Mendoza, Argentina

We spent almost 4 days in Mendoza and there were still so many things to do. You can use the city as a home base to go around to different locations. 

Mendoza is know for it's wine, but there is more to the region than just the wine. Here you can get an overview. 

Getting There 

By plane is probably the most convenient option. We flew from Salta into Mendoza with Aerolineas Argentinas and from there we rented a car. There are several connections per day to Buenos Aires to both the airports in BA. But if you are coming from Santiago de Chile, then the car/bus is probably a good option as well as the 2 are not that far apart. 

Accomodation

We stayed at Hotel Mallorca which is a sort of an old house having several bedrooms with their own bathrooms. The place is kept as it was inherited by the owner with old furniture. There is also a common garden and common sitting room and a kitchen.
You can get a basic breakfast at the hotel against a small charge. The owner was super friendly and helpful with all questions we had. And I wanted to share with you a picture of the most active inhabitant of the hotel. Meet Pompon :)

What to do in Mendoza & Surroundings 

There are actually a lot of things that you can do in and around Mendoza & it's not only about wine. I list as an overview the things that we managed to do and will have a separate post with more details.

Wine Tasting 

There are loads of wineries in the area, that it will hard to chose where to go. We had with us an wine expert so we left the elections up to her. We went to 3 wineries (she went to more)

• Susana Balbo
• O fournier 
• Renacer 

I'll provide you with a small review and some extra pictures in a separate post about all these visits.

Hiking

If you like hiking you have the opportunity to hike the highest mountain in South America, namely Aconcagua, reaching just below 7000m you can either just hike till the base camp in a few hours or go up till the summit if you are a more serious hiker. I went for the base camp somewhere up to 3300m, and i can only recommend it. 

Relax at Cacheuta Hot Springs

I am not  fan of spa's and hot springs or similar but another advantage of travelling with a group of friends is that everyone enjoys different things and so you end up experiencing more. You can choose between full day or 1/2 day at the hot springs. If you want to also get a massage you would need to book it in advance or come in the morning. 

Visit the city

I'll be honest, I did not visit anything. I did walk through the streets but spent most of my time looking at souvenirs and assisting my sister buying some dresses. If you like fancy dresses you can get some very nice deals of local designer brands. Same for souvenirs, if you are into semi precious stones, you can find some gorgeous bracelets/earrings etc in the hand made souvenir stands.