Asunción

Currency budget Paraguay

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.

ATMs & cards

Itaú, Banco Continental and Ueno machines take foreign cards, with a low limit and a fee. Draw in the centre or in a shopping mall rather than on the street.

Cambios in the centre give better rates than the banks and are normal to use. Limits are low and the fee is per withdrawal.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety all of Paraguay

Calmer than most South American capitals but poorer, and opportunist theft is the pattern. Do not walk in the historic centre after dark, and do not display a phone anywhere. The Chaco and the Brazilian border area at Ciudad del Este are a different proposition and want local advice.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa Paraguay visa rules

Health & emergencies all of Paraguay

Required to enter

• Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present

Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

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.

Nightlife

Terraces in Villa Morra and Carmelitas, a great deal of beer, and a city that has quietly grown a proper bar scene in the last decade.

• Carmelitas — the bars and the terraces
• Villa Morra — the restaurants and the newer places
• Paseo La Galería — the mall bars, which is where people actually go

Closing: 03:00 at the weekend.

A beer in a bar: 15,000–30,000 PYG

Getting around

• Uber and Bolt — cheap, and the sensible way to move
• Bus — extensive and very cheap, and the routes are not signed in any legible way
• Walking — the historic centre is compact, and the heat decides how much of it you do
• Long-distance bus — to Encarnación and the Jesuit missions, six hours
• Airport: Silvio Pettirossi (ASU), 20 minutes from the centre

Internet speedall of Paraguay

Ookla publishes no mobile median for Asunción, so there is no figure here for what a phone gets.

Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Paraguay, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.

Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026

Must-see

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

Spanish (Latin American)

• HelloHolaOH-la
• PleasePor favorpor fa-VOR
• Thank youGraciasGRA-syas
• Yes / NoSí / Nosee / no

The c and z are said as an s here, not the Spanish "th" — gracias is GRA-syas.

Religion

Roman Catholic, with strong indigenous threads through it

Around 90% Catholic. Caacupé in December draws hundreds of thousands walking to the basilica, which is the country’s largest annual event by a distance.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Accept the tereré gourd when it is passed, drink it all, and hand it straight back — sharing the same straw is the whole point
• Learn two words of Guaraní, which is co-official and which most people speak at home
• Greet with a handshake, and with a kiss on both cheeks once you know someone
• Take the pace as it comes; nothing here is hurried and being hurried is read as rude

Don't

• Do not wipe the tereré straw before drinking, which is an insult to the person who passed it
• Do not assume Spanish is the first language — for most Paraguayans it is the second
• Do not discuss the War of the Triple Alliance lightly; the country lost most of its adult men in it
• Do not photograph people at Mercado 4 without asking