Ciudad del Este is a city in Paraguay. It is mainly a shopping destination for Brazilians and Argentinians. Apart from that the city is not very attractive.
Founded in 1957, it was originally called Puerto Flor de Lis (Port Fleurdelis), then until 1989 Puerto Presidente Stroessner (Port President Stroessner), after Alfredo Stroessner. It is part of a triangle known as the Triple Frontera (Triple border), or Tríplice Fronteira in Portuguese. It is linked to the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguaçu by the Friendship Bridge; Puente de la Amistad in Spanish, Ponte da Amizade in Portuguese. The city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad del Este.
Ciudad del Este generates about 60% of Paraguay's GDP. It is the third largest free-tax commerce zone in the world, after Miami and Hong Kong, and — together with Foz do Iguaçu — it is the headquarters of the company that operates the nearby Itaipu dam. The city's economy (and Paraguay's economy as well) relies heavily on the mood of the Brazilian economy, as 95% of Paraguay's share of the energy generated by the Itaipu Dam is sold to Brazil (for US$300 million), and that every day many Brazilians cross the border to buy less-expensive products (US$1.2 billion, mostly electronics).
PLACE TO VISIT
Itapú Binacional Hydrodam, (The visitor centre is on the road to Hernandarias. Any bus to Hernandarias can drop you off there.), Visits only on guided tours at 8 am, 9:30 am, 2 pm, 3 pm; Sundays morning tours only. On Friday and Saturday evening there's an audio-visual show (reservation required). Passports necessary for all visits. Free.
Museo de la Tierra Guaraní and Zoológico Regional, (About 2 km from the visitor centre on the way back to Ciudad del Este), Tuesdays to Saturday 8am to 12pm and 2:30pm to 5pm; Sundays morning only, Mondays afternoon only.. A small museum mainly on the Guarani culture and the local wildlife. Descriptions in English and Spanish. Free
SHOPPING
Shopping is the main business of the visitors. The main shopping streets are Av. San Blas and Camilo Recalde, where you can buy about anything and everything. Many people come for electronics.
A WARNING: If you want to buy electronics such as cellphones or cameras, the procedure shall be as follows:
Ask to test the device, if it works DO NOT give it back to the shopkeeper/assistant as some of them exchange them with faulty versions or hand the box back filled with paper or other but certainly not with what you just bought.
HOW TO REACH
By Bus - The bus terminal is located in the southern part of the city, a bit hidden behind the stadium. There are frequent buses from Asunción (5 h) and Encarnación (4 h) in the South.
International Border Crossing - The most common way to arrive is through "Ponte da Amizade" (Friendship Bridge) which connects Ciudad del Este in Paraguay and Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil. There are frequent bus connections, also to and from Puerto Iguazu in Argentina. Taxis sometimes do the trans-border trip as well.
A couple of kilometers south of Ciudad del Este, where Rio Paraná and Rio Iguaçu join, is a ferry crossing to Puerto Iguazu in Argentina without crossing Brazilin territory. The ferry runs hourly during daylight hours. There´s a bus passing close-by.
