Iguazu Falls is the largest waterfall system in the world. Visitors from all over the world come to South America to take in the majestic panorama.

The Iguazu River is the border between Argentina and Brazil, so a full experience will involve trips to the national parks on both sides, including a busy border crossing.

We had two days to explore the falls and wanted to spend one day on the Argentine side, check out of our Argentine lodging, and then spend a second day on the Brazilian side before flying out of the Brazilian airport.

That meant we would have to travel across the border with all of our luggage, and then find a place to keep it secure while we explored the falls. Some airports allow check-in of luggage anytime that day, but we have too often shown up early for a flight and found that the airline will not accept luggage any earlier than four hours. (So much for a day of sightseeing, or even wasting away at airport lounges!)

Enter Iguazu Falls Travel, a ground transportation solution that focuses on the cross-border areas of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. After reading positive reviews on TripAdvisor, I used their website contact form to reach out with our specific needs. I especially wanted to make sure that our luggage would be attended to during the day.

Diego, their customer service agent, was always quick to respond and answered emails seemingly no matter what time of day it was. He answered my questions and directed me back to the website to book and pay online, even double-checking with me when I made a mistake in booking. Exceptional customer service all the way through!

Pricing was transparent: Once the correct option was selected, the price was quoted in Brazilian reals as well as the approximate equivalent in United States dollars, with the credit card charge being made in Brazilian reals. (Of course, using a credit card without a foreign transaction fee.) The cost for the service we selected was $96 USD.

They offer airport pickups and drop-offs, as well as transportation to the parks. As their website points out, they are a transportation solution, not a tour service! But the national parks on both sides of Iguazu Falls are easy to navigate without needing help from a tour guide. Their service offers sedans as well as vans and buses, and we chose the sedan option.

For the Argentina/Brazil border crossing, Iguazu Falls Travel uses a two-car, two-driver solution. The actual border crossing is done on foot. This was made easier than it sounds due to the guidance of the drivers.

We had chosen a 7:30 AM pickup at our lodging in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina. The Argentine driver arrived right on time in an older sedan, which we filled with our various backpacks and suitcases. For us, the time with the Argentine driver was short: it is around a 15-minute drive from Puerto Iguazu to the border checkpoints. The Argentine driver did not speak English so Tammy handled the limited Spanish communication. He was professional, friendly, and helped load the bags in the car.

As we approached the Argentine passport control, we drove past a long line of cars waiting to cross. There were at least 100 cars sitting and waiting. The two-car method saved us at least an hour of wait time!

We were dropped off directly at the Argentine passport control, where we were handed off to our Brazilian driver at a literal handshake point. We removed the luggage from the Argentine car, leaving that driver with a small tip in Argentine pesos.

Passport control to exit Argentina took about ten minutes. We then packed our luggage into the Brazilian car and continued to enter Brazil.

This time the luggage stayed in the car as the driver walked us into the Brazil checkpoint. Another ten minutes and we had some new stamps in our passports. Seamless!

Note that as of March 2024, Brazil did not require a visa for American citizens. That will be changing soon! Read more about that in our upcoming post, Five Things to Know about Iguazu Falls.

Our Brazilian driver, Francielle, spoke Portuguese and a little Spanish. Communication was handled either through broken Spanish or through Google Translate. We traded contact information on Whatsapp so that we could get picked up when we were ready to end the day and head to the airport.

We had no Brazilian currency so our first stop was, by request, Foz do Iguaçu airport, where Francielle escorted us to an ATM. It turned out that credit cards were accepted both at the Brazilian national park as well as the Parque das Aves (Bird Park), but it is always good to have some local cash.

Our day of tourism started at the Bird Park. Francielle made sure to leave us with the directions for the short path from the Bird Park to the Brazilian Iguaçu National Park when we were ready to head to view the falls. More about our two days of Iguazu exploration in this blog post.

At the end of our day of hiking and appreciation, we connected via Whatsapp. Francielle was right at the exit, with our luggage safe and secure. It was a short drive back to the airport where we left some reals with Francielle for a job done well. With our luggage checked in, we headed to an airport lounge to relax.

Depending on your circumstances, there are other methods to explore both sides of the falls. If you travel from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu (via airplane or bus) and plan to return to Argentina, you could use Puerto Iguazu as a base. There are buses that travel from the bus terminal to either the Argentine or Brazilian park. There are also lockers at the parks that could be enough room for someone who travels with light baggage.

But we travel heavy, and we were traveling through from Argentina to Brazil. Iguazu Falls Travel helped us fill in the travel gap, providing a portal-to-portal solution. We crossed the border efficiently and had someone trustworthy guarding our luggage, while we had the entire day to spend at the Brazilian side of the falls and the Bird Park.

Iguazu Falls Travel provides a small discount to bloggers who write about their experience. The price indicated above is the price prior to the discount. Our opinion of the service is our own.