Iguazu Falls Highlights and Activities

Iguazu is 275 cascades, and only a handful of them have names you will hear. Here are those, and every way of getting near them — the circuits, the Tren Ecológico that links them, the Trilha das Cataratas opposite, the boats underneath and the flights above — with what each one adds to your day.

The falls that have names

Garganta del Diablo — the one everyone comes for

A U-shaped chasm 80 to 90 metres wide and 70 to 80 metres deep, taking roughly half the river's entire flow on its own. The noise arrives before the view does.

Its Argentine walkway has been dismantled since 3 August 2026 and no reopening date has been set. Until it goes back, the two ways to see the Throat are the walkway at the end of the Brazilian trail, which looks across it, and a helicopter flight, which looks into it.

Salto San Martín and Isla San Martín

Salto San Martín is the largest single fall you can stand opposite, and the one the Argentine boats run beneath. The island in front of it, Isla San Martín, is reached by a short free ferry from the lower circuit and gives a view back at the fall from the middle of the river — when the river is low enough for the crossing to run at all, which in 2026 it frequently has not been.

The things you can do, and what each one costs you

Walk the Argentine circuits

What it is: about 3.5 km of walkway on two circuits, among and above the falls. Where: Parque Nacional Iguazú. How long: four to six hours. What it adds: the only way to be level with the water.

Walk the Trilha das Cataratas

What it is: 1.5 km of paved trail facing the Argentine rim. Where: Parque Nacional do Iguaçu. How long: two to three hours. What it adds: the panorama, and the only wheelchair-friendly route.

Take the Tren Ecológico

What it is: the Argentine park's forest train, in the ticket. Where: between Central, Cataratas and Garganta stations. How long: 20 minutes end to end, plus the queue. What it adds: the distance you would otherwise walk on a road.

Ride a boat under the falls

What it is: Gran Aventura in Argentina, Macuco Safari in Brazil. Where: both from inside their own park. How long: two hours including the approach. What it adds: the loudest twenty minutes of the trip, and a soaking.

Fly over them

What it is: a ten-minute helicopter flight. Where: the Brazilian side only; Argentina does not permit overflights. How long: ten minutes airborne, about two hours with transfers. What it adds: the whole horseshoe in one frame.

Walk the Sendero Macuco

What it is: a 7 km return forest trail to the Arrechea fall. Where: Parque Nacional Iguazú, from the Cataratas station. How long: three hours. What it adds: quiet, and a genuine chance of wildlife.

Hito Tres Fronteras — the free one

An obelisk painted in Argentina's colours, standing where the Iguazú meets the Paraná and three countries meet each other; Brazil and Paraguay have their own markers facing it across the water. It is outside both parks, in Puerto Iguazú, and it costs nothing.

It has also become a working substitute: with the Devil's Throat circuit closed, at least one operator now takes its group here instead, which is a fair swap for a viewpoint and a poor one for a chasm.

What most visitors walk past

• The great dusky swifts. They nest on the wet rock behind the falls and fly straight through the water to reach it, at dusk and at dawn.
• The Sendero Verde. A 600-metre forest link most people ride past on the train.
• The far end of the Brazilian trail. Many turn back at the viewpoints; the walkway is another ten minutes on.
• Poço Preto and Bananeiras. Two trails already inside the Brazilian ticket that almost nobody uses.
• The colour of the ground. The red laterite of Misiones is why the river runs brown after rain, and why every track here photographs orange.

Which of these your day already covers depends on the tour, and the Iguazu Falls tour packages are set out side by side at Iguazu Falls Tours. The circuits themselves are described on the Argentine side, and the animals are on the wildlife page.

Sources

• Iguazú Argentina — tarifas (Argentine admission and parking, read 13 September 2026)
• Iguazú Argentina — horarios y consejos (Argentine hours and train timetable)
• The Brazilian park — 2026 ticket prices (effective 19 December 2025)
• The Brazilian park — passarela notice, 11 September 2026
• Administración de Parques Nacionales — the Argentine park
• UNESCO World Heritage — the Argentine inscription

Prices and opening times change. Verify both parks before you travel.