Carmen del Paraná looks out over the Yacyretá reservoir with an 8-10 km promenade that forms a peninsula: along some stretches you can't see the far shore and the river feels like the sea. It has three beaches — Tacuary, the busiest, Ybycu'i and Pirayú — and a small-town feel, surrounded by rice paddies and silos. The old railway station houses a history museum with locomotives and remains of the bridge over the Tacuary stream, scene of a key battle in 1811.

Founded on 24 April 1843, it was an important station on the southern railway. On the banks of the Tacuary stream, on 9 March 1811, Paraguayan forces defeated the Buenos Aires expedition led by Manuel Belgrano, an episode that preceded independence in May 1811. Around 2012 the town completed its riverfront promenade, part of the Yacyretá works.