Ciudad Del Este

Ciudad del Este is a total mess. It is a good place for shopping because of the huge amount of stores, but is dirty, ugly and dangerous (at the least the part of the city where I’ve been). Be careful, don’t carry with you cameras, cell phones and anything valuable. If you are in Foz do Iguaçu you don’t need a passport or a visa to cross to Paraguay. Avoid buying stuff from the sellers on the street (there is a lot of people selling things on the street, I mean A LOT. It’s really annoying, just say “no gracias” and move on, haha) and don’t be afraid of bargain (for real, they reduce the prices a lot if you bargain). Watch out the tags on the products, sometimes are in dollars, sometimes are in reais (Brazil currency), and sometimes in guaranis (Paraguay currency). If you want to experience some paraguayan/argentinian/uruguaian/southern brazilian culture try “tererê”, is a cold and bitter beverage served in a horn called “guampa”. 2 months ago

good for shopping only

over 5 years ago

good for shopping only

over 5 years ago

I went to Ciudad del Este for a couple of days. I visited an impressive set of Jesuit mission ruins (Trinidad), and I took a ride out into the selva (rainforest) – some scary looking spiders out there!

The city itself was basically just a blackmarket zone. If you don’t mind haggling you can pick up all sorts of cheap stuff – (but I wouldn’t necessarily vouch for the quality). Otherwise it seemed full of hustle and bustle, but no real charm or places of interest that I discovered.

When I went over the bridge from Foz (in Brazil) to Ciudad del Este, no-one asked for our passports or implied we needed to get them stamped. When we left Paraguay we crossed at Posadas. The bridge was manned by officials with guns who complained that we didn’t have our passport stamped, and then began asking for money to let us cross, threatening us with jail if we didn’t pay up. Seemed like a bit of a put-up job.

over 6 years ago

Most people cross from the Iguassu Falls to Ciudad del Este for looking at a big bazaar style shopping area for electronics and the sort.

There are great attractions, however, that includes the Itaipu Dam one of the seven wonders of the modern world in Hernandarias, the Saltos del Monday and the Moises Bertoni Museum in Presidente Franco and several eco reserves for the preservation of the local wildlife (Tati Yupi, Limoy, Carapa, Itabo and more).

over 6 years ago