Iguazu Falls Decision

Another vote for going to the Falls, even if for only one day. We did it independently from BA in one long day, arranging for a private guide to pick us up at the Iguasu airport , take us to & through the park (with short cuts saving time, etc) , at the end of the day taking us back to the airport, all at less than 1/2 of the cost of the ship's tour.

Hi we are looking to book a one day tour to the falls - the cruise trip is fully booked, who did you book with?

The real issue is available seats on the limited number of flights per day. Check LATAM airlines for availability. It is an easy diy trip. The domestic Buenos Aires airport is close to the port and the iguazu falls airport (Argentina) is close to the falls.

We had the same issue. We decided to do it and were very happy that we did. We only did the Argentine side as we were not willing to bother paying or getting the Brazil Visa.

We did not do a tour. We made our own arrangments. We saved about $100. each on airfare by calling the Aerolineas call centre in BA. You can see the prices on their local web site-different prices for different departure times/days. The Aerolineas 1-800 call centre in North America gave us their phone number. English is no issue. They can only charge 5000 pesos at time so you may need two visa transactions. Cost us fifty cents on our long distance calling card to call them rather than book on a NA web site!

We stayed at a hotel in town and were glad that we did. Lots of good restaurants nearby and a direct bus to the falls.

Why not do some googling....you will probably find some utubes of the falls and then make your decision. It was one of the highlights of our trip.

We were glad that we did not book a tour. It was not at all necessary. Also glad that we did not stay at the hotel by the falls or in any hotels outside the town center.

I echo the previous posters. There is no need to book a tour (I saw a few tours at the falls, and they basically dump you off at the head of the trails). Book your plane ticket. Book your hotel (use TripAdvisor for recommendations). Take a taxi to and from the airport in Puerto Iguazu. Catch the public bus to and from the falls. Use the hundreds of dollars you saved to enjoy a nice dinner or two in downtown Puerto Iguazu.

The only point I disagree on is the need to take the boat to go under the falls. We did not do it, but we watched several boats full of tourists, and they came nowhere near the falls. Certainly not under a waterfall as one poster mentioned. It's hot as heck most of the year (we were there in early April) and we were very grateful for shade. Those boats were out in the blazing sun and never went close enough to the falls to even get some mist thrown on them. Now maybe there's a different boat excursion we didn't see, but we did see at least a half dozen boats, and they basically rode around the river below the falls, but never came within 100 yards of the actual falls.

Hi we are looking to book a one day tour to the falls - the cruise trip is fully booked, who did you book with?

We used Defranco tours in BA who arranged for the tour guide in Igusau. Contrary to an above poster the guide picked us up at the airport, drove us to the park, toured with us the entire way, helped us choose a restaurant for lunch & took us back to the airport at the end of the day. It was made very easy without hassles of looking for cabs, buses, etc .

I echo the previous posters. There is no need to book a tour (I saw a few tours at the falls, and they basically dump you off at the head of the trails). Book your plane ticket. Book your hotel (use TripAdvisor for recommendations). Take a taxi to and from the airport in Puerto Iguazu. Catch the public bus to and from the falls. Use the hundreds of dollars you saved to enjoy a nice dinner or two in downtown Puerto Iguazu.

 

The only point I disagree on is the need to take the boat to go under the falls. We did not do it, but we watched several boats full of tourists, and they came nowhere near the falls. Certainly not under a waterfall as one poster mentioned. It's hot as heck most of the year (we were there in early April) and we were very grateful for shade. Those boats were out in the blazing sun and never went close enough to the falls to even get some mist thrown on them. Now maybe there's a different boat excursion we didn't see, but we did see at least a half dozen boats, and they basically rode around the river below the falls, but never came within 100 yards of the actual falls.

There are two kinds of boats. One type shuttles people back and forth to an island. The other type is shown here.

We flew up in the late afternoon/early evening. Spent the entire day at the falls. Flew home the next morning. Two nights, one day. We were on a 7 week trip so there was no rush to fly up and and back in one day. We considered flying in for the day but we were glad that we did not.

There are two kinds of boats. One type shuttles people back and forth to an island. The other type is shown here.

 

I wonder if there's been a change since 2014? The boats we saw were not shuttling to the island. In fact, I think access to the island had been suspended for some reason. They were departing from the Argentine side, riding around up to 100 yds. or so from the falls, and then turning around and coming back. I might have taken one if they'd gone where they did in your linked video.

December 2016:

Here's a video that really illustrates how wet you get, and how close:

This is the smaller Zodiac boat that leaves from the Brazilian side:

This one was shot from San Martin island, another trip from the Argentine side:

Our experience, after making our own arrangements, is that you will pay slightly more than double if you select a cruise ship tour.

It really comes down to whether or not you are a fairly independent traveller or if you are happy to pay for the convenience of having everything arranged for you.

We see zero value in a guide to the Argentina side of the falls. We had no trouble getting re ommendations for dinner on the two nights that we were there. The bus was a block or so from our hotel...it took us directly to the falls. Our hotel arranged for a car to pick us up at the airport and to take us back. Getting from our BA hotel to the airport (AEP) and back was a snap...just hopped on the airport bus. We used Aerolineas but Ltam and I think one other airline does thus trip from BA.

Bottom line for us...we were glad that we did not bother with a tour. Making our own arrangements was very straightforward.