Travel to Paraguay
Flying to Paraguay
Paraguay has no national carrier, but the Brazilian airline TAM (www.tam.com.br) has regular flights in and of Asunción, linking it with other South American nations, the UK and the USA. Note the airline is merging with LAN to become LATAM (www.latam.com).
Flight times:
From London - 16 hours 30 minutes (including stopover); New York - 13 hours (including stopover).
Air passes:
oneworld Visit South AmericaPass: This pass allows travel to more than 60 destinations within South America. You must book a minimum of three flights; prices depend on the amount of flight zones you pass through. For further details visit www.oneworld.com.
GOL South America Airpass: Offers discounted rates on flights between Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. It must be booked in conjunction with an international ticket. Visit www.voegol.com.br for more details.
Departure tax:
US$31 for passengers departing from Asuncion and US$16 for those flying out of Ciudad del Este. This is sometimes included in the air fare; check with your airline. Transit passengers are exempt.
Travel by rail
There are no rail services.
Driving to Paraguay
From Argentina: There are long distance buses leaving from Buenos Aires to Asunción daily; the most common crossing is through the Clorinda/Puerto Falcón border. Another popular crossing is between Posadas and Encarnación, where motorists can take the Ruta 1 to Asunción or the Ruta 6 to Ciudad del Este.
From Brazil: There are regular buses from Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba and even Brasilia (once a week). They cross the 'Friendship Bridge' that joins Foz de Iguazu with Ciudad del Este which motorists can also use to travel due west on Ruta 7 and Ruta 2 to Asuncion. There are also crossings further North between Guairá and Salto de Guairá or Ponta Porã and Pedro Juan Caballero.
From Bolivia: The only entry point is in the Gran Chaco; buses run from La Paz and Santa Cruz going through Villa Montes in Bolivia and arriving in Mariscal Estigarribia in the Chaco.
By road note:
It is not advisable to travel at night due to poor lighting and the prevalence of drivers under the influence of alcohol. Police road checks are common, so be sure to have all documents in order. Motorists must carry a fire extinguisher, tow bar and spare tyre in the car.
Getting to Paraguay by boat
Although landlocked, Paraguay has 3,100km (1,900 miles) of waterways, primarily the Paraguay and Paraná Rivers. There are five major ports – Asunción, Caacupemi, Villeta and San Antonio, which are situated on the Rio Paraguay and Encarnación on the Paraná River.
The Paraguayan port authority has more information (www.annp.gov.py).
Ferry operators:
There are ferry links with Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil. Travellers using the river to travel to Argentina should note that the Posadas (Argentina)-Encarnación (Paraguay) route is 321km (200 miles) shorter than the more traditional route to Buenos Aires.
Visitors to Iguazú Falls can take a ferry from Puerto Iguazú in Argentina direct to the city of Presidente Franco (just south of Ciudad del Este) thus avoiding crossing into Brazil and entering Ciudad del Este over the busy Friendship Bridge.
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