Puerto Iguazú, Hito Tres Fronteras and Argentine Dining Evening Trip Guide

One of the greatest pleasures of staying in Foz do Iguaçu is that you can spend the day exploring Brazil and then cross the 489-metre Tancredo Neves International Bridge (opened on 29 November 1985) across the lower Iguaçu River canyon for an afternoon and evening in Puerto Iguazú, the leafy border town in Argentina's Misiones province. Whether you stop here on your way back from Argentina's Parque Nacional Iguazú or cross specifically for dinner, Puerto Iguazú offers a relaxed small-town atmosphere, Guarani forest heritage, and classic Argentine wine and steak.

1. Hito Tres Fronteras (The Argentine Three Borders Viewpoint)

At the northwestern tip of Puerto Iguazú where the Iguazú River meets the Paraná River stands the sky-blue-and-white Argentine obelisk of Hito Tres Fronteras, erected on 20 July 1903 alongside its twin across the river at Brazil's Marco das Três Fronteiras. Unlike the ticketed cultural park on the Brazilian side, the Argentine viewpoint is an open, free public esplanade along Avenida Tres Fronteras, ringed by a semicircular dancing water fountain, artisanal craft stalls, and a cliffside promenade looking north into Brazil and west into Paraguay.

2. La Aripuca and the Güirá Oga Wildlife Rescue Centre

Along Ruta Nacional 12 at the southern entrance to Puerto Iguazú (on the road to the Argentine waterfalls) stand two unique Misiones rainforest attractions:

• La Aripuca: Rising 17 metres high and weighing more than 500 tonnes, this walk-in architectural monument is a giant scale model of an aripuca (a traditional Guarani pyramidal bird and small-game trap made of stacked branches that captures prey alive without harming it). Built without a single nail out of 30 monumental salvaged tree trunks representing 20 native Misiones Atlantic Forest hardwood species (including century-old peroba, cedro, lapacho, and ivirá-pitá), it serves as a walk-through tribute to forest conservation and Guarani craft.
• Güirá Oga ("The House of the Birds" in Guarani): Located 500 metres further along Ruta 12 inside 19 hectares of protected forest, this wildlife rescue and rehabilitation hospital cares for injured Misiones birds, ocelots, monkeys, and anteaters before releasing healthy animals back into the wild.

3. The Feirinha de Puerto Iguazú and Avenida Córdoba Steakhouses

Before dinner, stroll through the open-air stalls and wooden tapas tables of the Feirinha de Puerto Iguazú on Avenida Brasil. Here locals and Brazilian visitors sit under string lights sharing platters of stuffed green olives, Misiones provoleta cheese, cured salamín, and freshly baked beef empanadas while shopping for alfajores, dulce de leche, and bags of Misiones yerba mate. Afterward, walk two blocks to Avenida Córdoba to sit down at a traditional Argentine parrilla for charcoal-grilled ojo de bife (ribeye), bife de chorizo (sirloin), and a bottle of Mendoza Malbec before taking a registered taxi back across the bridge to Foz do Iguaçu (remembering to carry your physical passport for both crossings).