Iguassu Falls from Both Sides & Itaipu Dam (3 nights)

Your Iguassu Falls From Both Sides & Itaipu Dam (3 nights) includes three nights at a 3 star hotel, roundtrip airport transfers, tours of the Iguassu Waterfalls from both sides (Brazilian and Argentinean) and a trip to Itaipu Dam. The exact timing of the tour, as well as the order in which the different activities are done, depends on the time of your flights and your personal preference. The itinerary given below is just a suggestion and can be altered to suit your needs.

You will be met at Cataratas International Airport and taken directly to your hotel. English-speaking staff will greet you when you clear the airport luggage area – just look for the local representative holding a sign with your name on it. You can discuss the precise details of your tour with the representative who collects you from the hotel.

Check in at your hotel. If it is evening, you might like to just rest and relax. Alternatively, if you arrive early in the day, you may like to start sightseeing immediately.

You will stay the night in a comfortable 3-star hotel. Dinner is available at the hotel (payable direct) or you might like to go out to a restaurant in town.

After breakfast in your hotel (included in your tour) you will be picked up driven to the Iguassu National Park. An English-speaking guide will accompany you.

Located on the Iguazú River, on the border between Brazil and Argentina, Iguassu Falls is one of world’s most impressive cataracts – 60 feet higher than Niagara and about 1 ½ times as wide.

The name Iguassu comes from the Guaraní Indian word meaning ‘great water’. The Falls consists of 275 separate waterfalls plunging 300 feet over a precipice more than 1 ½ miles across.

From the Visitor Center on the Argentinean side you can head down trails or ride a picturesque train (included in the entrance fee). There are two basic circuits: an upper path and a lower path.

The lower path (Paseo Inferior) leads to the base of the Falls where the headlong crash of the torrent releases a thick mist into the air. The upper path (Paseo Superior) leads you around the top rim of the precipice and affords breathtaking views from a strategically placed catwalk.

During the day you will enjoy a buffet lunch at a restaurant (included in your tour price).

At the end of the day you will return to your hotel in Foz do Iguassu. Dinner is not included.

You will enjoy breakfast in your hotel (included) before being taken to visit Itaipu Dam – the largest operational hydroelectric power plant in the world. Built on the Paraná River near the border between Brazil and Paraguay, the plant generates a power of 12,600 megawatts, that’s 25 per cent of the electricity consumed by Brazil and 95 per cent of the energy consumed by Paraguay.

The dam is a magnificent feat of engineering by any standards. The volume of concrete used in the reservoir could construct 210 stadiums the size of Maracaná and the iron and the steel would be enough to construct a building 380 times the size of the Eiffel Tower.

It’s therefore not surprising that, in 1994, the American Society of Civil Engineers elected the Itaipu Dam as one of the seven modern Wonders of the World!

You will be shown a short film about Itaipu and its amazing history before boarding a bus for a guided tour which explains the significance of the dam and the operation of the plant. The bus will stop at a central lookout where you will be able to see the plant and its incredible structures including the gigantic pressure tubes.

During the day you will enjoy a buffet lunch at a restaurant (included in your tour price).

At the end of the tour, you will be dropped back at your hotel. At the appropriate time, a vehicle will meet you at your hotel and take you directly to the airport for your flight home.