Welcome to Mendoza, a hot and dry city where the grape is the king. During my stay, I not only compared the Argentinian wine to the Chilean wine. I also discovered the most impressive mountain in South America, Aconcagua. Last but not least, Mendoza is a great place for Tango.

About the city

The weather

The city is located on the east side of the Andes. The area is dry, really dry. Without irrigation, the trees would struggle for growing. In January, the temperature was oscillating between 32 and 40 degrees. Hopefully, the night is rather fresh.

The visit

I did a walking tour called Tour for tips Mendoza in the new part of the city. This part of the city is easily recognizable as there a big square surrounded with 4 other ones smaller. You need to reserve on the website for joining a tour. Other tours are provided for discovering different parts of the city. The tour I did was interesting but not among the best one.

An important point to stress is that there is no famous Museum open. The reason is that all the main museums are in renovation or have burnt. The works are taking a longer time due to the crisis.

The stay

I stayed in two hostels, Lagares and Windmill. If the second one is closer from the center and from the terminal, the first one is of a higher quality. Actually, it is my favorite one from the beginning of my travel.

I was running regularly in the General San Martin Park. The tour around the lake is really nice!

Between 1pm and 5pm, it is the time of “La Siesta”. During this period, all the shops are closed! At the beginning, I fell for it hook every time.

By the way, I do not find really nice places where to eat. However, I discover a vegetarian caterer close to the street “Entre Rios 152”. It is the same kind of I found in San Telmo in Buenos Aires. It is only opened from Monday to Friday, from 11:30am to 1pm. The price is 85AR$ for each kilo.

Tasting the wine of the most famous region in Argentina

Mendoza is surrounded by three wine regions: Maipu, Lujan de Cuyo and Uco valley. Those regions are the main productive one, 70% of the whole country. If I was not able to reach Uco valley with the public bus, I did it for all the other regions.

Maipu valley

Maipu valley is famous and easy to visit. You can rent a bike and from there, you can pick some wineries and discover them. I present my personal selection and how to organize it in this article.

Lujan de Cuyo valley

The second valley, Luján de Cuyo, is of a higher quality. There, I propose you to try a good educational tasting in the Bodega Dolium. Moreover, I visited some other wineries that do great wines. The tastings are described in this another article.

A trek in Aconcagua park

The Andes and more exactly the Aconcagua, the highest mountain in South America, is close to the city. By taking a public bus, you can reach the national park at the high altitude of 3,000 meters. From there, you can either walk around or start the trail for the ascension of the Aconcagua. In a next article, I will present the trail that reaches the first base camp.

Dancing tango between two wine glasses

Mendoza is a tango city. I found classes and Milongas for almost every day of the week. On top of that, it happens many open air Milongas during the summer. A dedicated article will summarize the possibility in Mendoza soon.

Crossing the Andes

A unique landscape

This is not a real activity to do but it is worth saying it. It is possible to cross the border in the Andes at the altitude of 3,000 meters high. Actually, it is the same way for going to the Aconcagua national park. Either by bus or by car, the way is surrounded by amazing landscapes.

An endless border

Although the landscapes are astonishing, the journey has some drawbacks. Even if the distance between Santiago and Mendoza is quite close, the travel time is around 7 hours as the bus has to climb the mountain. On top of that, you have to add the time at the border. If usually, it is done rather quickly, it is not the case here. You will have to wait between 2 to 5 hours. Usually, it is faster from Santiago to Mendoza than the other way. Since Chilean customers are more pernickety.

My journey

I crossed the Andes from Santiago to Mendoza. I left around 1pm. Doing the travel during the day allowed me to see all the landscapes. It cost me 17,200C$ and lasted 9 hours, 2 of them for crossing the borders. Finally, I preferred the last part of the trip when going down to the Mendoza valley. The mountains are more colorful and it looks greener.