
From El Chalten we took an early morning bus back to El Calafate, from where we caught a flight to Buenos Aires, from where we boarded on a night bus to Mendoza. Night buses in Argentina are AMAZING! For around 80 euros you get a full flat bed (180 degrees), a flat screen with movies, diner with wine and even champagne; and they play bingo on the bus! 🙂 We slept like babies and arrived in Mendoza in the morning (after a 14h bus ride).
Mendoza is the 4th largest city in Argentina. However, you do not get the feeling of a massive city like Buenos Aires, rather of a small city in the middle of Tuscany: plenty of squares, pedestrian streets, shops, cafes and restaurants. We strolled in the streets for hours. Surrounded by an ocean of vineyards, Mendoza is undeniably the Argentinian capital of wine: the province alone is responsible for 90% of the national wine production.
The next day we took the red Mendoza tram to Maipu, 10 km South-East of Mendoza, one of the largest wine sectors around Mendoza city. We rented bikes and visited several bodegas where we tasted some amazing wines. A great thing about these bodegas: for 100 pesos (7 euros), you get to taste grandiose wines and sparkling wines, and once the bottle is open, Argentinians want to finish it. With a bit more difficulty we rode our bicycles back to town and hitched a bus back to Mendoza.
Our favourite picks/tips:
- Don’t book a bike tour in Mendoza. It is much cheaper and fun to rent bikes and visit the different bodegas (in Maipu) on your own.
- Don’t miss the bodegas Mevi and Trapiche, the best in town!
- Ana bistrot, super good address for dinner in Mendoza.
Next stop: Santiago de Chile