The Iguazu Falls from Brazil side of the national park is smaller than the Argentina side. We spent half a day walking around the park and taking photos. If we had done the Macuco Safari boat ride on this side of the park, we would have spent almost a full day.
Getting a Bus to the Iguazu Falls on the Brazil Side
Similarly to going to the Argentine side, you will go to the bus stop to purchase our round trip tickets to go to the Brazilian park. The bus company is Rio Uruguay and the first bus leaves at 7:30 am. They only take cash and you can also purchase your return ticket here and do not need to determine a time for your return ticket. At the return bus, you will just need to show a purchased ticket. You will also need a passport for this bus ride!
Because you are crossing a border, you will need to go through immigration. This particular route is a tourist bus and will stop at the Argentine border control and help you through the border. The bus will wait for you! Here, an agent will just check your passport and you will hop back on the bus and go on your way. From Puerto Iguazu, it takes less than an hour to arrive at the national park.
(If you are not returning to Argentina that afternoon and continuing on to Brazil, you will need to tell the bus driver to stop at the Brazil border control to get a stamp there. Here, the bus will leave you and you can just wait for the next bus to come. Make sure you still have your bus ticket. You can read more about this process at the bottom of the linked article about our border crossing experience.)
Tickets to the Iguazu Falls from the Brazil Side
You can purchase your tickets to the national park in advance from this website. You can purchase these tickets at kiosks at the park. They also have lockers here for bags if you need them. Information about purchasing tickets to the park has changed over the last few years so you may want to reach out to your accommodation to get the right information. The link above is the official website to purchase tickets and should have the most up-to-date information in both English and Spanish to help you determine how to visit Iguazu Falls from the Argentina side and the Brazil side.
Navigating the Iguazu Falls from the Brazil Side
The Iguazu Falls from the Brazil side of the park is smaller than the Argentine side and only takes half a day to navigate. When you get through the entrance, you will wait in line to get on a bus to take you to the walking path. The bus only has two stops: first, the Macuco Safari stop where the adventure boat rides depart and, second, the walking path. These are the two things to do in this park.
The Path of the Falls
The main attraction of the park is this walk. It will take you through the rainforest to view panoramas of the Argentine side of the falls. These concrete paths are very easy to walk on.
Ultimately, you will arrive at a boardwalk at a midpoint of one of the larger waterfalls. Here, you may get wet due to the wind blowing the mist off of the waterfall. When the mist dies down, you will get glimpses of the falls on the other side of the river.
Finally, the walk ends at an area where you can get almost under the waterfall (getting soaked!). There are usually park photographers in this area to take and sell you a photo. They offer to take you to multiple areas to get different angles. These photographers are pretty insistent but you can refuse them if you do not want to purchase any photos.
Both the boardwalk and getting under the waterfall are avoidable if you do not want to get wet. However, the waterfall might feel refreshing in this hot climate.
The end of the walk has the main food area of the park. The food here may be overpriced and not as appetizing as what you can find in Puerto Iguazu near your accommodations. If you are doing the Macuco Safari adventure boat ride, consider bringing a lunch in a drybag before doing the boat ride. However, if you are doing this adventure on the Argentine side, you will end up spending just a half day at the park and can eat back in Puerto Iguazu. At the end of the walk, the bus picks you up and can drive you back to the Macuco Safari stop or to the entrance of the park of the Iguazu Falls from the Brazil side.
The Macuco Safari
The boat adventure experience can be done on the Argentine or Brazil side of the national park. If you prefer to do it on the Brazilian side of the park, the experience is the same as described in our article on the Argentina side. You can purchase tickets directly at this stop or online here.
The Blueprint Travelers Hiking Staples
Leaving the Brazil Side of the Iguazu Falls
Back at the entrance, head back to where the bus initially dropped you off to pick up the next bus back to Puerto Iguazu. You should have purchased your return ticket from the bus station in Puerto Iguazu but you can also pay cash directly on the bus.
(If you are entering Argentina for the first time since arriving in Brazil, you will also have to stop at the Brazilian border control. Tell the bus driver and he will leave you here while you go through the control. You will just get onto the next bus of the same company.)
Similarly to the experience leaving Argentina, you will stop at the Argentina border for immigration. The bus driver here will wait for everyone to go through and get back on the road for Puerto Iguazu.
