Foz do Iguaçu is very well ranked on all lists of the most visited cities in the country. In 2021, for example, TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel platform, listed the most sought-after destinations by travelers worldwide. The city of Foz do Iguaçu ranked 12th among the most sought-after destinations in South America and, when considering only Brazilian destinations, it ranked 6th. In a survey by the Decolar website in 2019, before the pandemic, the tri-border area reached 4th place. It’s clear that Foz do Iguaçu is a coveted destination for tourists from all over the world!

The charm of Foz do Iguaçu isn’t just limited to the Falls. The city is also recognized for being home to the Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant, the largest in the world in terms of energy production, surpassing 103 million megawatt-hours in 2016, a record for energy production by a single plant in the world. The Itaipu Dam stretches almost 8 km from end to end and houses 20 generating units that together produce the equivalent of half the flow of the Iguaçu Falls each! The power plant is also a tourist attraction in the city, having welcomed over 24 million visitors since it opened for tourism in 1976.

On January 31, 1542, Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca became the first European to encounter the Iguaçu Falls. Cabeza de Vaca was on a mission to the city of Asunción in Paraguay when he came across the vastness of the 275 waterfalls that make up the Iguaçu Falls. Details of this story can be found at the Marco das Três Fronteiras (Three Borders Landmark), one of the well-known attractions in Foz do Iguaçu, through the Cabeza de Vaca Memorial located there.

There are several celebrities who have visited Foz do Iguaçu, all attracted, of course, by the beauty of the Iguaçu Falls. Princess Diana was here in 1991, visited the Iguaçu National Park, and had lunch at the Hotel das Cataratas. The city’s inclusion in the travel itinerary was a request from Lady Di herself.

Tony Hawk, the world’s most famous skateboarder, visited the Land of the Falls in 2013 to participate in the X Games, an extreme sports event organized by the American TV network ESPN. One of that year’s editions of the event took place within the Iguaçu National Park, with a privileged view of the falls.

Jackie Chan came to Brazil in 2012 to receive a private jet he had acquired from the Brazilian company Embraer, a brand for which the actor is an ambassador, and took the opportunity to stop by Foz do Iguaçu. Several videos of the actor’s visit to the Triple Frontier are available on the internet.

American singer Katy Perry landed in Foz do Iguaçu during her Witness tour in 2018. However, the celebrity stayed in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina, and took the opportunity to tour the Iguaçu Falls on the Argentine side.

The triple border has served as the setting for several national and international films. The most recent of these is Black Panther, from 2018, where scenes from the Iguaçu Falls were used to represent the fictional kingdom of Wakanda. Among the films shot in Foz do Iguaçu are The Mission (1986), Mr. Magoo (1997), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), Miami Vice (2006), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016).

Even the most famous spy of the big screen has made an appearance in the Land of the Waterfalls. The film Moonraker (1979), starring Roger Moore as James Bond, featured a breathtaking chase scene on the waters of the Iguaçu River.

If you’re a fan of Roger Moore’s James Bond, you’ll be thrilled to see the setting based on the film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) that we have here at Movie Cars, where an identical Lotus Esprit to the one in the movie is on display!