With great weather all year round, Asuncion is the perfect destination for enjoying outdoor activities, its lush green scenery making anything pursued outside a pleasanter experience. Ypacarai Lake is perhaps the best destination in terms of the scope of its appeal, offering the possibility of water sports, walking activities and beach relaxation.

Beaches
You need travel only 48 kilometres to the town of San Bernardino to find a pleasant beach area located on the shore of Ypacarai Lake. The beach is family-friendly and well equipped with facilities for tourists, so is a popular daytrip and vacation destination with the locals. Things can get crowded at weekends and in the summer season.

Botanical Garden and Zoo (Jardin Botanico y Zoologico)
The Botanical Garden and Zoo presents a pleasant mix of flora and fauna with sights to interest visitors both young and old. The nursery, with its collection of over 500 species of plants, is likely to interest adults; while for the little ones, the animal collection containing around 70 different species is definite pleaser. The rare mountain pig known as the tagua, is among the highlights of the zoo section.
Phone: +595 21 290 269.

Golf
The city’s premier golf club is a private facility located adjacent to the Botanical Garden. To the best of our knowledge, this course is open to members only but it may be possible to play as a guest of an existing member. Visitors interested in doing so should call +595 21 290-251. Alternatively, serious golf enthusiasts might want to consider booking their accommodation at the Casino Yacht & Golf Club Hotel, a major hotel with its own golf course plus facilities for basketball, volleyball, tennis, squash, fishing and kayaking.

Trekking
There’s little in the way of a local infrastructure to support trekking activities; however, the city’s surroundings are well suited to hiking and trekking so anyone with a map, a compass and a sturdy pair of walking shoes shouldn’t have any problems organising an excursion of this nature. A hire car can be useful for reaching suitable areas and you may wish to consider enquiring at travel shops for the possibility of having a local guide accompany you.

Ypacarai Lake
Just 45kms out of the city and easily reached by either hire car or public transport, Ypacarai Lake is a large body of water that’s a firm favourite with locals for the pursuit of activities such as boating, kayaking, swimming and fishing. If you prefer to stay on dry land then take a walk around the lake’s perimeter, enjoying the beautiful scenery and nature along the way.

There’s plenty in Paraguay to keep culture seekers occupied with venues presenting a wide variety of historic and heritage-based themes as well as the arts. The Casa de la Independencia is one of the highlights for anyone interested in how the country came to liberate itself from Spain in the early 1800s, while the Museum of Fine Arts is the ideal venue for aesthetes.

Casa de la Cultura
This small, yellow, and somewhat unassuming building was previously the meeting place for the Paraguayan congress but since the newer building adjacent to it has replaced it for that same purpose, the House of Culture has been converted into a small museum. A visit to Casa de la Cultura is likely to be fairly short but worthwhile all the same if you are interested in Paraguayan history at all.

Casa de la Independencia
Constructed in 1772 by the Spanish-born Antonio Martinez Saenz, the Casa de la Independencia is a colonial-style building with adobe walls, a thatched roof and a bamboo and palm wood framework. The house is a national monument on account of its being the setting in which Paraguayan freedom fighters made plans to secure the country’s independence in 1811. The structure has housed a museum since 1965, and more than 40 years on it’s still a major showcase for artefacts and documents related to theme of Paraguayan independence. 
Phone: +595 21 493 918

Dr Barbero Ethnographic Museum (Museo Etnografico Doctor Andrés Barbero)
Open to the public since 1933 and housed in its current location since 1956, the Ethnographic Museum is a centre dedicated to providing history and valuable cultural information on Paraguay’s indigenous people. Artefacts on display include weapons, tools, musical instruments and items of clothing from Indian tribes and other ethnic groups. There’s also a gallery containing photographs detailing the cultural evolution of such groups. 
Phone: +595 21 441 696

Museum of Clay and Earthenware (Museo del Barro)
With a collection covering media including ceramics, glass, craftworks, handicrafts and fine art, the Clay Museum is a must for anyone appreciating aesthetics and particularly those interested in colonial and indigenous art and pre-colonial Guarani ceramics. Guided tours in Spanish or English are available by request. 
Phone: +595 21 607 996

Museum of Fine Arts (Museo de Bellas Artes)
Founded in 1909 by a Paraguayan collector known as Silvano Godoy, the Museum of Fine Arts is home to an impressive collection of works totalling more than 650 in number and including paintings, ceramics sculptures, photographs and prints from both national and international artists. Paraguayan artists with pieces in the museum include Pablo Alborno, Juan Samudio, Roberto Holden, Olga Blinder and Miguel Acevedo. 
Phone: +595 21 447 716

The local cuisine has seen a mix of influences, with the gastronomy of Brazil among the most significant. Beef is a favourite meat and features heavily in local dishes, though chicken and pork are also eaten. A kind of bread called manioc is a staple of most meals and the beverage known as maté is consumed during and in between meals – at any time of day in fact. Corn is also a staple of most meals.

Eating out in the city can be a cheap or expensive experience, as you see fit. The city has no shortage of dining establishments and as lunch is the main meal of the day, this is when they are busiest. For a good midday deal, look for one of the buffet-style eateries where you are charged by weight. At dinnertime, a smaller selection of restaurants is open and prices tend to be a step higher.

Shops come in all sizes and categories, with everything from local markets to big malls. Frequent the former if you are after local handmade goods, artworks, leatherwear and so on and head for the malls when you need air-conditioning and the familiarity of big name brands.

The Excelsior Mall is among the biggest indoor shopping centres in the city and offers three floors of retail outlets plus a food court with a varied selection of eateries. For one of the liveliest markets, head for Mercado 4, on Avenida Pettirossi, where you’ll find an abundance of outdoor stalls selling everything from food to clothing to livestock.