Paso de los Libres
Paso de los Libres locally referred to as Libres, is part of Corrientes province in Argentina, a town across the Uruguay river from the city of Uruguaiana in Brazil.
Understand
The town is said to be equidistant to Buenos Aires (Argentina's capital), Montevideo (Uruguay's) and Asunción (Paraguay's).
Get in
The 1 bus station has regular services to Buenos Aires (8h, 890 pesos) and Posadas on the border with Paraguay (6h, 331 pesos). The main bus companies operating there are Crucero del Norte, Via Bariloche and Expreso Singer. Checking their websites is advisable as there are often offers available.
The bus station is an open air building. In winter, the only part offering shelter from cold is the café. Bathrooms are clean and free, but usually have no toilet paper.
Going to Uruguaiana
Company Crucero del Norte operates a regular urban service that goes all the way to Uruguaiana, for 8 reais or similar price in pesos.
Stopping at the 1 Argentine customs is mandatory for all: the bus driver will collect passengers' documents and handle the procedures. However, if you are traveling on documents other than Argentine or Brazilian, you should also stop at the Brazilian border post to get stamped — you might need to reminder the driver about it as most people traveling this route are locals who do not need it.
Timetable from Paso de los Libres to Uruguaiana
| Monday-Friday | 07:00 | 08:30 | 10:00 | 11:30 | 13:00 | 15:30 | 16:00 |
| Saturday | 07:00 | 10:00 | 13:00 | 16:00 | |||
| Sunday: no service |
The bus calls at the 2 bus stop across the road from the bus station about 20 minutes after the times listed above.
It later calls on a 3 bus stop after the bridge, on another one in 4 Uruguaiana downtown, and later on the 5 bus stop closest to Uruguaiana bus station, from where it's a 5-block walk eastwards.
Should you prefer not to wait for the bus, merely standing at the bus stop near the bus station will already attract offers of transport to Uruguaiana from not-so-official taxis. As of Jun 2018, the going rate was 50 pesos per person. Renting a full car (remise) would set you 300 pesos as of January 2019. Or you can catch a city bus to the Argentinian migration for 15 pesos and then hitch a ride to cross the bridge.