Buenos Aires to Rio via Iguazu Falls – Trip Itinerary and Highlights

Where and When:  Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls and Rio de Janeiro, February 2024

Last month, I took a trip to South America; it was my second visit to the continent (after visiting Peru last year).  I will do day-by-day posts as usual, but in the meantime, here are the trip itinerary and highlights.

Trip Itinerary 

• Day 1: Arrival in Buenos Aires.
• Day 2: Buenos Aires city tour and an evening watching Tango.
• Day 3: Fly to Iguazu Falls, cross the border to Brazil, and visit Iguazu falls on the Bazilian side.
• Day 4: Cross border back to Argentina and visit Iguazu Falls on the Argentinian side.
• Day 5: Fly to Rio, an afternoon at the Copacabana beach, evening visit to Sugarloaf Mountain.
• Day 6: Rio City Tour, visit to Christ the Redeemer and Rio Carnival behind-the-scene experience.
• Day 7: Morning exploring Copacabana Beach, Ipanema Beach and Copacabana Fort. Fly back home in the afternoon.

Trip Highlights

Iguazu Falls: Taller than Niagara falls and wider that Victoria Falls, Iguazu (meaning “Big Water” in indigenous Guarani language) is one of the most impressive natural wonders I have ever seen. There are 275 waterfalls, of varying shapes and sizes.

We fully explored the falls over two days, both from the Argentinian and Brazilian sides. The Zodiac boat ride to the bottom of the falls was a huge thrill! 

The beaches of Rio: The beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema are world famous, and with good reason. The wide sandy beaches stretch for miles, the sea is blue and the backdrop of mountains is breathtaking.

Ipanema is the smaller and quieter of the two beaches. This is full of people sunbathing, relaxing and surfing.

Copacabana on the other hand is full of activity and very lively. There are many people playing sports, exercising, singing and dancing, living up to its reputation as a great party beach.

Rio Carnival Experience: We got the chance to go behind the scenes at Rio Carnival and see the floats and the costumes from the 2024 Carnival. What’s more, we got to try some of the costumes and to top it off, a Samba lesson from one of the Carnival dancers! 

Sugar Loaf Mountain: The views from Sugarloaf Mountain are spectacular – especially at Sunset.

Tango in Buenos Aires:  Watching live Tango in its birthplace was a great experience.

Over the next few week, I will do the day-by-day posts for the trip. 

Have you been to Buenos Aires? Rio? Iguazu Falls? What are your highlights? Leave a comment below and let me know!