Mendoza is Argentina’s most famous wine region. I headed to Mendoza from Salta and had four days to see the city and surrounding area. Here’s what I got up to in Mendoza…it’s not all wine I promise!!
Vineyards in Maipú – Day One
My first full day in Mendoza was a wine one! Known for its wine, Mendoza has three popular vineyard areas surrounding it. They are Maipú, Luján de Cuyo and Uco Valley.
Being the furthest from Mendoza city, at an hour and a half drive, with its beautiful mountain backdrop and scenery, Uco Valley is usually the highest rated area. Being the closest to the city centre, a half an hour bus, and more industrial, Maipú is often ranked the lowest.
I was planning on going to the Uco Valley. However, with no car and no vineyard reservations booked, a visit to Uco Valley seemed pretty infeasible and just difficult.
Instead I joined a small group from my hostel who were going to Maipú. Wine tasting is always more fun with people!
Renting bikes
The best way to get from vineyard to vineyard is by bike. We rented bikes from Maipú Biking for $300ARG (£5 approx) for the day. By the time we arrived and started cycling this was more like half a day but you can get bikes from 10am.
Maipú Biking have a happy hour from 5-6pm where there’s free wine. It gets pretty busy! There’s another bike rental a bit further down the road called Mr Hugo’s which you can go to.
Getting to Maipú
We got a local bus to Maipú which took around 30 minutes. There are lots of buses passing through the area and we were advised to take either the 920, 815 or 817 buses as they were express and quicker.
To get a local bus you need a Red Bus card. I’ve no idea why Mendoza has its own card and doesn’t just use the SUBE card used in Buenos Aires and Bariloche.
Anyway a card costs $30ARG and a journey is $18ARG (all under £1). You don’t need a card per person, so if you’re with a group, load the amount you need and pass it around when you get the bus.
The Vineyards
Since we started cycling the vineyards around lunchtime we only visited two. The first was Mevi where we stopped for lunch. I had a ravioli spinach and ricotta dish with a glass of Torrentés white wine for $220ARG (£4 ish). I personally expected a bit more from the food (especially after the delicious lunches I had in Cafayate). For the price, it was nice but nothing special.
We then went to Viña El Cerno, an organic vineyard. There we did a tour and a tasting of three wines for $210ARG (£4 approx). I tried a Torrentés white wine, a Malbec rosé and a champagne which was pretty sweet and so drinkable!
We tried to visit two more vineyards, Tempus Alba and Bodega Rural (the oldest one), but they were both shut. It was almost 5pm at the time.
If you start in the morning you’ll be able to see three, maybe four. It’s amazing how fast time passes especially if you’re eating or doing a tour and tasting. You’ll probably visit fewer vineyards than you think.
Hot springs at Termas de Cacheuta – Day Two
On my second day I went to the hot springs at Termas de Cacheuta. I started off solo and soon ended up spending most of the day with three lovely Argentinean ladies (Natalia, Liliana and Julieta). I kind of felt adopted for the day, they really looked out for me and I now have them on Facebook!
There are two places you can go for the hot springs. One is a hotel and spa and the other is referred to as the water park hot springs. The waterpark option is the cheaper of the two and the one we went too. I’m not entirely sure why it’s called the waterpark as it’s not much of one; I only saw one small slide!
There are a good number of pools with some inside (the hottest ones) under the roof and the rest outside. I spent all my time outside in the sunshine and fresh air. So relaxing! Every so often I would go in the hotter and cold one which was always a shock!
Getting to Termas de Cacheuta
The Buttini bus company run several buses a day to the Termas de Cacheuta from the bus terminal. The journey takes 1hr/1hr15 and costs $125ARG (£2 approx) return. I was hoping to buy an open return but had to choose a return time.
I’d recommend taking the 9am or 10.30am bus to the springs. They open at 10am so the 9am bus gets you there just after opening. I took the 10.30am bus (as I was changing hostels earlier that morning) and came back on the 3.45pm bus. I got 3hrs in the springs which was enough for me.
If you’d like longer, the springs close at 6.30pm and you can get the later return bus at 6.50pm.
Entrance fee
There are two price brackets for weekdays and weekends/holidays. It’s not a big difference! I went at the weekend and it cost $320ARG (£6 approx) whereas during the week it‘s $280ARG (£5 approx).
If you can I would go in the week as it’s bit cheaper and I also reckon less busy!
Lockers
There are small lockers at the springs for your bags. You pay $100ARG (£2ish) at the kiosk inside for the key. At the end of the day when you return the key, you get $50ARG (£1ish) back. I did this and recommend, it was nice not to have to keep an eye on my bag. I could relax more!
Vineyards in Luján de Cuyo – Day Three
Another wine day! This time I went to the vineyards in Luján de Cuyo. Slightly further out than Maipú, the area was less industrial and the roads nicer to cycle. I went with a group from my new hostel (I’d switched!).
Renting bikes
Once again bikes are the best way to get from vineyard to vineyard. We rented bikes from Baccus Biking for $450ARG (£8 approx) for the day. They asked us if we had any particular vineyards we’d like to visit and whether we preferred to see the family run or more commercial ones.
They then mapped us out a route with three/four vineyards to visit. We set out on the bikes around 11ish and needed to return the bikes around 6pm ish.
Getting to Luján de Cuyo
We got the 740 local bus to Luján de Cuyo from the main square, the Plaza de Independencia. The ride was quicker than I expected taking us around 45minutes. It was also free as the bus didn’t have a Red Bus card reader. We got off in the Chacras de Coria area and the bus stop was just across the road from Baccus Biking.
The vineyards
First up was Carmelo Patti, a family run bodega run by the man himself. It took us ages to find! With no sign and down a a drive off the main road, we cycled past it and almost skipped it when our maps didn’t help. We finally found it and had to wait for a tour to finish.
We then got our own tour and wine tasting (which was free!!) Honestly go to this bodega! Carmelo Patti is a very interesting man with lots of stories, good explanations and tips on how to open and store wine! The wine is pricey (well for me it was! Around $40USD) but whatever you buy he’ll sign and date it which I found quite a nice touch!
The next vineyard was Viamonte, a bigger bodega but still family. We had lunch on their decking with views of the grapes and mountains. It was the most I’ve spent on a vineyard lunch at $990ARG (£17 approx) but the food was amazing and we got a wine tasting and tour as part of it.
I may still not be a red wine drinker but it’s definitely growing on me! The tour was was also really interesting. It was the first one I’ve been on where they took us to the vines and explained how by looking at the leaves you know what grape it is and how they reproduce the plants. We also got to taste wine from the tanks!
With two more vineyards to see, we hopped back on the bikes with another group we’d just met at lunch. For the life of us we couldn’t find the third one. We ended up in another vineyard and a man working there said he’d never heard of the place and he’d been living in the area for 30 years!
Cutting our losses, we went to the last one, a family run vineyard called Pulmary Bodega, which was thankfully still open despite opening hours saying it was closed.
We did another great tour and wine tasting here for $250ARG (£4 approx). The glasses were generous and we could taste the wine at different stages – from the tank, from the barrel and from the bottle.
I had a really good wine day in Luján de Cuyo. Some vineyards were harder to find which made the cycling more like an Easter Egg hunt at times with wine being the prize!
I preferred Luján to Maipú. Although still in a built up area, it felt more like a leafy suburb and I enjoyed cycling around it more. Plus I really liked all the vineyards we visited; the tours and tastings were all interesting and they all had a unique feel to them.
If you have one day in Mendoza for vineyards, I would personally go to Luján over Maipú!
Horse riding at sunset and BBQ – Day Four
For my last day in Mendoza and final day in Argentina, I went horse riding at sunset. I hadn’t yet been horse riding in Argentina so it was a fitting way to end my time there. I booked the tour through my hostel and paid $1800ARG (£30 approx) for a two hour ride followed by an asado (Argentinian BBQ).
We were picked up just after 4pm and driven to the ranch just outside of Mendoza. Although I really like horses, I was a bit nervous about the horseriding part. My horse, Pecaro, was an absolute sweetheart! Yep he was a slowcoach but I was perfectly happy with that pace!
Our group ended up splitting in half; those in front of me were trotting and quite fast and the horse directly behind was very very slow which slowed down the rest. At times I ended up with no horse in sight in front or behind – it was so cool! Like I was on a solo horse ride in the setting sun.
The asado barbecue that followed the horse ride was delicious! Amazing meat that just kept on coming, potato wedges, butternut squash, salad and wine!
How to get to Mendoza
You can get to Mendoza from many other places in Argentina. I flew direct from Salta with JetSmart which took around 2hrs and cost around £65. You can get the bus which takes around 19hrs. I was going to take the bus but decided to have a quick look at flights. The flight ended up being almost the same price as the bus so it was a no brainer really! Flying all the way!
You can also get a bus from Bariloche (19hrs), Cordoba (10hrs), Buenos Aires (15hrs) and even the Iguazu Falls (takes a day and a half and you need to change buses!). Many options!
From Chile, you can come from Santiago by plane or bus. If you fly with Sky Airlines you might be able to get a good deal! If not, the bus is another decent option.
There are several morning and night departures daily. If you have time I’d take a day bus for the views and scenery! It’s stunning! I’m doing the trip in reverse, from Mendoza to Santiago, and it cost $1100ARG (£20 approx).
Final thoughts
Mendoza was my final stop in Argentina. When I first got there I wasn’t so sure about it and four days seemed like too long. I tend to normally feel low when I arrive alone to big places, it’s becoming a pattern!
My hostel was fine but my dorm room was a real squeeze and, unfortunately smelt a bit like a sewer every time someone flushed the toilet or used the shower.
I decided to switch hostels and moved to one recommended by a fellow backpacker. I immediately liked it so much more and met some great people to go to vineyards with and horse riding. The new one even showed Game of Thrones!!
I can now say I like Mendoza – the vineyards and wine, hot springs and horse riding were all great! I’m so happy I spent my final afternoon in Argentina horse riding and eating asado!
I had also wanted to go to Aconcagua National Park and hike to base camp of Acongagua mountain. I’d heard it was beautiful! However, getting there was a pain – on a 6am bus that took 4hrs to get to the start point.
I decided it wasn’t worth it for the hours on the bus and that I’ve seen lots of spectacular scenery already on my trip and I’ll see more in the future! It also turns out that the base camp hike closed on May 1st for the off season so it was a good thing we didn’t try! Would have been a frustrating bus journey for sure!
I’m now getting a bus back to Chile and Santiago. Chau Argentina! You’ve been incredibly wonderful!
I have a day in Santiago and then my time in Chile has come to an end too! Chile, you’ve been equally fabulous (just a bit more expensive)!!
From Santiago, I’ll be flying to Peru! I’m excited to return! I’ll be exploring the north and I get to see my mum for five days in Cusco which will be lovely.
