Argentine Side of Iguazú Falls Day Trip: Upper, Lower and Devil's Throat Circuits

While the Brazilian side of the canyon gives you the sweeping theatre panorama, crossing the Tancredo Neves International Bridge into Argentina's Parque Nacional Iguazú places you directly inside and on top of the waterfalls. Created on 9 October 1934 (designed by Franco-Argentine landscape architect Carlos Thays) and inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984 (Ref. 303), the 67,620-hectare Argentine park holds roughly 75 to 80 percent of the canyon's 275 cascades across three unforgettable boardwalk circuits.

1. Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat) via the Ecological Jungle Train

Arrive at the Argentine park entrance by 08:00 and walk to Estación Central (or Estación Cataratas) to board the low-emission Ecological Jungle Train (Tren Ecológico de la Selva). After a 20-minute ride through subtropical forest filled with plush-crested jays and butterflies, step off at Estación Garganta del Diablo and follow the 1,100-metre flat steel catwalk across the wide, deceptively calm islands of the upper Iguazú River.

At the final balcony, you stand directly on the U-shaped upper lip of the Garganta del Diablo, gazing straight down as half of the entire river's volume plunges 82 metres into a boiling cauldron of white water and rising mist that towers 30 metres above the cliff rim.

2. Paseo Superior (Upper Circuit) and Paseo Inferior (Lower Circuit)

Take the Jungle Train back one stop to Estación Cataratas to walk the park's two main canyon circuits:

• Paseo Superior (Upper Circuit, 1,750 metres, 1.5 hours): A step-free, wheelchair-accessible steel walkway that runs along the very top edge of the basalt cliff line, letting you look straight down the vertical curtains of Salto Dos Hermanas, Salto Chico, Salto Bossetti, Salto Adán y Eva, Salto Bernabé Méndez, and Salto Mbiguá, with sweeping views across the canyon to the pink Hotel das Cataratas in Brazil.
• Paseo Inferior (Lower Circuit, 1,400 metres, 1.5 to 2 hours): Descends through shaded bamboo and palm forest below the cliff face, bringing you within arm's reach of the crashing base of Salto Bossetti, Salto Lanusse, and Salto Alvar Núñez, with dramatic head-on views of Isla San Martín.

How to Cross the Border from Foz do Iguaçu

The drive from Foz do Iguaçu hotels to the Argentine park entrance is 28 kilometres (40 to 50 minutes including immigration). Every traveller must carry a valid physical passport (or Mercosur national ID card for South American citizens). Accredited trilingual taxis and hotel transfer vans use the dedicated tourist lane at both the Brazilian Polícia Federal and Argentine Migraciones posts and wait for you whilst you clear formalities, whereas public cross-border buses drop you at the border booth or require a transfer at the Puerto Iguazú terminal; book your Argentine park admission online via the official Administración de Parques Nacionales portal before visiting.