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Iguazu to Rio by Bus

Can't find my post of a couple of days ago so will repeat. We want to go by bus from the falls to Rio. Believ it takes about 20 hours. Would like any information on cost, schedule and any other information. Will be staying on the Argentine side so expect that we have to take a separate bus across. What does this cost and will we have a problem making the connection??

Hello, .. my name is Evelyn, 26 years old and I am a german girl, living in Germany and have been travelling in Brazil a lot of times and love this country! If you want to go by bus from the Iguacu Falls to Rio de Janeiro it will takes about 23 hours...!!! Well, of course if you visit only the argentine side of the falls, you have to go first to the brazilian side, to the bus station in the center of Foz do Iguacu called "Rodoviaria" to go by bus to Rio...in Argentina I don't know how to get there to Rio!There are two bus-companies that are doing that way from Brazil: "Nova Integracao" and "Pluma" and this will cost about 70-80 Reais. You can look for the times the busses start their journey at this side: http://www2.pluma.com.br/passagens/passagens.asp There you select the city of origin:Foz do Iguacu and then the city of destination: Rio de Janeiro and it will show you the time and the price for Pluma-busses! For the "Nova Integracao"-bus you can't see the time-tables unfortunately, but if you are in Foz it's not very difficult to go there to "rodoviaria" (bus-station)one or two days before the journey, look for the time and buy the ticket in advance! If you don't want to travel such a long time at one time, I suggest to go from Foz do Iguacu first to Curitiba. That is the capital city of Parana and it is really beuatiful there, the advance would be, that you will take only 8 hours from Foz do Iguacu to Curitiba, so you can do this trip at night and arrive there in Curitiba at the morning...! From Curitiba to Rio de Janeiro by bus it will takes you about 14 hours journey...and it will be between 50-65 Reais. The two bus companies from Curitiba to Rio are: "Itapemirim" and"Nossa Senhora da Penha". Here are their time-tables-sides at the Internet: http://www.itapemirim.com.br/estatica/lin-hor.htm and http://www2.itapemirim.com.br/penha/consulta_de_rotas.htm The prices from "Nossa Senhora da Penha"-company are higher than that ones from Itapemirim, because they have different bus-styles: Convencional, leito, executivo... For example: the"convencional" one is a normal bus, not really very luxuous, but it is okay, even if you travel at night...the "leito" is a special bus, you can lay down during the journey, so there are more expensive...! But I have n ever gone in "leito", it is not really necessary going , because the normal bus is just okay to travel, at night or the day...! Okay, hope that I could help you out a bit..if you want to have other advices for Brazil, Rio, ...just write me an E Mail to: [email protected] and I will be glad to answer you! Greetings Evelyn

Evelyn I am impressed, congratulations you really know Brasil! John The roads are very good, but this a very long trip to go by bus. We have now some low fare airlines, I will look for the better price and let you know.

There are two companies making the route Iguassu (from the Brazilian border) to Rio, and back. They are Pluma Transportes e Turismo - phone - 55- 45-522-2515 and Empresa de onibus Coioda/Itapemirim - phone - 55 - 45-522-1080 . Coioda has excutive busses, which are air conditioned, and coffee and water are served aboard. The one way ticket costs about 37 American dollars and the journey lasts 22 hours. There are daily departures from Iguassu at 2 PM. I don't know the schedule for departures from Rio. I hope it helps, Surlok

The best fare is offered by the airline VASP with 50% discount.Cost is US$112. Daily flights at 5PM, one stop at S. Paulo and the arrival about 7PM.

There was ( I don't know if there still is) an agreement between air companies, so that someone, flying from North America to Brazil, would be allowed to buy air passes at a very inexpensive cost, to fly within the Brazilian territory ( or even South American territory, as far as the routes are not the same of North American carriers) on Brazilian air carriers. Check with the air company from which you're buying your air tickets if these air passes are still available. Regards, S

Well,I really guess that there is still the Air- Pass(available from Varig or TAM), because I used it in July 2001, but in this case of only going from Iguazu to Rio it is not necessary to buy it, because with the Airpass you can travel around for 21 days and can go to 5 different destinations...so if you only use one destination, it is too expensive to buy it!!! So the bus is really better!

Evelyn, FYI, there are many types of air passes, length and region wise, and the prices are different, too. You can buy them from Varig, TAM, or maybe even VASP, but they shall be bought outside Brazil. They are not available here, just for international travelers, that have purchased an International ticket. To those that aren't in a very tight budget, and willing to visit Iguassu, in the South, Salvador, in the Northeast, and Rio, mid way, air passes are a good idea; I can't see myself traveling for so long on a bus, it's nearly a 23 hours journey from Iguassu to Rio, and another 22 from Rio to Salvador. S

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. We only need a flight for this section so an airpass won't be economical. The bus is long and we would certainly fly if we can get a reasonable ticket. I am trying to find out how I could get the 50% discount as that would certainly work. Otherwise we thought we would see something of Brazil from the bus!!

John, The cheapest fare I found from Iguassu to Rio was 287 Reais, about 110 US Dollars. The bus ticket costs 87 Reais, hence thirty percent of the air ticket price. However, don't expect the bus ride to be scenic.. Not having done it myself, I've heard that in nothing to rave about. It's not made by the coast, but by ugly and busy, full of trucks highways, most of the time. Regards, S

Unfortunately on Jan 2 when we want to travel is looks like 395 is the cheapest fare. Further from New Year it seems to drop to 287. At least I assume that is why I come up with the higher fare on the VASP site.

Indeed, John, high(est) season fares.. ;-)