How do you visit the Itaipú Dam from Paraguay?

The visit is free but capacity is limited. Book ahead in Itaipú's official app (apps.itaipu.gov.py/PWAP) and show up at the Hernandarias CRV with your ID or passport. For questions, Itaipú lists the phone numbers (061) 599-8040 and 599-8094 and the email cturistico@itaipu.gov.py.

In September 2026 the daily departures reported were 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 10:30, 13:10, 14:00 and 14:30. They can change: check before you go. The complex closes only three days a year: May 1, Christmas and New Year's Day.

Hernandarias is about 15 km from Ciudad del Este. From Asunción it is about 340 km and roughly 5 hours 20 minutes by car on route PY02 and then PY07.

The bus tours the plant with stops at lookouts: the 196-meter-high dam, the water intake and the Right Bank lookout, from which you see the spillway when it is open. The scale is staggering: twenty generating units, 14,000 MW of capacity and a reservoir of about 1,350 km².

A little context: the Itaipú Treaty was signed on April 26, 1973 between Paraguay and Brazil, and construction began in January 1975. The first unit went into operation on May 5, 1984. The energy is split fifty-fifty between the two countries, and in 1994 the American Society of Civil Engineers listed Itaipú among the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. It is also worth knowing that when the reservoir filled, the Guairá Falls (Saltos del Guairá) went under water.

After heavy rain in the basin, Itaipú can open the spillway, an extra spectacle that happened, for example, in September 2026. You can't plan around it: ask on the same day whether it is open.

The Monumental Lighting, with 829 points of light, premiered in 2002 and had its last show on August 8, 2026, because it is being replaced with LED technology. It will not run until the new system is complete, estimated at one year from August 2026. If your trip depends on seeing it, confirm with Itaipú first.

All of this is inside the Itaipú Tourist Complex or very close:

• Tekotopa: an environmental center opened in September 2025, with the Jaguar Trail (1.6 km), tapirs, harpy eagles and the Itaipu Guaraní Land Museum. The hours announced at opening were 8:30 to 15:30, every day except Tuesday, and visits are suspended in rain.
• Tatí Yupí Reserve: Itaipú's Atlantic forest, with a permit picked up the same day at the CRV.
• Tacurú Pucú Park: beach and park on the reservoir, in Hernandarias.

Afterward you can continue to Monday Falls and the Tres Fronteras marker, about 10 km south of Ciudad del Este.

From Foz you cross the Friendship Bridge to Ciudad del Este and continue to Hernandarias. Allow time for bridge lines, especially in Holy Week and the July holidays, and check whether your nationality needs a visa. One day is enough for Itaipú and Tekotopa; to add Monday Falls and the Tres Fronteras marker it is better to sleep in Ciudad del Este or Hernandarias. Book early on busy dates: in 2025 Hernandarias hotels hit 100 % on Good Friday and during the August patron-saint festival.