World Country Guide

Travel - International

Note
Crime in Paraguay is increasing so the need to be alert at all times is essential.

Air
Paraguay’s national airline is Transportes Areos del Mercosur (PZ). Airlines operating direct flights to Asuncin include American Airlines (from New York). There are currently no direct flights from London. Most major airlines (including Alitalia, British Airways, Canadian Airlines and Lufthansa) operate connecting flights via Brazil (So Paulo or Rio de Janeiro). There are also a number of scheduled flights to Asuncin from other south American cities, notably Buenos Aires, Santa Cruz (Bolivia) and Santiago (Chile).

Approximate flight times
From Asuncin to London is 15 to 19 hours, depending on the route taken.

International airports
Asuncin (ASU) (Silvio Pettirossi) is 16km (10 miles) from the city (travel time – 20 minutes). A coach and taxi service runs to the city. Airport facilities include a bureau de change, duty free shopping, restaurants and car hire (Hertz).

Air passes
The Mercosur Airpass: Valid within Argentina, Brazil, Chile (except Easter Island), Paraguay and Uruguay. Participating airlines include Aerolneas Argentinas (AR) (however, flights on this airline cannot be combined with any others, as it has no agreements and its tickets are not accepted by other airlines), Austral (AU), LAN-Chile (LA), LAPA (MJ), Pluna (PU), Transbrasil Airlines (TR) and VARIG (RG) with the subsidiary airlines of Nordeste (JH) and Rio Sul (SL). The pass can only be purchased by passengers who live outside South America, who have a return ticket. Only eight flight coupons are allowed with a maximum of four coupons for each country and is valid from seven to a maximum of 30 days. At least two countries must be visited (to a maximum of five) and the flight route cannot be changed. A maximum of two stopovers is allowed per country.
The Visit South America Pass: Must be bought outside South America in country of residence and allows unlimited travel to 36 cities in the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile (except Easter Island), Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Participating airlines include Aer Lingus (EI), American Airlines (AA), British Airways (BA), Cathay Pacific (CX), Finnair (AY), IBERIA (IB), LAN-Chile (LA) and Qantas (QF). A minimum of three flights must be booked, with no maximum; the maximum stay is 60 days, with no minimum, and prices depend on the amount of flight zones covered. Children under 12 years of age are entitled to a 33 per cent discount and infants (under two years old) only pay 10 per cent of the adult fare. For further details, contact one of the participating airlines.

Departure tax
US$18. Transit passengers and children under two years of age are exempt.

River
There are 2500km (1563 miles) of navigable rivers in Paraguay and there are ferry links with Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil. Travellers using the river to travel to Argentina should note that the Posadas (Argentina)–Encarnacin (Paraguay) route is 321km (200 miles) shorter than the more traditional route to Buenos Aires. It traverses the Argentine provinces of Misiones and Corrientes and then proceeds across a bridge over the Paran River to Resistencia. Those who prefer to continue along the left bank of the Paran River will have to travel to Paran, provincial capital of Entre Ros, crossing under the Paran River in the tunnel between the cities of Paran and Santa F. It is also possible to reach Paraguay by river from Brazil, in boats which connect Asuncin with the Brazilian city of Corumba.

Rail
There is no through service to Argentina, but a weekly train from Asuncin serves Posadas in Argentina by means of a train-ferry, with connections to Concordia and Buenos Aires. The rail services are very slow.

Road
The roads from Ro and So Paulo to Asuncin (via the Iguaz Falls) are paved and generally good, as is the one from Buenos Aires. Another road link to Argentina is via the San Roque Gonzlez de Santa Cruz bridge in Encarnacin across the Paran river. Bus: There are daily services from Rio de Janeiro and So Paulo, Buenos Aires (Argentina), Crdoba, Rosario and Santa F, and Montevideo (Uruguay).