Foz do Iguaçu

Foz do Iguaçu is the Brazilian city across the river from Puerto Iguazú, joined to it by a bridge. Its national park holds the other half of the Cataratas do Iguaçu: a path of about a kilometre and a half that runs along the gorge facing the Argentine falls, and ends on a walkway pushed out over the water, close to the Garganta do Diabo. What the Argentine side shows from inside, this one shows whole. Next to the park entrance, the Parque das Aves keeps birds of the Atlantic forest; north of the city, the Itaipú dam is one of the largest in the world.

For most travellers based in Argentina, the Brazilian side is half a day, with the border formalities, usually the morning after the Argentine side. A night at the hotel inside the Brazilian park changes it completely, with the falls to yourself at dawn and dusk. Helicopter flights over the falls leave from this side. Journeys that arrive from Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo often start here.

The falls run all year, with the most water in summer and the most mist on the path. Winter is mild and clearer.