We probably could have managed with 1 night here, as we had already seen the Jesuit reductions at Trinidad and Jesus on the way from Brazil. The city itself is "pleasant", but not many sights. Most tourists would stay here to see Trinidad and Jesus missions, and most Paraguayans come to enjoy the beaches - Paraguay being landlocked, this is as close to a seaside holiday that they can get without going abroad.. Having said that, a stroll along the malecon and an ice cream overlooking the beach is a nice way to pass an afternoon
Lately Encarnación has become the tourism capital of the country, with its wide beaches and newly completed waterfront boardwalk attracting more than 300,000 people each summer. It is also the Carnival Capital of Paraguay, a yearly celebration of mostly Brazilian music and dance in February.
It is rather less proud to be the birthplace of dictator Alfredo Stroessner. His former house is now a private university just behind the bus terminal.
Click on any of the thumbnails below to get a bigger photograph
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Hotel Milord
This is a nice boutique hotel, that would be rated 3 star in Europe, but gets 5 in Paraguay. But appears to stand out from the competition in Encarnation.
The hotel is 5 minutes walk from the river and the beaches. Certainly 2 nights in Encarnation is enough for the average foreign tourist to feel that they have seen the place. Having read reviews of the other options locally, then Milord is probably the best choice.
We stayed in room 14 - avoid room 14, it is dark, has no view, has nowhere to put a suitcase, has only one, upright, chair and looksout onto the small staff car park. It has a strange bathroom set up with the basin outside the bathroom.. Certainly not a place in which to sit and relax
There is a small pool, with a lot of cracked mosaic tiles. But a pleasant place to relax though
We had two meals here. the a la carte was very good, the buffet below average for this sort of hotel
I should add that our car suffered trauma on hitting a stray dog that ran out in front of me. I had to get Hertz to change the car, and they did the change very efficiently, driving a replacement out all the way from Asuncion. The photo above shows the damage to the car - it was a big dog
Click on any of the thumbnails below to get a bigger photograph
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