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Iguazu Falls tour info from B. Aires


vagabondbug

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Arriving in B.Aires on a cruise in early Jan, 2013, and would like to consider taking a tour to Iguazu falls. Would appreciate any tour info/options on it. I do NOT have any time restraints, and would like an economical tour if possible.

 

Thanx

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Arriving in B.Aires on a cruise in early Jan, 2013, and would like to consider taking a tour to Iguazu falls. Would appreciate any tour info/options on it. I do NOT have any time restraints, and would like an economical tour if possible.

 

Thanx

 

Try this company http://patagoniashorex.com/buenos_iguazu.html . Remember, you must have a Brazilian visa to go on this trip. I think it costs about $100

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Try this company http://patagoniashorex.com/buenos_iguazu.html . Remember, you must have a Brazilian visa to go on this trip. I think it costs about $100

 

We were on a HAL precruise tour this past Feb. from BA. The tour did not visit the Brazillian side so visas were not needed.

 

We felt we saw plenty on the Agentinian side and did not feel we were missing anything.

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I highly recommend Defrantur (http://www.defrantur.com) for any tours you might want in Argentina. Please see my review of our precruise tour to Iguazu Falls at http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=80603

 

We did tour both sides of the falls and you WILL need a Brazilian visa to visit the Brazilian side.

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If you've ever done DIY excursions, Iguassu Falls is an easy excursion to do on your own. We recently flew from Rio de Janeiro to Foz do Iguacu on the Brazil side of the Falls. We stayed 2 nights at a hotel in Foz do Iguacu. We booked the airline tickets and hotels online and found local transportation to be readily available. Everything on both sides of the Falls is well mapped, marked, and self-explanatory. You don't need a guide unless you want to speed up the process of going back and forth across the border. You should plan on spending at least a half day on the Brazil side and a full day on the Argentina side. The Brazil side has double deck buses to shuttle you between overlooks where you cans see most of the Falls with minimal walking. On the Argentina side, a narrow gauge railway takes you from the visitor's center to 2 or 3 different stations along the Falls, but there's a still a lot of walking involved to get out to Devil's Throat and along the Upper and Lower Circuit trails. It's one of nature's most beautiful places, and well worth the trip.:)

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Arriving in B.Aires on a cruise in early Jan, 2013, and would like to consider taking a tour to Iguazu falls. Would appreciate any tour info/options on it. I do NOT have any time restraints, and would like an economical tour if possible.

 

Thanx

 

 

If you want to economize, it is very easy to do this tour yourself. All you really need to do yourself is arrange flights, a hotel in Iguazu and ground transportation. No guides are necessary inside the park. The trails are well marked.

 

Book a flight on LAN http://www.lan.com/en_us/sitio_personas/index.html a thought about flights: If you have never spent any time in Buenos Aires, it is an amazing city. Plan to spend some time here either on your way to or back from Iguazu if at all possible.

 

 

Book the Sheraton Iguazu, preferably for two nights. http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1152

 

The Sheraton is the only hotel inside the national park on the Argentina side of the border. As such, it is pricey. I usually stay there to maximize the time I have available but there are other options in town that are less expensive.

 

Ground transportation is easy enough to arrange in advance or on site.

 

 

If you do not find the information you need re: hotels in BA, ground transportation or other details just post questions here.

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If you want to economize, it is very easy to do this tour yourself. All you really need to do yourself is arrange flights, a hotel in Iguazu and ground transportation. No guides are necessary inside the park. The trails are well marked.

 

Book a flight on LAN http://www.lan.com/en_us/sitio_personas/index.html a thought about flights: If you have never spent any time in Buenos Aires, it is an amazing city. Plan to spend some time here either on your way to or back from Iguazu if at all possible.

 

 

Book the Sheraton Iguazu, preferably for two nights. http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1152

 

The Sheraton is the only hotel inside the national park on the Argentina side of the border. As such, it is pricey. I usually stay there to maximize the time I have available but there are other options in town that are less expensive.

 

Ground transportation is easy enough to arrange in advance or on site.

 

 

If you do not find the information you need re: hotels in BA, ground transportation or other details just post questions here.

 

Agree, agree, agree. While the Sheraton is more expensive than hotels in Puerto Iguazu, you are right there, inside the National Park. That is a big time saver. Also, many people recommend falls-view rooms. We did this, but would not do it again and would select a cheaper jungle-view room instead. The reason is that you are hardly in your room enough to enjoy the view. In the morning, when you have breakfast downstairs in the restaurant, you have large windows with which to see the falls, especially Devil's Throat.

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We did the same thing in January of this year. We arranged everything ourselves. We're in our early 70s.

 

We arranged our international air so that we returned home from Foz do Iguassu on the Brazilian side of the falls, and didn't even need to return to Buenos Aires where a trip between airports is required. We only needed to purchase a one-way ticket on LAN to the Argentinian side of the falls. We stayed at a B&B in Puerto Iguazu (around 1/3 the cost of the Sheraton). The proprietor of the B&B arranged for drivers to take us wherever we wanted to go (at a very reasonable cost) - across the border to the Brazilian side of the falls, to the Argentinian falls, to dinner, etc. We also took the local bus one day to the Argentinian side of the falls. As others have said, the trails are well marked, and we preferred going at our own pace. We stopped at the Sheraton for a drink one day and for lunch on another day - with great views from their air conditioned restaurant.

 

Seeing the falls from the Brazilian side was a highlight for us. We did need to get the Brazilian visas ahead - at a cost of ~ $140 per person. It was worth it to us for that magnificent view.

 

Spend at least 3 nights at the falls in order to see everything.

 

Also, be aware that LAN changes their flight times frequently.:eek: This happened to us and several other members of our cc roll call. Ours was changed around 3 times, since we booked very early. At one point, they changed us to an early morning flight, which we wouldn't have been able to make. There was no problem in changing to a better time by calling LAN - no change penalty charged since they had changed the flight time.

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Absolutely agree with the above posters about stretching the budget to stay at the Sheraton. Breakfast early and be waiting at the trail entrance when the ranger opens the gate at 8am. That way we could avoid the worst of the heat and humidity and the huge crowds that bus into the park later in the morning and stay till mid afternoon.

By late morning we were ready to seek refuge in the air-con of the Sheraton to re-emerge refreshed later in the day. We didn't find the other food options in the park appealing.

For us booking the Sheraton on-line was much cheaper and more flexible, allowing cancellation until 24 hours before check-in. We invested our money in this rather than paying for visas to Brazil.

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sandyss....you said you returned from Foz do Iguacu to the States. Did you have to take a flight to Sao Paulo? How was that connection?

 

Our flight home went through Sao Paulo. We had two stops, Sao Paulo and Dallas before arriving in San Francisco. Going through Sao Paulo was so much easier than the trip between airports in Buenos Aires. Of course we needed to get the Brazil visas, which we wanted to get anyway.

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Sandyss, from your response, I gather that Sao Paolo has only one airport (not a separate domestic airport as in B.A.) and you took a regional flight (which airline?) from Foz Do Iguacu to Sao Paolo and then an international flight from Sao Paolo to S.F.? Were the connection times manageable? Did you arrange air yourselves or through a travel agent? This arrangement sounds like a very good option for us as we will already have a Brazilian visa (our cruise departs from Rio) and we will have had a couple of days in B.A. before visiting the Falls, so no reason to go back to B.A. and have to spend an overnight there. Did you stay at the Secret Garden? We have reservations there for our trip.

Thanks.

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Sandyss, from your response, I gather that Sao Paolo has only one airport (not a separate domestic airport as in B.A.) and you took a regional flight (which airline?) from Foz Do Iguacu to Sao Paolo and then an international flight from Sao Paolo to S.F.? Were the connection times manageable? Did you arrange air yourselves or through a travel agent? This arrangement sounds like a very good option for us as we will already have a Brazilian visa (our cruise departs from Rio) and we will have had a couple of days in B.A. before visiting the Falls, so no reason to go back to B.A. and have to spend an overnight there. Did you stay at the Secret Garden? We have reservations there for our trip.

Thanks.

 

It sounds like you are doing the same thing as us. We did stay at Secret Garden, which was a lovely B&B. John arranged all of our transfers for us, including to the Brazilian side of the falls and to the airport in Brazil.

 

Yes, there is only one airport in Sao Paulo - much easier than going back to Buenos Aires and traveling through traffic between airports.

 

We booked our air using FF miles through American Airlines. We did the leg from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu on our own, since American wanted to fly us through Sao Paulo to get us to Iguazu, which didn't make sense to us. The nonstop on LAN worked out much better. American used GOL Airlines for the Foz do Iguassu to Sao Paulo leg. We did have a very long layover in Sao Paulo, since our flight to Dallas didn't leave until close to midnight.

 

Have a great trip.

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Just to prevent any confusion, there are two airports in Sao Paulo: GRU Guarulhos--this is the international airport; it also handles domestic flights. It is located outside of city center to the NE. Then there is a smaller domestic airport CGH Congonhas. It is located on the east midline of the city. There is service from Foz do Iguacu (the airport on the Brazilian side, code IGU vs. the airport on the Argentine side, code IGR) to both Sao Paulo airports, and I think Gol actually serves both! So just pay close attention to be sure you are booking exactly what you want. Also, to further complicate matters, Gol is in the process of acquiring WebJet, so your service may end up being supplied by them.

 

 

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Just to prevent any confusion, there are two airports in Sao Paulo: GRU Guarulhos--this is the international airport; it also handles domestic flights. It is located outside of city center to the NE. Then there is a smaller domestic airport CGH Congonhas. It is located on the east midline of the city. There is service from Foz do Iguacu (the airport on the Brazilian side, code IGU vs. the airport on the Argentine side, code IGR) to both Sao Paulo airports, and I think Gol actually serves both! So just pay close attention to be sure you are booking exactly what you want. Also, to further complicate matters, Gol is in the process of acquiring WebJet, so your service may end up being supplied by them.

 

We flew into and then out of GRU.

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Thank you for this very informative thread.

 

I just went to the LAN website and for our dates in late January, the R/T from BA to Iguazu is $428 PP! To those that have done this, is this about what you paid? Do you recall if you bought your plane ticket this early? I'm wondering if its better to wait and see if prices drop.

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Cruiseluv,

 

It's about what we paid for our return flight when we visited Iguazu February 2012. I made the bookings on-line with LAN in October 2011. Didn't want to delay booking as the destination and flights are very popular.

It was still school holidays in parts of South America.

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Thank you for this very informative thread.

 

I just went to the LAN website and for our dates in late January, the R/T from BA to Iguazu is $428 PP! To those that have done this, is this about what you paid? Do you recall if you bought your plane ticket this early? I'm wondering if its better to wait and see if prices drop.

 

We paid for a one-way ticket $191 per person. That included taxes. We purchased our tickets in March 2011 for a January 2012 flight. Every time that I checked their website for time changes, the price was increasingly higher than what we had paid.

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cruiseluv,

 

That is less than the price we paid and we noticed the price only got higher (especially the more convenient times) closer to (within a month) the departure date.

 

I would book it because the pricing for non-Argentineans is fairly rigid and I don't think I've ever seen this route go on sale (at least for non-Argentineans).

 

The price for non-Argentineans is higher than for Argentineans but the tickets are pretty flexible.

 

Be careful to check your itinerary regularly because they are notorious for doing this, and even within a couple days of the departure.

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  • 4 weeks later...

We're cruising Buenos Aires to Antarctica in February 2013, arriving early Friday morning before a 5:00 pm Sunday sailaway. I REALLY want to see Iguazu Falls, but am having trouble arranging the trip due to time factors. The best I've been able to find is a Saturday morning flight to Iguazu and return to BA Sunday morning. The earliest flight available on LAN arrives in BA at 11:45 am. Will we be able to make it to the ship in time to check in for 5:00 departure? How risky is this time frame considering the frequency of delays or flight changes on LAN? There is a ship excursion available, but it costs almost double the DIY version. Is it worth it for the security of knowing we won't miss the boat? Due to work schedules, we absolutely cannot come any earlier or stay after the cruise.

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I suggest you enjoy that time exploring BA before your cruise. That amount of time is really too short to do justice to the falls, and it will be expensive, stressful and risky! You will spend a pretty penny on the RT flight to the falls in exchange for spending a half day there on Friday. As I understand it, you will have arrived in BA Fri. AM via overnight international flight. What if someone is so wiped out they can't enjoy an active afternoon at the falls? As for Sat., what time is your backup flight if that one doesn't go as planned? In March, there were flights leaving very early AM, e.g., in the 4a to 7a time frame. It would be better to be on the wee hours AM flight to BA with the 11:45 as backup. All in all, sounds stressful! So sorry, I know this isn't what you wanted to hear.

 

 

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Hmmm...but I will add this thought. To avoid the risks attendant to flying out of Iguazu on embarkation day, we flew out the night before, taking the last flight of the night and using that wee hours AM flight the next day as our backup. So in your case, you'd just make it a long daytrip immediately on your arrival in Argentina. As long as you can depart BA for the falls before noon and everyone is fit enough to move through the park without need for long rest stops, you can do it (but there's no provision here for someone being wiped out from the overnight flight!). Use the left luggage at the BA airport and fly over in your park clothes with just a light daypack for water, snacks, bandana to wipe sweat and falls spray!, sunscreen, etc. The park closes at 6p, any flight 7:30p or later will work, you can retrieve your luggage and crash at an airport hotel. If you do this, there are three main falls paths: upper circuit, lower circuit and Devil's Throat. I suggest asking park officials on arrival whether lines for Devil's Throat are reasonable now or will be shorter at, say, 3:30? That will be the most time-consuming activity, but the highlight of your visit. You should research to evaluate whether upper or lower circuit sounds more interesting to you, just in case you have to forego one. I liked lower because I thought taking the boat ride under the falls (and getting soaking wet!) was a blast. Wear swimsuit or do that first thing so your clothes can dry out the rest of the day (they have large waterproof pouches to stow your camera, phone, daypack, etc.).

 

 

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Hi there,

This past winter I used turismo nuevo mundo for tours all down the east coast of south america. I believe their office in Brazil is their largest but they even offered tours in Ushuaia and the Falklands. The gave us a great group rate on all of the tours. It was nice to use just one company for everything. We flew in and did the falls seperate so our time was not so crazy and tight around the ship's itinerary.

As I understand it they deal with a few of the cruise lines for wholesale tours, so their rates were very resaonable. Much better than the onboard rates! http://www.turismonuevomundo.com

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