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.
Plaza de Armas
Whether you agree or not!
The tram we took to reach the Maipu region
The Trapiche bodega, the biggest Argentinian wine producer
Vineyards at bodega Mevi
Wine tasting at bodega Mevi
Installations at bodega Trapiche
Bike tour around the different bodegas in the Maipu region
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