What a visitor's money does in Paraguay: every guide rated from very cheap to very expensive, cheapest first, then the things that cost travellers money without buying anything — the ATM, the taxi, the SIM.
Paraguayan Guaraní (PYG) · 1 USD = 5,961 PYG · 1 EUR = 6,841 PYG
Cambios in the centre give a better rate than the banks and are safe and normal to use. Paraguay is the cheapest country in South America by some distance and is a shopping destination for its neighbours because of it.
Avoid: street money changers, drawing cash on the street rather than inside a mall
Use: Itaú, Banco Continental, Ueno Bank
Cambios in the centre give better rates than the banks and are normal to use. Limits are low and the fee is per withdrawal.
A short ride in Asunción: Gs 20,000–45,000 across town — cheap
From the airport: Asunción airport to the centre Gs 80,000–120,000
Cheaper than the taxis, which negotiate rather than meter.
Sopa paraguaya is not a soup — it is a cornbread with cheese and onion, and the story about how it got the name is worth asking about. Chipa, the cheese bread ring, is sold from baskets on every corner. And tereré, cold mate with herbs, is drunk from a guampa all day in the heat, which is the national habit.
The cost rating is this site's own, for a visitor, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in. The general rules — the conversion prompt, shoulder season, the airport taxi — are in budget travel tips.
