Few places on Earth leave visitors speechless, but Iguazu Falls is one of them.
Straddling the border between Argentina and Brazil, Iguazu Falls is a breathtaking system of more than 250 waterfalls stretching nearly two miles across the lush subtropical rainforest. The falls are located within two protected national parks and have been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on both sides of the border.
While many travelers compare Iguazu to Niagara Falls, the comparison hardly does it justice. Iguazu is wider, more numerous, and feels far more untamed. Massive curtains of water plunge into the river below, creating towering clouds of mist, brilliant rainbows, and a constant roar sounding throughout the park.
Both countries offer unique perspectives on this natural wonder. The Argentine side features an extensive network of trails and walkways that bring visitors remarkably close to the falls, including the famous Devil’s Throat (Garganta del Diablo), the largest and most powerful cascade in the system. The Brazilian side provides sweeping panoramic views that showcase the immense scale and beauty of the entire waterfall complex.
During our South American adventure, we visited many incredible destinations. You can read about all of them on our South America Travel Page:
You can read about all our adventures here:
Pink Bear’s Retirement Journey
At Iguazu, we spent time exploring both sides of the falls and quickly understood why Iguazu is often considered one of the most spectacular natural attractions in the world. Whether you’re a nature lover, photographer, birdwatcher, or simply someone who appreciates incredible scenery, Iguazu Falls deserves a place on your travel bucket list.
Pink Bear is enjoying doing research.
Traveling to Iguazu from Buenos Aires
We traveled from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu, Argentina, for our Iguazu Falls adventure. Puerto Iguazu is the Gateway to Iguazu Falls on the Argentine side. We left from the smaller local airport, AEP, which is much closer to the city than EZE. With only light traffic, it took about 15 minutes from Park Tower to AEP. The hotel arranged for our transport, since ease of transfer has been an important part of our retirement travel strategy, but we could have used public transportation or Uber. Uber is widely used in Buenos Aires.
AEP is notoriously chaotic, and our experience was no different. We were traveling via Jetsmart, one of the local domestic air carriers. We found the Jetsmart check-in counter, and although the line was long, it moved quickly. In fact, we found the check-in area for Jetsmart at AEP to be efficient. We had a similar experience at the security checkpoint. The line was long, but it moved fast. The planes are bare-bones Airbus. I bought a premium ticket, so we were in row 2, window seats, opposite sides. The configuration is 3-3. For the extra, we felt the premium ticket was worth it. For this trip, Pink Bear was snug in my backpack. As you know, she has a habit of wandering off, so I was not taking any chances.
She was not happy about being confined, but I was taking no chances with this mischievous bear.
Farewell Buenos Aires
Hello Iguazu
Arrival at Puerto Iguazu
On the Argentine side, arrival at Iguazu is through the Puerto Iguazu IGR airport. Navigating arrival is easy since it is a small airport. We arranged pick-up through our Tours by Locals guide, Vanessa. As previously mentioned, we use Tours by Locals extensively. For this trip, Vanessa would be our guide for both sides of the park. We highly recommend hiring an experienced guide for your retirement travel. The park is vast, and there are often long lines to enter; having a guide really made for a more positive and stress-free experience.
IGR is a very small airport, but there is a Hard Rock Café that has some Iguazu Hard Rock logo items if you are so inclined to like that type of thing to bring home as souvenirs
Loi Suites
After extensive research on TripAdvisor, Pink Bear selected Loi Suites for our accommodations in Iguazu. Loi Suites is located a bit outside Puerto Iguazu. It is a tropical resort in the middle of the rainforest. There are two beautiful pools, an extensive main pool area, and a secondary infinity pool overlooking the river. Access to most rooms from the main lobby area is via swinging bridges! Therefore, this hotel is not recommended for those with mobility issues. The staff speaks very little English, so communication was a bit of a challenge. However, every staff member we encountered was friendly and did their best to communicate with us. Our room was a suite, very spacious with a balcony that had a jacuzzi-type tub. There are two restaurants on site, one is a formal restaurant and the other a café overlooking the main pool. We ate all our meals at the lovely café. We did not venture into town for any meals because our days were very busy and the hotel was not directly in town.
Our travel day to Iguazu was long and tiring, but the excitement of finally arriving made it all worthwhile. We successfully navigated AEP and IGR airports. AEP was not as bad as we anticipated. Overall, we were happy with LOI Suites. The pools are spectacular, and the café provided a nice variety of food that suited our taste. Our junior suite was spacious, albeit a little dated. We were all excited for our trip to the falls.
LOI Suites Rating:
⭐ Location: 8/10, Lovely and scenic, but you need to drive to town for restaurants and stores, hanging bridges to rooms are pretty and unique, but could be difficult to walk on
⭐ Restaurant: 9/10, for café only
⭐ Staff: 8/10, Very nice but speaks very little English
⭐ Room: 8/10, Junior suite spacious but slightly dated, there is a mini fridge and Nespresso, outlets are limited
⭐ WIFI: 9/10, Good, a little slow, but no connection issues
Tips for Travel to Iguazu from Buenos Aires:
- Jetsmart, the domestic carrier, is a reasonably priced choice with lots of times to choose from
- The Jetsmart aircraft from AEP to IGR are “bare bones” airbuses, with a 3-3 configuration. The seats are very tight, so in our opinion, it was worth a little more for a premium bulkhead seat.
- AEP is 15 minutes from the center of BA if traffic is light. Traffic can be very bad in BA, so leave plenty of time to get to the airport, especially during the week, during “rush” hour
- LOI Suites is a nice resort with beautiful pools, but it’s not in Puerto Iguazu, so you need a car to get to town.
- English is not widely spoken in this part of Argentina
After a long day of travel, we relaxed by the pool, listened to the sounds of the rainforest, and looked forward to finally seeing Iguazu Falls the next morning. The journey had been smooth, our hotel exceeded expectations, and one of the greatest natural wonders on Earth awaited us.
If you want to find out more about Iguazu Falls, you can read about it in Pink Bear’s Travel Guide to Iguazu Falls:
To read all about our entire South American Adventure: