If you’re deciding where to stay in Iguazu Falls, my firm recommendation is to base yourself in the country you fly out of, it makes the rest of your trip much easier.
A slow border queue on a sightseeing morning just costs you an hour. On the morning of your flight it can cost you the flight, which is why you should pick your base around the flight home rather than around which side of the falls looks better. I flew into Foz do Iguaçu from São Paulo and out again to Rio, so I stayed in Brazil.
Budget won’t narrow it down either, because the two sides cost about the same across budgets. So below are nine hotels I’d book on either side, what each costs a night and how guests rate them, including the two special stays literally inside the parks.
More of my Brazil guides to help plan your trip
- Brazilian Side of Iguazu Falls – Costs, how long you need and the order to walk it in
- Things to Do in Rio de Janeiro – Best sights, prices, and a 5-day plan mapped for your phone
- Where to Stay in Rio de Janeiro – The best areas and hotels for first-timers at every budget
- Ilha Grande Travel Guide – How to get there, what to do and where to eat
- Ilha Grande Pousadas and Hotels – The best areas to stay on the island
- Paraty Brazil Travel Guide – The best activities, things to see and how to get there
Brazil or Argentina: Which Side Should You Stay On?
The quick answer
Sleep in the country you’ll leave from. That’s the one takeaway I want everyone to have.
For most people this settles itself, because they fly in and out of the same airport. It only becomes a decision where that’s not the case for you. Land at Foz do Iguaçu (IGU) and bus onward into Argentina, and you want Puerto Iguazú. Fly into Cataratas del Iguazú (IGR) and home from Brazil, and you want Foz.
We used IGU both ways, in from São Paulo and out to Rio, so it was an easy decision.
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What separates the two sides
Not price. Whatever your budget, both sides have something in it of a similar standard. These are the three things that do differ across the border.
- Your evenings. Foz puts you on a resort strip out towards the park, with pools and grounds and not much within walking distance, so dinner is at the hotel or a taxi ride. Puerto Iguazú is a small town you can walk around, with restaurants on the doorstep, and jungle lodges just outside it that Brazil has no equivalent of.
- Getting about. Uber works in Foz and it’s cheap. There’s no Uber in Puerto Iguazú at all, so you’re on the bus or paying a taxi several times what the same ride costs in Foz.
- How early you get to the park. Whichever side you sleep on is the one you can reach at opening, before the coaches as you don’t have to negotiate the border crossing.
Seeing the other side from your base
You can do both parks from either base and most people do. Allow a full day for each one plus the crossing, so three nights covers both comfortably and two nights covers one side well. If you’re doing the border crossing it’s easier to book a pre-arranged tour for that side.
The crossing itself is routine and thousands of people make it every day.
It’s so simple that we went over to Puerto Iguazú one evening for dinner. The hotel arranged a driver who collected us, managed the border and brought us back, which meant the only odd part was carrying a passport out to dinner.
Check your entry requirements before you book
Your plan only works if you can get into both countries, so check that before you book anything you can’t cancel. A UK passport gets you into Brazil without a visa. Travellers from the US, Canada and Australia have needed one since April 2025. Argentina has its own rules, so make sure you check both countries’ official sites.
Where to Stay in Iguazu Falls: Quick Picks
If you’re short on time these are my quick picks. The write-ups and the reasoning are further down along with some more options.
- Best value: Viale Cataratas Hotel, a four-star on the road to the park
- Best for families: Mabu Thermas Grand Resort, for the water park
- Best on the Argentine side: Hotel Saint George, opposite the bus stop for the park
- Best for one special night: Hotel das Cataratas, inside the Brazilian park
| Hotel | Side and area | Typical nightly rate | Booking.com rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viale Cataratas | Brazil, Cataratas road | $95 (£75) | 8.7 |
| Hotel Saint George | Argentina, town centre | $100 (£80) | 8.9 |
| La Aldea de la Selva | Argentina, Iryapú reserve | $120 (£95) | 8.6 |
| Mercure Iguazu Iru | Argentina, Iryapú reserve | $185 (£145) | 8.6 |
| Mabu Thermas | Brazil, Cataratas road | $230 (£180) | 8.4 |
| Bourbon Cataratas | Brazil, Cataratas road | $260 (£205) | 8.9 |
| Loi Suites Iguazú | Argentina, Iryapú reserve | $280 (£220) | 8.7 |
| Gran Meliá Iguazú | Argentina, inside park | $700 (£555) | 9.2 |
| Hotel das Cataratas | Brazil, inside park | $885 (£700) | 9.6 |
If there’s one booking decision I’d talk you out of, it’s splitting a short trip across both sides of the border. Pick one base for the whole stay.
Map of Iguazu falls hotels
Getting to the Falls From Each Base
Neither town is next to its falls. Both are roughly twenty to thirty minutes away by road, and what really varies is how much that journey costs you each day.
Getting to the Brazilian park from Foz
The hotels along the Avenida das Cataratas (also called Rodovia), the road linking the airport to the park, sit between 9km and 12km from the entrance. Uber works in Foz and it’s cheap. I paid about R$15 (£2) each way between the hotel and the park gate. There’s a public bus too, the 120, at about R$5 (75p) a head, which is the cheapest way to the gate if you’d rather skip the app entirely.
Time 20–30 minutes • Cost about R$15 (£2) each way
Foz do Iguaçu airport (IGU) sits about 3km from the park entrance, under ten minutes by road, and roughly 15 minutes from the Cataratas road hotels. It’s the closest airport to either park, which is worth knowing if you’re still weighing up the two sides.
My Top Tip! Getting an Uber out to the park is easy. Getting one back is less reliable, particularly around closing time when everyone leaves at once, so keep a taxi fare in your head for the return rather than assuming the app will find you a car.
Getting to the Argentine park from Puerto Iguazú
The park entrance is 18km from the town centre. The thing that’ll change your daily budget is that there’s no Uber or Cabify in Puerto Iguazú. Taxis know it, and a one-way fare to the park is around $22 (£17), or roughly $40 (£32) for a return with a pick-up time arranged.
The Rio Uruguay bus is the alternative and it’s a good one. It leaves the town bus terminal every 20 to 30 minutes from 7:30am, takes about 30 minutes, and costs a couple of dollars each way paid in cash at the counter.
Time about 30 minutes • Cost about $2 (£1.60) each way
Park entry prices and opening hours
The Brazilian park charges R$134 (about £20) for an adult and is open 9am to 4pm on weekdays, 8.30am to 4pm at weekends, with the park itself closing at 5.30pm. Buy online in advance rather than at the gate, and take the earliest slot you can get. I’ve written up the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls in full, including the order to walk the trail in and how the ticket collection works.
The Argentine park charges AR$60,000 for international visitors, which is roughly $40 (£32) at current rates. It’s open from 8am to 6pm, but the gate stops admitting people at 4pm and the last train to the Devil’s Throat leaves at 3:30pm. A second day is half price if you buy it at the park on your first visit and come back within 72 hours, which is worth doing if you want to walk the circuits in depth.
Where to Stay in Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil Side)
Why the Cataratas road is the base to book
The Rodovia das Cataratas is the road out of the city, past the airport, to the park gate, and it’s where I’d book. The hotels along it are resort-style, with their own pools, restaurants and grounds, and they sit 9km to 12km from the entrance against about 20km from the town centre.
The town centre is the alternative if walking to restaurants matters more to you than being near the park. I was there for the falls above everything else, so the road suited me. We ate in town one night and crossed to Argentina another, and both were easy enough to arrange. I wouldn’t book the town centre if I went back.
The bit people get wrong is assuming resort means walkable. Most of these hotels have nothing outside the gate, so an evening out is an Uber. A better plan is to accept that and pick the hotel with the food and entertainment you will enjoy.
Viale Cataratas Hotel
A four-star with two outdoor pools, a children’s pool and a spa, sitting a few minutes from the Palladium shopping centre. It’s the best value on this side of the falls.
Cost typical $95 (£75) per night • Booking.com rating 8.7
Mabu Thermas Grand Resort
Where I stayed, 9km from the park entrance. It has big grounds with thermal pools, a water park and wakeboarding attached, which I’d never come across at a hotel before. That mattered more than I expected. We were shattered when we arrived, and having somewhere to spend a whole day without leaving was worth the room rate.
Cost typical $230 (£180) per night • Booking.com rating 8.4
Bourbon Cataratas Thermas Eco Resort
The other large thermal resort on the same road, 12km from the falls and about 3km from downtown Foz. It has a kids’ club, games room, bowling alley and heated pool. Another excellent option for a family that needs entertaining.
Cost typical $260 (£205) per night • Booking.com rating 8.9
Where to Stay in Puerto Iguazú (Argentina Side)
Town or jungle lodge?
Two real choices on this side, and they suit different trips.
The town gives you walkability. Restaurants are on foot, the bus to the park leaves from the terminal in the centre, and you’re not dependent on taxis for everything.
The Iryapú lodges give you a lovely setting. They sit together in a forest reserve two to seven kilometres out, depending which one you pick, with birdsong and wooden walkways between the buildings.
Avoid booking a lodge and assuming you’ll pop into town in the evenings. Most are too far out for that, so you need to spend your time on site, pick one with a restaurant you like the look of.
Hotel Saint George
A four-star sitting directly opposite the bus terminal the park bus leaves from, about 300 metres from the town centre, with two pools, a garden and a spa. That location is the best in town if you aren’t driving.
Cost typical $100 (£80) per night • Booking.com rating 8.9
The Iryapú jungle lodges
The thing to understand about these is that they all sit inside the same forest reserve, so the setting is broadly the same wherever you book. What changes as you go up the price ladder is the room, the food and the service, not the views.
La Aldea de la Selva Lodge
The cheapest of the three, about 7km from central Puerto Iguazú. Three outdoor pools, a hot tub, rooms with balconies and hammocks, and wooden paths through the forest between the buildings.
Cost typical $120 (£95) per night • Booking.com rating 8.6
Mercure Iguazu Hotel Iru
One step up, with a renovated pool and pool bar in a forest setting, a spa with sauna and hot tub, and larger rooms than the price suggests. On price against facilities it’s the best balance of the three.
Cost typical $185 (£145) per night • Booking.com rating 8.6
Loi Suites Iguazú
The most expensive in the reserve, about 15 minutes from the falls, with suspended walkways through the trees, two outdoor pools and 160 individually decorated rooms. Note that under-18s aren’t permitted in the pool, so it isn’t the choice for families.
Cost typical $280 (£220) per night • Booking.com rating 8.7
The Two Hotels Inside the Iguazu Falls National Parks
What staying inside the park gets you
There’s one hotel inside each park, and they’re not the same proposition.
At the Belmond on the Brazilian side you get the trails before the park opens and after it closes, when the day visitors have gone. That’s the whole reason to book it, and it’s the only hotel on either side that sells it.
The Meliá on the Argentine side doesn’t offer that. Park rules hold guests to the same opening hours as everybody else. What you get instead is position. The hotel sits at the head of the trail system, so you’re walking at 8am while everyone else is still travelling from 18km away. Your ticket also covers as many entries as you want across the stay, so you can go back to the room through the worst of the afternoon heat and come out again later.
My Top Tip! Both are notably more expensive than the other options in the area. If you want a special experience but don’t want to stretch, consider one night here and then move hotels.
Would I spend the money? It depends how much staying inside a UNESCO World Heritage Site means to you, and for me that’s the reason to do it. There aren’t many places in the world where you can. If I’m picking one it’s the Belmond as its access is by far the best.
Hotel das Cataratas by Belmond, Brazilian side
The pink Portuguese-style hotel you can see from the Brazilian trail, 900 metres from the Devil’s Throat walkway. Park entry is included in the rate. At check-in you’re handed a hotel identification card, and that card lets you come and go through the gate as often as you like without paying again. Private cars can’t enter the park, so a free shuttle covers the main gate to the hotel every 20 minutes, 7am to midnight.
Cost typical $885 (£700) per night • Booking.com rating 9.6
Gran Meliá Iguazú, Argentine side
The only hotel inside the Argentine park, with falls views from many of the rooms, an infinity pool and the ecological train stopping outside. Park entry isn’t included here. You have to buy a ticket per person in advance through the national park website and present it at reception, because that ticket is what gets you through the gate to the hotel in the first place. One payment then covers as many entries as you like for the rest of your stay.
Cost typical $700 (£555) per night • Booking.com rating 9.2
When to Go, and How Far Ahead to Book
Two peak seasons, not one
December to February is high summer on both sides, with temperatures above 30C, the biggest crowds of the year and the highest prices. July is the second peak, because it’s the winter school holiday in both Brazil and Argentina.
The problem is that the expensive months are also the best ones for the falls themselves. The summer rains feed the river, so December to March is when the water is at its most powerful. Winter is drier, which is why it’s cheaper and quieter, but after a few dry weeks the volume drops and the falls are noticeably less dramatic.
March to May is the sweet spot, with the water still high from the summer rains, temperatures in the twenties and the crowds thinned out. August to October is quieter and cheaper again, though you risk the falls being lower.
How far ahead to book
For Christmas and New Year, eight to ten weeks. For July, four to six. Outside those windows you have room to move, and midweek is quieter than the weekend at both parks.
The two hotels inside the parks are the exception and they need longer. If one is part of your plan, book it first and build the trip around the dates you can get.
What November was like
We were there in November, one of the wettest months of the year. The falls day gave us a mix of sun and cloud, then it rained hard for the two days after, hard enough that the trip would have looked very different if we’d booked the park two days later.
That’s the shoulder season trade-off. Better prices and fewer people, and weather you can’t plan around. If your dates are flexible once you’re there, watch the forecast and move your falls day to the best of it.
Where to Stay in Iguazu Falls FAQ
Can you stay in Paraguay instead?
You can, and Ciudad del Este is the cheapest of the three border cities, but I wouldn’t. Neither park is on the Paraguayan side, so every falls day means two border crossings instead of one or none. The saving on the room disappears into transfers and queueing.
Is one night enough?
Not really. One night gives you one afternoon or one morning, because your arrival and departure days are travel days. Two nights covers one park comfortably. Three covers both sides without rushing, which is what most people want.
Can you walk to the falls from your hotel?
Only from the two hotels inside the parks. Everywhere else, on either side, is a drive of twenty minutes or more, so budget for a taxi, an app car or the bus on every park day.
What currency will you actually pay in?
Brazilian hotels bill in reais. Argentine hotels usually quote foreign guests in dollars, because the peso moves too fast to hold a rate months ahead, and that’s why the prices in this guide are in dollars throughout. Cards work fine on both sides.
Do the jungle lodges suit families?
Some do and one doesn’t. La Aldea has three pools and rooms with balconies, and Mercure has family-sized rooms. Loi Suites doesn’t allow under-18s in the pool, which rules it out with children even though it’s the most expensive of the three.
Do you need a car in Iguazu Falls?
No. Between Uber on the Brazilian side and the bus on the Argentine side you’re covered, and a hire car sits unused while you walk the trails. Parking at the Brazilian park is outside the gate anyway.
If Rio is also on the trip, I’ve covered where to stay in Rio de Janeiro the same way, with five areas compared and sixteen hotels.
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