Information about Paraguay

As of March 22

Food

In the larger towns there are big supermarkets where everything you need can be bought; we often also find European goods. In the countryside there are only small shops, which are also called “supermercado”, but they only have a very limited offer, but mostly local fresh goods.

Water

The petrol stations always have a water connection with drinking water, which is free of charge. The water pressure and quality were very good.

Diesel

The filling station network is very dense, and the diesel quality is very good. The sulfur content is around 10ppm in the more expensive variety. We consistently chose the more expensive option.

Money

The currency, Paraguayan Guarani, PYG, is easy to obtain and freely convertible. We have changed USD in PYG in exchange offices and withdrawn PYG via WU, Western Union, both times with the same exchange rate. We did not withdraw cash with ATMs because the bank fees are extremely high. Credit cards are actually accepted everywhere.

Overnight places

Wild camping is not always easy, as the south of Paraguay is quite populated, and many areas are fenced off. The campsites we visited were all extremely clean and much tidier than in the other South American countries we have visited so far.

Internet

On the recommendation of friends, we chose the provider Tigo. Tigo offered us a SIM card with 30GB per month for two phones and the router. The first month was free. We traveled around Paraguay for less than a month and didn’t have to pay anything for the service. The coverage in the regions we traveled to was excellent, we had 4G almost everywhere.

Streets

The road network is largely paved. The roads were probably good years ago, today they are in a very bad condition, especially around and in Asuncion.

Regulations for heavy motor vehicles

We did not notice any particularly different regulations for trucks.

Customs formalities

Entry

We entered Paraguay in Ciudad del Este. After the border bridge, we had to be careful not to just be waved through. The vaccination card for Covid was checked and we received a stamp and were allowed to stay for three months. They didn’t want to create for us a TIP, temporary import permit, for our vehicles! We pushed for it, but the customs officer just said it wasn’t necessary in Paraguay. However, other travelers have received one.

Handling time: 15′

Antigen test Covid CHF 40.00 for two people. No fees were charged at customs.

Exit

We left again at Ciudad del Este. We received the exit stamps without further checks.

Handling time: 10′

Personal observations

Many citizens of Paraguay are still of German descent. This is expressed in the German sense of order and well-kept facilities, including campsites. People are happy when they can speak German. The political attitude was a bit odd at times.

Our statistics

Average daily expenses for 2 people in CHF: