A Visit to Iguazu Falls: The most impressive waterfalls on the planet

These days, though, we tend to recommend our clients stay at the iconic Gran Meliá, which sits right inside the national park, just a short walk from the falls themselves. It makes a big difference. Instead of working around bus schedules, you can wander the boardwalks at your own pace, early in the morning or later in the afternoon when the crowds thin out. When you’ve only got one or two nights here at most, that proximity is absolutely worth it.

I’ve been lucky enough to see some incredible waterfalls around the world—hiking through Yosemite to its famous falls and visiting Niagara from both the Canadian and American sides. But Iguazu is on a completely different level.

Stretching over 2.5 kilometres, it’s not just a single waterfall but a vast network of cascades, each with its own perspective and personality. The infrastructure is excellent, with well-designed boardwalks on both the Argentine and Brazilian sides, making it easy to explore and really take in the sheer scale and power of the place.

Ideally, you’ll want to see the falls from both sides of the border.

For Australians, a visa is required to enter Brazil, though thankfully it’s much simpler than it used to be. Pre-COVID, it involved sending your passport off to the Brazilian Embassy in Canberra. Now, it’s all done online and far more straightforward.

Once you’ve got that sorted, crossing between Argentina and Brazil is relatively seamless. In fact, when I did it, the process was so easy I barely remember it.

Seeing the falls from below gives you a completely different appreciation of their size and force.