The capital and the lakes
Most trips start in Asunción, one of the oldest cities in South America, with a compact historic centre on the river, leafy residential districts and the best restaurants in the country. An hour east, San Bernardino and Lake Ypacaraí is where Asunción escapes at weekends: a lakeside resort town surrounded by the Cordillera hills, the ceramics village of Areguá and the pilgrimage town of Caacupé.
The south and the missions
Encarnación sits on the Paraná River across from Posadas in Argentina. It has sandy river beaches, a long riverside promenade and the biggest carnival in the country, and it is the base for the UNESCO listed Jesuit missions of Trinidad and Jesús de Tavarangüe.
The east
Ciudad del Este is a busy border city of shopping centres and traffic, but it is also the gateway to the Itaipu dam, the Monday falls and the Iguazú Falls, a short crossing away in Brazil and Argentina.
The west
The Chaco covers more than half of Paraguay but holds only a small share of its people. The Mennonite towns of Filadelfia, Loma Plata and Neuland make comfortable bases for wildlife, salt lagoons and the battlefields of the Chaco War.
How to combine them
A first week usually covers Asunción, the lakes and Encarnación. With ten days or more, add Ciudad del Este and the falls, or head into the Chaco. Use the free trip planner to fit the bus times to your dates.