Things to do in Asunción

Nature · The riverfront north of the centre

The reclaimed Río Paraguay waterfront — a wide promenade, cycle lanes, the Costanera Norte beach and the best sunset in the city.

Local tip: Go on a Sunday evening when half of Asunción is out walking with a thermos and a guampa. The Municipalidad runs periodic 'activaciones' on the Costanera with food stalls and music; the stretch below the Palacio de López is the postcard, but the busier local scene is further north near the Chacarita end.

Food · Pettirossi, southeast of the microcentro

A vast, chaotic, entirely un-touristic market that spills across a dozen blocks — produce, herbs, meat, contraband electronics, and the best cheap food in the city.

Local tip: Come before nine for the herb stalls: the yuyeras sell the fresh medicinal herbs you crush into tereré, and they will tell you which ones are for the heat, the liver or the nerves. Keep your phone in your pocket and take cash in small notes.

Neighborhood · On the hill above the bay, west of the centre

Asunción's oldest neighbourhood, painted in saturated colours and turned into a walkable open-air museum without being emptied of its residents.

Local tip: It is a working neighbourhood that decided to paint itself, not a heritage project. Sunday lunch at one of the family kitchens — chipa guasu, sopa paraguaya, mbejú — is the point, and the view down over the bay from the top is free.

Landmark · Palma y Chile, the microcentro

The domed national mausoleum on Calle Palma, guarded around the clock, holding the remains of the marshals and the unknown soldiers of two catastrophic wars.

Local tip: Go at the changing of the guard, then walk Palma westward on a Sunday when it is closed to traffic and the street fills with stalls. The two wars in that building explain more about Paraguay's national character than any museum in the country.

Culture · Facing the Palacio de López

Nine restored colonial and nineteenth-century houses turned into a city museum, library and café, directly across from the presidential palace.

Local tip: Free, almost always empty, and the terrace of the Casa Viola café has the best framed view of the Palacio de López in the city — better than the one from the street, and with a coffee in your hand.

Nature · Santísima Trinidad, north-east of the centre

A 110-hectare park on the old López family estate — the largest green space in the city, with two colonial-era residences inside it.

Local tip: Most foreign residents never come this far out and it is where Asunceño families actually spend Sunday. The forest trails along the river side are genuinely cool in February, which is more than can be said for anywhere else in the city.