignacio Guazú y su Museo Diocesano de Arte Jesuítico
Paraguay's first Jesuit reduction keeps thirty Guaraní Baroque carvings in a living museum.
226 kmHalf a day
Fram · Itapúa
Colonia Fram
Orthodox domes, wheat fields and sunflowers: the Slavic colony named after a Norwegian polar ship.
350 km2-3 hours
Santiago · Misiones
Santiago: museo jesuítico y Fiesta de la Tradición Misionera
Jesuit carvings, a complete altarpiece and, every January, the great gaucho festival of Misiones tradition.
278 kmHalf a day
San Juan Bautista · Misiones
San Juan Bautista, cuna de Mangoré
The capital of Misiones was the birthplace of guitarist Agustín Pío Barrios, 'Mangoré', and celebrates St John's Day in style.
196 km2-3 hours
Asunción 6
Asunción · Asunción (Distrito Capital)
Iglesia de la Encarnación
A monumental, unfinished church on a downtown hill, with a dome, a pipe organ and a museum devoted to Pope Francis.
1 km30 min – 1 hour
Must-see
Asunción · Asunción (Distrito Capital)
Panteón Nacional de los Héroes y Oratorio de la Virgen de la Asunción
The domed shrine where the great names of Paraguayan history rest, watched over by soldiers in full dress uniform.
30 min – 1 hour
Asunción · Asunción (Distrito Capital)
Catedral Metropolitana de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción
Seat of the first bishopric in the Río de la Plata region, with a silver-clad high altar and a neoclassical façade.
1 hour
Asunción · Asunción (Distrito Capital)
Museo de Arte Sacro (Fundación Nicolás Darío Latourrette Bo)
17th- and 18th-century Hispano-Guaraní Baroque carvings in an elegant early-20th-century mansion.
1 km1–2 hours
Asunción · Asunción (Distrito Capital)
Cementerio de la Recoleta
Paraguay's first public cemetery, still in use: an open-air museum of mausoleums and famous figures.
6 km1–2 hours
Asunción · Asunción (Distrito Capital)
15 de agosto: Fundación de Asunción y fiesta de la Virgen de la Asunción
The Mother of Cities' birthday coincides with the feast of its patron saint: a national holiday with Mass and cultural events.
1 day
Gran Asunción 6
Must-see
Itauguá · Central
Itauguá
The capital of ñandutí: handmade 'spiderweb' lace, sold right along Route PY02.
34 km2-3 hours
Must-see
Itá · Central
Itá
One of the oldest towns in the country and a capital of pottery, with a clay tradition recognized by UNESCO.
37 kmHalf a day
Capiatá · Central
Capiatá
A colonial-era church dedicated to Our Lady of Candelaria and a museum of Guarani myths, right on Route PY02.
23 km2-3 hours
Lambaré · Central
Lambaré
Asunción's neighbor at the foot of Cerro Lambaré, home to the legend of a Guarani chief and the much-loved burreritas.
10 km2-3 hours
Ypané · Central
Ypané
A former Franciscan mission town on the Paraguay River, with the great monument to the Battle of Ytororó.
29 km2-3 hours
Fernando de la Mora · Central
Kamba Kua (comunidad afroparaguaya)
Descendants of Artigas's lancers have kept the drums and the feast of San Baltasar alive since 1820.
14 km2-3 hours
Este 3
San Joaquín · Caaguazú
Templo de San Joaquín y Santa Ana
A Jesuit church from 1747 that still stands and is still in use, freshly restored, with 18th-century carved statues.
214 km2–3 hours
Hernandarias · Alto Paraná
Hernandarias
The city of energy: dams, a beach on the Itaipú reservoir and a Way of the Cross lit by candles.
335 km1 day
Coronel Oviedo · Caaguazú
Coronel Oviedo
The old Villa de Ajos, Paraguay's crossroads: Rosary festivities, its own orchestra and farms for unplugging.
132 kmHalf a day
Guairá 5
Must-see
Villarrica · Guairá
Villarrica del Espíritu Santo
The 'wandering city' that moved seven times: capital of Guairá, cradle of poets and home of the Guairá Carnival.
172 km1 day
Must-see
Caazapá · Caazapá
Caazapá
The most important Franciscan mission in the Río de la Plata region and the legendary spring of Friar Luis de Bolaños.
230 km1 day
Mbocayaty · Guairá
Mbocayaty del Guairá
Home of encaje ju lace, with an 1857 church, a municipal museum and Expo Guairá every October.
166 km2–3 hours
Itapé · Guairá
Itapé y el Santuario de la Virgen del Paso
Every December 18, tens of thousands of pilgrims converge on the shrine of the Virgen del Paso, beside the Tebicuarymí River.
190 kmHalf a day
Yuty · Caazapá
Yuty
A Franciscan mission from 1611, a 1902 railway station and a century-old iron bridge over the Pirapó River.
300 kmHalf a day
Chaco 4
Must-see
Fuerte Olimpo · Alto Paraguay
Fuerte Olimpo
A colonial fort from 1792 and three hills above the Paraguay River: the gateway to the Pantanal.
780 km2-3 days
Mariscal Estigarribia · Boquerón
Mariscal Estigarribia
The “military town” at the heart of the Chaco, a crossroads toward Bolivia and home base of the Transchaco Rally.
525 kmhalf a day
Villa Hayes · Presidente Hayes
Villa Hayes
The gateway to the Chaco, half an hour from Asunción, named after a president of the United States.
31 kmhalf a day
Mariscal Estigarribia (comunidad Santa Teresita) · Boquerón
Arete Guasu en Santa Teresita
The great festival of the Western Guaraní: masks, drums and circle dances that bring the living and their ancestors together at Carnival.
528 km1 day
Norte 3
San Estanislao · San Pedro
San Estanislao (Santaní)
A Jesuit mission, Marshal López's barracks and the legend of the Tapiracuái stream.
155 kmhalf a day
San Pedro del Ycuamandiyú · San Pedro
San Pedro del Ycuamandiyú
Colonial mansions, a Franciscan cathedral and beaches on the Jejuí River, with Puerto Antequera just next door.
334 km1 day
Lima · San Pedro
Lima
A Franciscan town from 1792 with a colonial adobe church on the banks of the Aguaray Guasu.
253 km2-3 hours