Paraguay routes
Encarnación carnival: getting there and back
Paraguay’s biggest carnival parades on Saturday nights in January and February, in the sambadrome on the Encarnación waterfront, 370 km from Asunción. Getting there is the easy half. The half that needs planning is the way back, because the parades start at 20:30 and end long after the last bus.
The short answer
The Carnaval Encarnaceno is held in Encarnación, capital of the Itapúa department, in the sambadrome at the Centro Cívico Municipal “Mario y Betty Pérez”, on Avenida Costanera. In the 2026 edition, the hundredth, there were five parade nights: Saturdays 17, 24 and 31 January and 7 and 14 February, starting at 20:30. Encarnación is 370 km from Asunción: 5 to 5 hours 30 minutes by private vehicle, 6 hours by bus.
| Where | In the Encarnación sambadrome, the Centro Cívico Municipal “Mario y Betty Pérez”, on Avenida Costanera |
| When | The 2026 edition ran on five Saturdays: 17, 24 and 31 January and 7 and 14 February. The calendar is set each year and needs confirming |
| What time | Parades start at 20:30. No closing time is published: the night runs into the early hours |
| From Asunción | 370 km on Route PY01. Between 5 and 5 h 30 min by private vehicle, 6 h by bus |
| Tickets | Through the Tüti network, the organiser’s website and the sambadrome box office. We do not publish the price: the organiser sets it and it changes every edition |
| The problem | Getting back. The parades end in the small hours and Asunción is another 5 hours away |
| With us | From USD 417 per vehicle for up to 3 passengers on the Asunción – Encarnación transfer, leaving at whatever hour you choose, including 3 AM |
| Nearby | The Jesuit ruins of Trinidad and Jesús are 30 km away, about 40 minutes: they are covered in our guide to the Jesuit ruins |
What the Carnaval Encarnaceno actually is
It is the biggest and best-known carnival in Paraguay, and it parades every year in Encarnación, the capital of Itapúa, on the Paraná river. It is not a loose street party spread across town: it is a competition between comparsas on an enclosed track, with grandstands, judges and scoring, in the format of the Brazilian sambadromes.
The venue is the Centro Cívico Municipal “Mario y Betty Pérez”, which everyone simply calls the sambadrome, on Avenida Costanera. According to ABC Color’s coverage of 8 February 2026, the track runs 420 metres and each competition night puts around a thousand performers on it.
The 2026 edition was the hundredth, and the numbers give you the scale: the fourth night drew 16,000 spectators and the first four nights added up to more than 58,000, according to the same source. For a city the size of Encarnación, that means five weekends in which the whole town runs around the carnival.
The thing worth understanding before you build a trip around it is that this is not one single night. It is several nights, a week apart, and each one is a full event with different comparsas. You pick which one you go to; you do not have to spend the whole summer there.
The parade nights, based on the last edition
These figures come from the organiser and the Paraguayan press, not from us. We publish them because they are what people ask us most, with the usual caveat: the calendar is built fresh each year and has to be confirmed before you buy tickets or book a hotel.
| Detail | What it was in the 2026 edition |
|---|---|
| Parade nights | Five: Saturdays 17, 24 and 31 January and 7 and 14 February 2026 |
| Start time | 20:30 |
| Closing time | Not published. The night runs into the early hours |
| Venue | Centro Cívico Municipal “Mario y Betty Pérez”, on Avenida Costanera |
| Track length | 420 metres |
| Performers per night | Around 1,000 on the track |
| Attendance | 16,000 spectators on the fourth night; more than 58,000 across the first four |
| Tickets | Tüti network, organiser’s website and the sambadrome box office |
| If it rains | It runs anyway: the organiser states the event goes ahead in any weather |
Sources: ABC Color coverage of 3 March 2025 and of 7 and 8 February 2026, and the official carnival website’s frequently asked questions, consulted on 19 September 2026.
We deliberately do not publish the ticket price. The 2026 coverage does not agree on what the cheapest seat cost, the organiser revises the figures every year, and there are several categories, from standing to a table for a group. Putting a number here would hand you a figure that stops being true in three months.
What does not change are the channels: the Tüti network, the organiser’s website and the sambadrome box office itself. With those you can check the real price for the year you travel in about two minutes, which is worth more than a stale number.
How to get there from Asunción
Encarnación is 370 km from Asunción on Route PY01, heading south across the Misiones region through Carapeguá, Quiindy, Caapucú, San Ignacio and Coronel Bogado. Paved end to end, with no border crossing on the way.
| Option | Time | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled bus | 6 h, terminal to terminal | We do not publish the fare: it is third-party and it changes |
| Own or rented car | 5 to 5 h 30 min | Fuel, tolls and parking on you |
| Private transfer, sedan, up to 3 passengers | 5 to 5 h 30 min, door to door | USD 417 one way · USD 707 return |
| Private transfer, Hyundai H1 minivan, up to 7 | 5 to 5 h 30 min, door to door | USD 497 one way · USD 847 return |
| Private transfer, Mercedes Sprinter, 8 to 14 | 5 to 5 h 30 min, door to door | USD 970 |
| Private flight | 1 h 35 min in a Cessna 172 · 55 min in a Baron 58 | From USD 1,099 per aircraft, with the return the same day |
Transfer prices are per vehicle and not per passenger, so split four ways a minivan costs less per head than almost anything else. The booking is held with a 30 per cent deposit and the balance is paid on arrival.
The honest comparison is short: the bus is cheaper, and there is no arguing with that. If you are travelling alone, on a tight budget, and you do not mind leaving when the bus leaves, that is your trip, and we set it out in full in bus, car or transfer in Paraguay.
The private transfer wins on three other things, and on a carnival weekend all three matter: you leave at the hour you want, you leave from where you are staying, and you arrive at the door of your hotel in Encarnación with your luggage and no changes. The kilometres, the route and the stops are set out in the distance from Asunción to Encarnación.
The private flight is a different spending bracket and only makes sense when time is worth more than money: 1 h 35 min in a Cessna 172 against five hours on the road, with the same-day return already in the price. It is all in private flights Asunción – Encarnación.
How a parade night is put together
This is the skeleton of a carnival Saturday if you are coming from Asunción. The carnival times are those of the 2026 edition; the travel times are ours.
- 1
Buy the ticket before you go
Through the Tüti network, the organiser’s website or the sambadrome box office. The strong nights sell out, and arriving in Encarnación on a Saturday afternoon to hunt for a ticket is the worst version of this plan.
- 2
Leave Asunción in the morning or around midday
It is 5 to 5 h 30 min on the road. Leaving at 13:00 puts you in Encarnación around 18:30, with time to drop your things and eat before the parade.
- 3
Leave your luggage wherever you are sleeping
The sambadrome is no place for suitcases, and you are not allowed in with food or drink: there is catering inside.
- 4
Get into the sambadrome early
The parade starts at 20:30. Arriving with margin keeps you out of the queue at the gate and lets you pick your spot if your ticket is not numbered.
- 5
The night
One comparsa after another, with judges and scores. No closing time is published: it runs into the early hours, and most people stay to the end.
- 6
The way back
This is where the plan is won or lost. Either you sleep in Encarnación and drive back the next day, or you have a private vehicle waiting at an hour agreed in advance.
The 3 AM ride back: the part nobody plans
Everyone organises the trip out and almost nobody organises the trip home. The parade starts at 20:30 and finishes in the small hours. At that time, the Encarnación bus terminal does not have a coach to Asunción leaving every twenty minutes, and the five to five and a half hours of road are still there, only now you face them after a full night awake.
Driving back that same night is the option that most often ends badly. It is 370 km on the PY01, largely unlit, after a long day. That is not a sales line: it is what anyone who drives that route for a living will tell you.
Our Encarnación service departs at any hour of the day or night, because the passenger sets the time rather than a timetable. That is what solves the problem: you can agree that the vehicle waits and leave at three in the morning, or sleep in Encarnación and drive back on Sunday whenever suits you.
One detail we say before you ask: waiting hours beyond the ones agreed are not included in the transfer price. If you already know you will finish late, say so when you book and we fix it then; improvising it at two in the morning is more expensive for everybody. The return leg is also quoted separately, and it lives at transfers from Encarnación to Asunción.
Heading back that night or sleeping in Encarnación
Both work. The real variables are how many of you are travelling, how many carnival nights you want to see, and how much sleeping in your own bed is worth to you.
Going back the same night works if
- There are several of you and the cost of the vehicle splits four, five or seven ways.
- You could not find a room: on the strong nights the city fills up.
- You have something on in Asunción early on Sunday.
- Someone in the group can sleep on the way and you are not the one driving.
- You are going to one parade night and have no interest in seeing the city.
- You left the departure time agreed in writing when you booked.
Sleeping in Encarnación is better if
- You are travelling alone or as a couple: a room usually costs less than the waiting hours and the night drive.
- You want to see the waterfront and the Paraná river beaches in daylight.
- You plan to add the ruins of Trinidad and Jesús, 30 km away, about 40 minutes.
- You are going to more than one parade night on the same weekend.
- You are travelling with children or older relatives, for whom a night drive is too much.
- You booked ahead: in January and February, close to the date, there is nothing left.
What to know before you walk into the sambadrome
These rules are the organiser’s and were published in the carnival’s frequently asked questions as of 19 September 2026. Worth confirming, because the event sets them and we do not.
- You cannot bring in food or drink. The organiser says so explicitly and notes there is a wide food and drink offer inside.
- It is a family event. The organiser frames it that way, with the recommendation that children be supervised throughout.
- It runs rain or shine. The carnival goes ahead in any weather; if anything significant changes, it is announced on the event’s social channels and website.
- There is parking near the sambadrome, according to the organiser. If you drive yourself, allow extra time to get out of the centre when the night ends.
- It is high summer. January and February in Itapúa are hot and humid, and the parade is open-air. Water, light clothing and comfortable shoes.
- Buy the ticket before you travel. Through the Tüti network, the organiser’s website or the Centro Cívico Municipal box office.
- Confirm the calendar for the year you travel. In 2026 it was five Saturdays between 17 January and 14 February, but the dates are announced edition by edition.
What else there is in Encarnación that weekend
If you are going to cover 370 km, it is worth making the trip pay for more than one night. Encarnación has sand beaches on the Paraná river along the same waterfront where the sambadrome sits, and that is why the city was already a Paraguayan summer destination long before the carnival starts.
Thirty kilometres away, about 40 minutes, are the Jesuit ruins of La Santísima Trinidad del Paraná and Jesús de Tavarangüé, UNESCO World Heritage since 1993. They are the two best-preserved reductions in South America and they fit into a morning. How to visit them, what hours they keep and how much walking is involved is in our guide to the Jesuit ruins of Paraguay.
A typical Sunday after a parade night goes like this: sleep late, the waterfront and the beaches in the afternoon, and the drive back to Asunción once the heat drops. If instead you want to fit the ruins in, you have to be up early, and then the night before is one not to stretch to the very end.
If you are building a longer trip around the country, the times between cities are in our Paraguay travel guide: distances and routes, and what you can see in how many days is in how many days you need in Paraguay.
When NOT to hire us
If you are travelling alone and the budget rules, the bus to Encarnación is the honest answer. It is 6 hours instead of 5 or 5 and a half, you leave when the bus leaves and you arrive at a terminal rather than at your hotel door, but the difference in money is large and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
If you are already in Encarnación, you do not need us for the carnival: the sambadrome is on the waterfront, inside the city. What we solve is the long drive from Asunción, not a ten-block hop.
If you have your own car, travel in daylight and someone in the group will be rested enough to drive back on Sunday, drive yourself with our blessing. Route PY01 is paved end to end and presents no difficulty. The only thing we would not recommend, in your own car or a rental, is driving back at three in the morning.
Hiring us pays off when there are three or more of you, when the return falls in the small hours, when you are travelling with children or older relatives, or when the bus timetable simply does not line up with the parade. Outside those cases you would be paying for something you do not need, and a customer who overpaid once does not come back.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask us on WhatsApp every January about the carnival and the trip to Encarnación.
When is the Encarnación carnival?
In the 2026 edition, the hundredth, there were five parade nights: Saturdays 17, 24 and 31 January and 7 and 14 February, starting at 20:30. The organiser sets the calendar each year and announces it in advance, so confirm it before you buy tickets or book a room.
Where is the carnival held?
In the Encarnación sambadrome, which is the Centro Cívico Municipal “Mario y Betty Pérez”, on Avenida Costanera, inside the city. According to ABC Color the track is 420 metres long. It is minutes from almost any hotel in the centre.
What time do the parades start?
At 20:30, according to the organiser and the press coverage of the 2026 edition. No closing time is published: the night runs into the early hours, which is exactly why the way back should be settled before you leave Asunción.
How much is a ticket?
We do not publish the price. The organiser revises it each edition, there are several categories, from standing to a table for a group, and the 2026 coverage does not agree on which was the cheapest. Check through the Tüti network, the organiser’s website or the sambadrome box office.
How far is Encarnación from Asunción?
370 km on Route PY01 heading south across Misiones, through Carapeguá, Quiindy, Caapucú, San Ignacio and Coronel Bogado. That is 5 to 5 hours 30 minutes by private vehicle and about 6 hours by bus. The route is paved end to end and crosses no border.
How much does a transfer from Asunción to Encarnación cost?
From USD 417 per vehicle in a sedan for up to 3 passengers, USD 497 in a Hyundai H1 minivan for up to 7 and USD 970 in a Mercedes Sprinter for 8 to 14. Return trips are USD 707 in the sedan and USD 847 in the minivan. The price is for the vehicle, not per passenger, so it splits between you.
Can you pick me up at 3 AM when the parade ends?
Yes. The service is private and departs at any hour of the day or night: you set the time when you book. What matters is agreeing it in advance, because waiting hours beyond the ones agreed are not included in the transfer price.
Is it better to go back that night or sleep in Encarnación?
It depends on how many of you there are. In a group, going back that night splits well and saves a peak-season hotel night. Alone or as a couple, sleeping in Encarnación usually costs less and leaves Sunday free for the waterfront or for the Jesuit ruins.
Can I take food or drink into the sambadrome?
No. The organiser states explicitly that food and drink may not be brought in, and that there is a wide catering offer inside. That is the event’s rule and not ours: confirm it before you go.
What happens if it rains that night?
The carnival goes ahead in any weather, according to the organiser, and if anything significant changes it is announced on its social channels and website. Our transfer runs regardless too: Route PY01 is paved end to end.
Is it suitable for children?
The organiser presents it as a family event and recommends constant supervision. The thing to think about with children is the schedule: it starts at 20:30 and finishes in the small hours. If they are coming, sleeping in Encarnación rather than driving back that night changes a great deal.
Can I fly there?
Yes, on a private flight: 1 hour 35 minutes in a Cessna 172 for up to 3 passengers or 55 minutes in a Baron 58 for up to 5, from USD 1,099 per aircraft with the same-day return included. It is a different spending bracket and it makes sense when time is worth more than the price difference.
Can the carnival be combined with the Jesuit ruins?
Yes, and it is the most common combination for people who come for a whole weekend. Trinidad and Jesús de Tavarangüé are 30 km from Encarnación, about 40 minutes. With one night in the city both fit, as long as you start early on Sunday.
How do I book and pay for the transfer?
With a 30 per cent deposit that fixes the date, the time and the vehicle, and the balance on arrival. You can pay by card, bank transfer, digital wallet or crypto. In January it is worth booking early: carnival weekends are the most requested of the year on this route.
We will close your carnival weekend
Tell us which night you are going to, how many of you there are and whether you want to head back that same night or on Sunday. We come back with a fixed price per vehicle and the return time already agreed, and if the bus suits your case better, we will say so.
Per-vehicle prices valid from August 2026, quoted in US dollars and not per passenger. A 30 per cent deposit secures the booking and the balance is paid on arrival. The carnival dates, times, tickets and rules belong to the organiser and not to us: confirm them before you travel.