Asuncion

The metropolitan region of Asunción is home to 2.2 million of Paraguay’s 6.6 million people. It is a youthful city, with 65 percent of its people under the age of 30. Outside of hotels and tour companies, few people speak English, so getting by without at least some basic Spanish may be difficult. The city center (microcentro) closes from Saturday afternoon to all Sunday, and the city may appear deserted, but the bustle is in the neighborhoods of Villa Morra and Carmelitas, which are home to the main shopping centers, department stores, boutiques, as well as cafés, fast food restaurants, and cinemas, and they are open on weekends.

Many previous majestic structures in the microcentro used to be in disrepair, but the government began restoration work in 2011 in preparation for Paraguay’s Bicentennial Celebrations, and the city has now regained much of its former beauty. You may take a cab journey at night and experience it fully lighted. This neighborhood has several bars, taverns, and restaurants, as well as a new riverfront promenade (costanera).

VISITOR INFORMATION

• Senatur (National Tourism Board), Palma 468, +595 21 441530, toll-free: 0800 113030, fax: +595 21 491230. The main national tourist information office. Additional information booth at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport.
• Dirección de Cultura y Turismo (Municipal Tourism Board), Ayolas 129, Centro Cultural Manzana de la Rivera, +595 21 442448. The local tourist office. Additional information booth at Bus Terminal and Costanera (riverside promenade).

Asunción is located close south of the Tropic of Capricorn, resulting in a subtropical climate. That entails extreme heat, particularly during the South American summer (winter in the Northern Hemisphere). Between December and March, temperatures may routinely exceed 38 °C / 100 °F, and humidity levels can be oppressive. Nonetheless, the weather varies significantly from week to week. When the sun shines, you bake, and when the rains hold off for a few days, it may be quite dry. The rains are torrential and cause the temperature to plummet drastically. Then the clouds gather and the temperature drops.

Asunción is between the parallels of 25° 15′ and 25° 20′ south latitude and the meridian of 57° 40′ and 57° 30′ west longitude. The city is located on the left bank of the Paraguay River, practically at its confluence with the Pilcomayo River. In the northwest, the Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción divide the city from the Occidental Region of Paraguay and Argentina in the south. The Central Department encircles the remainder of the city.

With its position along the Paraguay River, the city provides a variety of sceneries; it is laid out in a pattern of rectangular blocks over moderate slopes. Cerro Lambaré, a hill in Lambaré, puts on a stunning spectacle in the spring due to the flowering lapacho trees. Parks such as Parque Independencia and Parque Carlos Antonio López are popular tourist destinations because they have extensive expanses of characteristic Paraguayan nature. Throughout the city, there are various tiny hills and somewhat raised places, like Cabará, Clavel, Tarumá, Cachinga, and Tacumb.

In terms of trade, this sector has expanded significantly in recent years, reaching out to the suburbs with the construction of shopping malls and supermarkets. The BVPASA, Paraguay’s only stock exchange, is situated here. It lists the city as BVPASA:MUA.

Asuncion is home to some of the world’s largest corporations, enterprises, and investment organizations. This is Paraguay’s economic capital, followed by Ciudad del Este and Encarnación.

Internet cafes are located around the city and typically cost between 3,000 and 5,000 Gs. per hour. Generally, connection speeds are adequate. If you’re traveling with a laptop or a Wi-Fi-enabled phone, finding free Wi-Fi signals is quite simple. Numerous eateries provide free Wi-Fi.

All flights land at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport (IATA: ASU), which is situated 17 kilometers (11 miles) northeast of Asunción. Taking public transportation from the airport to the city center takes 30-45 minutes. The airport offers taxis, city buses, airport-to-hotel minibuses, and vehicle rental.

TAM Airlines and Aerolneas Argentinas offer international flights to Buenos Aires; TAM Airlines and GOL fly to Sao Paulo; TAM Airlines and GOL fly to Santiago; TAM Airlines and Amazonas fly to Santa Cruz; Avianca flies to Lima; Amazonas flies to Montevideo; Copa Airlines flies to Panama City; and American Airlines flies to Miami. There are no direct flights to Europe; instead, you must change aircraft at Sao Paulo or Buenos Aires.

TAM Airlines and Amazonas Paraguay provide domestic flights to Ciudad del Este, while Setam (Transporte Aéreo Militar) offers flights to Concepción, Vallem, Fuerte Olimpo, and Baha Negra.

A cab from the airport to the city center should cost about USD 30. A public bus station is located 200 meters from the airport terminal. The city bus line 30 brings you into the city for a low fee (USD 0.50), but be aware that municipal buses are not equipped to handle large items of baggage. Local buses operate from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

In Paraguay, there are no trains. A tourist train to Areguá that left from Jardn Botánico station on Sundays ceased operations in 2010. The former main railway station close to Plaza Uruguaya is now a museum and cultural event site.

The bus station (Terminal de Omnibus) is approximately five kilometers southeast of the city center, thus it is best to take a cab or bus into town (buses number 8, 38, and many more). The Avenida Fernando de la Mora, which runs in front of the bus station, connects to the city center. All bus companies have ticket offices within the station, while several long-distance bus companies have offices in the microcentro surrounding Plaza Uruguaya.

There are two kinds of bus services to the country’s major cities: comn and directo. While the first is less expensive, it also stops in every town or bus stop along the route to pick up and drop off passengers, taking longer than the directo, which runs directly or with fewer or no stops to reach their destination in less time. Directo buses are less regular, with just a few runs each day, usually around midnight, early in the morning, or late in the afternoon.

• Encarnación, común: 7–8 hours, several daily, 50,000 Gs; also directo: 5 hours, 75.000 Gs
• Ciudad del Este, several daily, 5–7 hours, 40,000 – 70,000gs
• Concepción, about 6 hours, several daily, 60’000 Gs
• Cities in the Chaco: Loma Plata, Filadelfia, Neuland, Mariscal Estigarriba, about 8 hours, 1 to 2 services daily to each destination, 90,000 Gs (NASA, Golondrina).

International buses leave from the bus station towards Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia, and Chile.

• Buenos Aires, ca. 17h, several daily, 45 US$ (Crucero del Norte, Nuestra Señora de la Asunción/Chevallier)
• Santa Cruz, $40, 21 hours.

The bus to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, is not recommended because it is extremely slow (the Transchaco Highway is only paved as far as the Bolivian border), buses generally travel only at night, missing out on any views of the Chaco, and roadblocks on the Bolivian side of the border are common, easily doubling your journey time. The majority of buses traveling this route (at least 21 hours) do not have bathrooms on board. Flights to Santa Cruz are currently just slightly more costly than taking the bus if purchased in advance.

All of the other buses are excellent. It is prudent to pay more money to get better service (the 70,000 Gs. bus to Ciudad del Este takes two to three hours less than the 40,000 Gs. services, for example). Food and drink are often supplied on longer-distance trains, and virtually all will stop on way to let someone sell chipa and cocido.

Driving yourself is a good option to discover the city sites, since some are situated outside of the microcentro. When hiring a vehicle, it is suggested that you use a GPS since the city streets and avenues lack effective signaling and finding your way about might be difficult. Asunción traffic may be rather hectic, especially early in the morning, around lunchtime, and between 5 and 8 p.m. during rush hour. However, once outside of the city, things improve dramatically. Highways to adjacent locations are in excellent shape. Drivers might also be provided by automobile rental firms.

Parking in the city is plentiful and well-signalized on every street. The streets are broad enough to park beside both sidewalks. Parking in the microcentro streets costs USD 0.50 per hour, but only from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekdays. Parking is free on Saturdays and Sundays. When you park your vehicle, destitute individuals (men and women, young and elderly) may approach you and offer to “watch after” the car for you, expecting you to pay them a modest amount of money (no more than USD 2) when you return to your car. This is a typical occurrence across the city, particularly around major attractions (including municipal parks) and restaurants. It may be irritating at first, but locals are used to this circumstance, and it is preferable for you to accept the offer and avoid any issue.

The port is located on the riverbank of Montevideo, close behind Paraguayo Independiente.

On Sundays between 6-7 a.m., the “Cacique II” departs Concepción for Asunción. 55,000 Gs for 22 hours. Wednesday morning, he returns to Concepción. Bring warm clothing as well as your own snacks. A inexpensive dinner may be purchased on board, but don’t bank on it.

Passengers may sometimes arrange passage on cargo ships traveling to Concepción and higher up the Rio Paraguay.

Asunción’s historic center is compact enough to be explored on foot. However, some of the attractions, like as the Jardn Botánico (Botanical Garden), are located beyond the city limits. In addition to the city’s historical heart, which is largely between the streets Colón and Antequera, the Carmelitas neighborhood has become a retail and entertainment hotspot, with numerous big shopping malls and North American-style bars and restaurants. Street names shift east-west at Independencia Nacional, and north-south at Avenida Mariscal López.

Buses are ubiquitous, inexpensive, and an adventure in and of themselves (be careful while exiting, since many only slow down, rather than stop completely for the passengers to get off). They travel almost everywhere in town – destinations are printed on boards in the front window, and if you’re unsure, simply yell your planned destination to the driver when he stops, and he’ll tell you yes or no. There are many distinct variations of each bus number – 16, 16.1, 16.2, etc. – that frequently take totally different routes, so be careful not to get on the incorrect one. There aren’t many official bus stops in Asunción, so you can very much flag down a bus from wherever. To get about, you’ll need to know some Spanish. The fare is Gs. 2.000 (USD 0.52).

Some useful bus routes:

• Centre (Oliva) to Shopping del Sol: 28, 30
• Centre to Shopping Mariscal Lopez/Villa Morra: 18, 26, 28, 30.2 (from Oliva), 56 (from Haedo)
• Centre (Oliva) to the Botanical Gardens: 1, 13
• Centre (Oliva) to the Bus Termninal: 8, 36
• Centre (Haedo) to Mercado 4: 2, 21, 25, 27, 29, 133
• Centre (Oliva) to the airport: 30A

Taxis are also readily accessible and moderately priced. Many of the cabs are old, lumbering diesel Mercedes, which may be a nostalgic treat. Late at night (after roughly 10 p.m.) and on Sundays, a 30% extra is imposed. Tipping is not customary. Make sure drivers utilize the meter or pre-arrange a fee.

Walk up the steps labelled “SALIDA” from the bus station, then down the stairs into the car park. Ignore taxi touts and take a cab from the queue. During the day, a cab into the city center should cost roughly 40,000 Gs. Taxis in front of the terminal at the airport charge a set, non-negotiable fare of 100,000 Gs to the center. You can save money by going up to the main road and hailing a yellow taxi from there, but you’re unlikely to save more than 20,000 Gs.

MARKET / SUPERMARKET

RESTAURANTS

ENTERTAINMENT

PERSONAL CARE

CLOTHES / SHOES

TRANSPORTATION

Although Asunción lacks traditional tourist attractions, it might be an intriguing city to visit if you are ready to be your own tour guide.

Every July, a trade fair featuring display booths, food, music, and booze is held. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about what is going on in the nation; exhibitors vary from agricultural suppliers to liquor makers. Keep a look out for the many free samples of food, toiletries, and beverages.

• The National Congress. One of the city’s most spectacular new structures. It was erected in 2002 with $20 million from the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Paraguay is one of the few, and the only, South American nation that recognizes the Republic of China (Taiwan) rather than mainland China (People’s Republic of China). The most notable feature is its mirrored façade, which mirrors the neighboring slums along the riverbank. You may request an English tour and perhaps obtain one. If you arrive by 1 p.m., you will be able to see a tiny museum inside.

• Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Asunción. The national cathedral. Across the plaza with fountains, however it is usually closed, particularly during the afternoon siesta.

• Municipal Museum. The Municipal Museum is small, but it contains information on the historic tram system from the 1880s and other municipal history. The Visual Arts Museum is nearby and features temporary shows by national artists.

• Panteón de los Heroes. The unnamed soldier’s grave is here, as are other “heroes” from Paraguay’s tragic conflicts, as well as plaques honoring the soldiers of the Chaco war. Every other day, the guard is changed.

• Cabildo. The historic colonial legislative structure in the bay area now houses a cultural center.

• Casa de la Independencia. Paraguayan independence landmark. In 1811, patriotic patriots assembled here to plan against Spanish colonialists. On Independence Day, they marched from here to the Cathedral.

• Palacio de López. House the Paraguayan government. Very well lit at night. 

• Estación Central del Ferrocarril. The first vapor train in South America was installed in Paraguay. The structure itself and the antique wagons are more spectacular than the museum that it currently contains. On Sundays, you could have success finding a transport to the nearby city of Aregua. The train no longer runs often; this is just a tourist attraction.

• Teatro Municipal. Check for frequent concerts in the newly restored area. You can dine there even if you don’t see a play since it has a nice café inside.

• Manzana de la Rivera. An historic colonial mansion has been converted into a cultural center. It has a wonderful outdoor café with a view of the Palacio de López.

• Iglesia de la Encarnación. A large pipe organ can be found in a church (the only one in Paraguay). Currently in very bad shape. During the Chaco War, it served as a hospital (1932-35).

• Mburuvicha Roga. The “chief’s house” in Guarani, where the presidential family lives. 

• Centro Cultural de Artes Visuales Museo del Barro. Paraguayan art ranges from pre-colonial pottery and textiles to cutting-edge modern art.

• Capellania del Migrante- Seminario Metropolitano de Asunción. Beautiful brick chapel amid a large busy park where Paraguayans play soccer, tennis, and jog.

• Backyard birds. Backyard birds in cities are fascinating. The Great Kiskadee, Saffron Finch, and Hornero are all present. Kiskadees are fierce and big, similar to yellow blue jays. Saffron finches are similar to yellow house finches, and Horneros are similar to American Robins but lack the red breast. It creates a one-of-a-kind mud nest the size and shape of a football that mimics a Paraguayan oven, or horno. Hence the term “baker.”

• Sunday flea market, along calle Palma. Usually from early morning to lunchtime. Several elderly guys put up stands to sell souvenirs, pictures, and books.

• Running, Parque Ñu Guazú. Many Asunceos work off the pressures of the day in Parque u Guaz, which is located just outside of Asunción in the city of Luque, on the route to the airport. A beautiful paved 9K circle for running or walking is available.

• Ñu Guazu. Nu Guazu, Asunción’s largest park, is a great place to spend the day or have a picnic. There are several ponds and people participating in sports.

• Jardín Botánico. Visit the botanical garden; it’s a tranquil setting filled with trees and pleasant walks. Find a shady area and have a picnic lunch. Within the park, you may see Madame Lynch’s mansion, a stunning specimen of Paraguayan colonial architecture.
• Soccer. Attend a soccer game in one of Asunción’s stadiums. Cerro Porteno and Olimpia are the traditional rivals.

You won’t have trouble finding an inexpensive restaurant to eat at or take out for lunch. The eateries where you pay by the weight and assist yourself are typically quite affordable and a good alternative to the marginally more costly restaurants with their daily menu. Finding a decent deal is more difficult after supper because so few restaurants are still open, especially if you are watching your budget.

Although they are situated distant from the center, the majority of shopping malls include adequate food courts with a range of eateries. Larger supermarkets frequently have a low-cost self-service restaurant.

Eat a streetside “lomito”; these sellers may be found all throughout the city, but there are particularly many of them around Casa Rica and the river Guazu. A fried egg, cheese, mayo, and vegetables are all included in the sandwich. Beef or chicken are available for selection. Some also sell hamburgers, chorizo, and lomito arabe (shawarma). After a night of heavy drinking, it is a well-liked hangout spot in the evenings.

Don Vito is the pinnacle of Paraguayan fast food. They have been in operation for more than 30 years and are the originators of the Paraguayan empanada. If you’re fortunate enough to be in Paraguay in May or June, you may get a pastel mandi’o, which is made of mandioca and beef, at the original location, which is right behind the Iglesia de San Jose. Pulp, a Paraguayan soft drink created with natural fruit juice, is best savored with a cold one.

• Burger King, Palma between 14 de Mayo and 15 de Agosto. If you fancy something you know. Also open in the evening. 
• Supermercado El Pais, Antequera and 25 de Mayo (on the east side of Plaza Uruguaya). open until 21:30, Sunday only until noon. Upstairs is the buffet, with various meats, pastas and salads available. Pay by weight, ½kg around 15,000Gs. It is not recommended to dine in the evening, shortly before they close. 
• Restaurant Internacional, Fernando de la Mora (opposite the bus terminal). A good and not too expensive place. Sometimes with live music. Popular also with locals to hang out for a beer. Open in the evening. 
• La Vida Verde, Palma 634. 9:00-14:00. Good Chinese-vegetarian food. Self-service. Very popular at noon. No more than US$5 per person. 
• Na Eustaqia, 421 Palma, past Lido’s and the hall of martyrs, near Burger King. Lower prices than Lido’s, and quality food. Very busy for lunch, you may need to wait for a table. Main lunches cost 15,000 – 25,000 Gs. Great juice bar there too.
• Seoul, Chile, near the intersection with Oliva (Plaza de los Heroes) and opposite an Esso petrol station. Open for lunch and dinner (19:30). Wonderful Korean buffet, with lots of vegetarian options where you fill your plate and pay per kilo (40,000 Gs) 

• Confiteria/Snack Bar/Restaurant Bolsi (corner Estrella and Alberdi). M-Su, also open in the evening. It has been there for decades, serving some more and some less traditional food to a mixed crowd of people. 
• Lido Bar (Av. Palma, opposite Panteón del los Heroes). open daily till late. Established 1954 in the style of a contemporary American cafe-bar, Lido Bar has hardly changed since. All the usual Paraguayan foods, plus a wide selection of desserts. Very popular during peak times, particularly dinner. The Fish Soup (sopa pescado) is famous and recommended. 
• Hacienda Las Palomas, Senador Long 1481 (corner Senador Long and Guido Spano),  +595 21 605-111. Really good Mexican food (not “chips & salsa Tex-Mex”). The margaritas are particularly good, but the food is even better. 
• Shangri-La, Aviadores del Chaco c/ San Martín (corner Aviadores del Chaco and San Martín),  +595 21 661-618. Good Chinese food. 
• Bar San Roque (Corner of 25 de Mayo and Tacuary. Green building.). Open all evening, earlier than many other places until late. A mix of traditional and fine cuisine. Excellent food and service in a very traditional feeling atmosphere. Really fantastic beer on tap, served in their chilled Oktoberfest steins. 

Purchasing products and services is inexpensive. This is mostly due to Paraguay being a sanctuary for piracy and contraband. Be warned that certain products may be created at a low cost.

• Indigenous crafts and artisan work – There are indigenous arts and crafts available, including ceramics, tooled leather, carved wood, and an especially Paraguayan lace style called “anduti” that is modeled on a spider’s web. Visit the boutiques run by artists in Plaza de los Heroes. In reality, most items are produced locally.

• Shopping malls – Shopping del Sol on Aviadores del Chaco and Shopping Mariscal López on Avenida Mariscal Lopez are Asuncion’s two main shopping centers, and they are located in the suburbs of Villa Mora and Carmelitas, respectively. Take the 28 or 30 bus to get there. Both the mall Excelsior on Chile and the simpler Asuncion Supercentro on Oliva’s western end are in the center. On Sunday nights, when many more popular center restaurants are closed, these “Shoppings” are helpful as locations to dine.

• Palma Street, Calle Palma. The primary commercial street. Almost everything available here may be found for less money in one of the side streets.

• Mercado 4, along Avenida Sivio Pettirossi. It is a chaotic market where you can buy almost anything at a very low price, and it is especially ideal for fake apparel and illegal CDs and DVDs (of varying quality). The majority of Paraguayans still shop at their neighborhood vegetable markets, although everything is relatively affordable. Good restaurants abroad, particularly Chinese ones, and tasty street food.

T-shirts, traditional lace, leather products, guampas/bombillas, and other trinkets are common souvenirs from Asunción.

American Express traveller’s cheques can be changed at Banco de la Nacion Argentina (at Plaza de los Heroes). Above average exchange rate, 3 US$ commission. It will take a while though – time to experience the place which could be a sight in itself. BBVN supposedly does as well. Casa de Cambios don’t. All banks close by 1:30PM.

• Britannia Pub, Cerro Corá 851. Tu-F from 19:30, Sa-Su from 20:00. The number 1 hangout for English speaking foreigners, still outnumbered by locals however. Try their microbrewed Britannia Beer and the chicken platter. 

• 904, Cerro Corá 904. Mon-Thu from 18:00,Fri from 17:00, Saturday from 19:00. A lot like Britallina: similar food, similar drinks, similar prices. Has a pool table, and occasionally puts on live-music shows. 

• The Jack, Cerro Cora. Recently opened bar opposite Britannia. Was previously called ‘Older’. 

• Coyote, Sucre 1655 (corner San Martin Avenue). Dance club, fashionable but loud 

• Hollywood Dance, Independencia Nacional and Teniente Fariña (One block away from Mall Excelsior). Fri and Sat from around midnight. Dance venue for mostly gay people. 20.000 Gs. 

• Glam, Av. San Martin 1155 and Agustin Barrios (Next to Salemma Carmelitas Supermarket). Thu Fri Sat from midnight. One of the finest dance clubs in Asuncion 

• Kandi, Av. Aviadores del Chaco (Two or three blocks from Sheraton Hotel and Shopping del Sol).

• Planta Alta, first floor, Caballero 294 (corner Mariscal Estigarribia). W-F 17:00 – 01:00, Sat 21:00 – 03:00. A lounge-style hangout for artistic types, often playing live jazz. Reasonably cheap drinks. 10,000 Gs. 

• Paseo Carmelitas,  +595 21 608226. from morning till late. A gallery with lots of stores to do shopping during the day and an excellent selection of bars and restaurants to go during the night, probably the most popular place in Asuncion during the night. Selection of bars include the “Kilkenny Irish Pub” “Cover Singing Bar” “Kamastro Resto Arte & Bar” in between others. 

• La Taberna Cafe or La Tabernita, CHILE 1179 between YGATIMI y JEJUI,  +595 21 453620, e-mail: latabernacafe97@gmail.com. 07:00-15:00 and 1830-late. A Cafe Bar with good atmosphere, good music, drinks and very friendly staff (if you like 70’s, 80’s, 90’s Rock & Pop) 

• Casa Clari, Ayolas c/Benjamin Constantin (inside Manzana de la Riviera). Really nice views of the López Palace. Good food/drink menu, but slightly pricier than other bars in the centre. 

The national police are quite conspicuous, with some already wearing riot shields as if there will be an insurrection at any minute. Crime is not common since the dictator of the 1980s did not allow crime in any shape or form. Although it appears that crime has increased following the dictator’s overthrow in 1989. Some homes have twenty foot high walls with barbed wire, electric fence, and razor wire on top to defend them, and those who can afford it have a full-time guard on their property. Asunción is one of the safer cities in South America, and violent crime is extremely rare, despite the people’ relatively high sense of crime. Visitors are unlikely to be especially targeted by criminals due to the low number of tourists in Paraguay overall. The main things to watch out for are taxi drivers attempting to rip you off and petty criminals (check your pockets on packed buses) (make sure they use the meter). Pickpocketing is allegedly common in congested downtown areas close to upscale hotels.

After dark, prostitution is prevalent and evident along the major thoroughfares in the suburbs and in a few isolated pockets of the city center’s oldest neighborhoods close to the harbor. Prostitutes that identify as transgender are widespread and should be avoided as they occasionally cause trouble. Female tourists should be warned that Paraguayan men will pay them a lot of unwanted attention. This attention usually takes the form of harmless banter, such as screams or wolf whistles, but it can occasionally include touching, especially in clubs. It’s better to simply disregard this kind of attention. There are quite a few street drunks in various sections of the city, but they are always safe. Alcohol is generally available but not commonly misused.

When crossing the roadway in Asunción, exercise utmost caution. Even when police are present, the majority of drivers disregard traffic signals and stop signs as simple recommendations. Buses will stop practically anywhere, so use extreme caution.

The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises all travelers to Asunción to get a typhoid shot before departure. When visiting Asunción, one regularly runs the danger of contracting dengue fever; sadly, there is no vaccination for this disease at this time. Make sure to apply bug spray at all times of the day, without fail, to prevent diseases caused by insects.

You should never go wandering in the exceedingly unsafe and underdeveloped “Chacarita” neighborhood near the river and the Palace.