Mendoza Travel Guide: What to Do, Where to Stay, and Local Tips
As a wine lover AND a Malbec lover, Mendoza was a must-do on my South America itinerary. I loved it so much, that when I had the opportunity to return just two months after my first visit (even though it meant a 14 hour drive) I was game!
The first time I went was in February 2024 with one of my best friends, Bex. We have travelled a lot together, and both love a wine tour, so it was the perfect person to visit with.
The second time was in late April/early May with Tim, who is not a big fan of wine. I managed to drag him along to two wineries, but it was nice to mix it up with some different activities the second visit!
Mendoza is considered Argentina's wine capital, and is place that can be done on any budget. My first visit I was on “vacation-mode” so my budget was a little larger than when I came back with Tim in “world-traveller flashpacker” mode. If I go back, I would love to have a bigger budget, as a lot of the wineries are a lot more expensive than what I’m used to in Australia and New Zealand!
So don’t be scared off by the flashy wineries charging AUD$60 for a tasting, as there are plenty of options for us budget-conscious travellers.
Where I stayed:
Airbnb – Maipu Valley
Cost per night: AUD$92.50/USD$61.70
Click here to view the Airbnb listing
This Airbnb felt like we were staying in the Italian countryside! It was located on a charming property in the Maipu region. It was a little far out, and we had to Uber/Taxi everywhere, but for the price we figured it was still a good deal for the standard of accommodation. Plus, a huge bonus was the pool – perfect for the 33-degree Celsius days!
Where I ate/drank:
Bodega Lopez – Maipu Valley
What I ate: Grilled chicken on steamed spinach and creamy cheese
What I drank: Glass of Malbec
What I spent: AUD$14/USD$9.30
I actually had to go back and double check my receipt from this lunch four months later, because I could not believe how cheap it was for a nice winery restaurant. But alas, that was what we paid! It was in the middle of Argentina’s inflation crisis so I can only guess maybe they were delayed in updating their pricing…?
Anyways, even though it was unbelievably cheap compared to any other meal I had in Argentina, it was delicious! It wasn’t the fanciest of restaurants and there are plenty of more aesthetic ones, but for the price and the quality of the food, we were extremely happy.
El Mercadito Friendly & Fresh – Town Centre
What I drank: Glass of Malbec
What I spent: AUD$3.80/USD$2.50
Despite just popping in for a drink here, we had excellent service and they still provided us a breadbasket! The shady patio was a perfect escape from the heat, and all the plants and fairy lights made us feel like we were worlds away from the centre of town.
El Pasaje Cafetaria – Town Centre
What I ate: Croissant with egg, ham, cheese and avocado
What I drank: Flat white
What I spent: AUD$10.40/USD$7
As someone who has lived most of my adult life in Melbourne, I am a bit of a brunch snob! This place definitely delivered, it had a fun vibe and my coffee was strong – just how I like it!
La Guapas Bodega y Restaurante – Maipu Valley
What I ate: 3 course meal – 2x empanadas, steak with potatoes, dessert (a trifle-like creation!)
What I drank: 3x pairing wines – a Rose, and two Malbecs
What I spent: AUD$34.70/USD$23
We treated ourselves to a three-course meal at this boutique winery/restaurant, and we were not disappointed! It was a quaint Italian-esque setting, with beautiful views over the vineyards. All the courses were delicious, but the highlight was the empanadas – some of the best traditional empanadas I’ve had!
Victorina Coria - Lujan de Cuyo
What I ate: Grilled vegetables
What I drank: Mint Gin & Tonic
What I spent: AUD$14/USD$7
I won’t lie, I got massive food envy when I saw Tim’s sandwich he ordered! My grilled vegetables were nice and my body was craving them, but the serving was small. At least we were given warm bread with dip and pickled capsicum for the table, and my G&T was amazing (and strong!).
What I Did:
Drink Wine
For obvious reasons, this is at the top of the list! Seeing as I don't want this blog post to be ridiculously long, I have written a separate on my winery experience in Mendoza here:
Sunset horse-riding tour
This was one of my Mendoza highlights. I have always been a horse fan, being a bit of a horse-girl nerd when I was young, but I’d recommend this tour for anyone.
There are several different ranches offering similar activities, and we decided to go with El Relincho Cabalgatas as we found them to be significantly cheaper than the others.
Despite the low price, we still felt the tour was incredible. The journey started with a pick up from Mendoza town centre at about 4pm, and then we had a 1.5 hour drive to the ranch where we were greeted with cups of maté.
Shortly after we were paired with our horses and were led by the gaúcho (a “skilled horseman” emblematic of Argentinian plains), off on a scenic 2-hour horse ride.
We traversed through a small valley and up a steep hill to watch the sunset over the Mendoza countryside. Going back down was a little scary – it was very steep, but the horses knew what they were doing!
One of the reasons I rate this place was due to the care they take of their horses, which can be a concern anytime animals are involved in tourism. It’s a family-run ranch, and you can see how much the family love and care for their horses. They also rotate the horses used on their tours, so they only have riders every other day.
Once we arrived back at the ranch, we were treated with the most mouth-watering meats I have ever had, as we all sat around to enjoy the asado prepared for us. Asado is the Argentinian take on a barbeque – like “barbeque”, “asado” refers both to the technique in cooking meat and the social event. We had an array of different cuts of steak meats and other local delicacies like chimichurri and salsa criolla, and many grilled vegetables. It was a remarkably good meal.
Even if you aren’t a big fan of horse-riding, I would recommend this excursion for the asado alone!
Cost: AUD$68.77/USD$46
Airbnb – Lujan de Cuyo
Cost per night: AUD$61/USD$40.60
Click here to view the Airbnb Listing
Another beautiful home, that felt like a large country cottage. It had an amazing outdoor entertaining area which unfortunately, was a bit too cold for us to make use of in early May. The hosts were so lovely, and the neighbourhood was picturesque and felt very safe with a guarded entrance. It’s close to the wineries of the Lujan de Cuyo region, some in walking distance but also has a bus that goes past.
Maipu Airbnb
Lujan de Cuyo Airbnb
Bodega Lopez
El Pasaje Cafetaria
La Guapas Bodega y Restaurante
Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar Tasting
When I came back to Mendoza with Tim, I found some activities that weren’t wine-focused that he’d also enjoy. This one included a glass of wine, so it was a win-win!
There are a few different olive oil factories in Mendoza, and we chose Laur simply because it was located a short walk from our lunch reservation. We didn’t find out until we visited that it was named the number one olive oil factory in the world, so we picked well! It’s also a pioneer of olive oil production in Mendoza, opening it’s doors in 1889.
We had booked in for an 11am tour, however as we were the only English speakers we had our own private tour. We did our tastings first – four olive oils, four balsamic vinegars, and a tray of breads, cheese and olives for “palate cleansing”. The tasting did not disappoint, we loved every single one we tried! We ended up purchasing a couple of small bottles that weren’t too hard to travel with the next couple of weeks.
Then we had our guided tour of the factory, which was fascinating. Whilst I have done countless wine tours, I had never done a tour of an olive oil or balsamic factory, so I learnt a lot. I was amazed to hear about the traditional Italian method of making balsamic vinegar, taking a minimum of 12 years! Another part of the tour was through the museum, where they have the old machines that were used for olive oil production from back in the 1900s.
Cost: AUD$8.30/USD$5.60
Location: The southern end of Maipu Valley. Close to La Guapas Bodega y Restaurante, where we had our three-course lunch.
Road trip to Aconcagua Provincial Park
The mountain Aconcagua has an impressive resume – it’s not only the highest peak in the America’s, but also the highest outside of Asia, the highest in the western hemisphere, and the highest in the southern hemisphere. I’ll be honest – although we didn’t get that close to it, it didn’t seem that massive, but we were already almost 3000m above sea level.
The drive to the park is the same road to get over the border to Chile, and was nothing short of spectacular. I had already driven on this road before, on the bus from Santiago to Mendoza earlier in the year, but driving it ourselves gave us more opportunities to pull over and appreciate the beauty of this stretch of road. I’d put this up there with one of the most beautiful roads I have travelled on.
The national park is 180km away, so you will need a hire car to explore or book a guided tour. There are a few additional stops you can do on the way – we stopped at Puente del Inca, a natural bridge over the Cuevas River, and you can also visit Cacheuta Spa hot springs nearby. We stopped at the small town of Upsallta on the way there for lunch (Casita Suiza had the best ham and cheese croissant for only AUD$4/USD$2.70!)
At the national park, we did a short 45-minute walk called Horcones Valley Interpretive Trail. It’s low difficulty making it perfect for families. As we visited on a cold day (and it’s colder up there than it is in Mendoza!), we rugged up and headed on the short walk. If we had come a week earlier, we would have been able to do the longer four-hour walk to Confluencia base camp, but the trail is closed by the end of April. Nonetheless, it was a nice small hike that allows you to appreciate the vast scenery.
Distance driven: 180km each way (from our Airbnb in Lujan de Cuyo, about 193km from the town centre)
Time needed: Allow yourself at least 7.5 hours, so you have time for photo stops – there will be plenty of opportunities! You will spend 5-6 hours driving.
Top tips:
When to go: Mendoza is a year-round destination, so it really depends on your preference of activities outside of wine-tasting. In summer you can go hiking, kayaking or rafting, and then in winter you can ski in the nearby Andes mountains.
The first time I went was in early Feb, and it was HOT! When I was back in late April/early May it was a lot cooler, but also too cold on days and we had some rain. If I was to go back again, I would aim for March – warm days, fall foliage creeping in, and harvest season. They celebrate harvest season with a festival called Fiestas de Vendimia with it’s final weekend the first weekend of March. They have a huge parade in the town centre, with harvest queens, gauchos, folk dancers and of course a lot of eating and drinking.
Getting around: The first time I came, we relied solely on Ubers and taxis. There aren’t many in the area, so we had to be super organised and book one with at least a 15-minute buffer time.
In some areas there are buses and trams, which you can use a SUBE card on. This is the same transport card as used in Buenos Aires, and you can also pick these up at kiosks/corner stores.
The second time I stayed we had a hire car, and although we used Ubers for our wine-drinking days, this allowed us to explore the outskirts of Mendoza that would have otherwise been difficult and expensive to get to. We hired our car in Bariloche and drove up (which I don’t recommend necessarily, we were just trying to escape cold weather for a bit!), but there are plenty of car rental places in Mendoza.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to Argentina's ever-fluctuating currency, please check prices before planning your travels. These prices were correct as at January and May 2024 when I visited. For more on Argentina's money situation, click here.
I hope this budget-friendly Mendoza guide helps you plan your next visit. Next time hopefully I can write a luxury guide ... ;)
Hike – Cerro Nahuel
After a month of hiking down in Patagonia, our feet were getting itchy to hit the trails again. We found this hike on All Trails, and headed out to conquer it on a chilly but sunny day.
The first part of the trail took us through a lot of bush (and horses!) in a valley before finally getting to the base of the hill we were set to climb. The hill was not easy – I’m not sure if my fitness levels deteriorated after two weeks not hiking, but I struggled up the steep incline! It took us about 1.5 hours to climb the 794 metres, and the trail was narrow and very rocky in parts, with dustings of snow the higher we got. The view at the top was amazing and worth the struggle, and we stopped here to have our packed sandwiches.
The way down was the hardest part – it was so steep, but we had the added hinderance of cacti EVERYWHERE. And yes, both Tim and I managed to fall on them – very painful, I do not recommend!
Distance: 9.7km
Elevation: 794km
Time to hike: 3.5 hours
Hot Springs
Termas Cacheuta
I won’t write much on these, because I didn’t love them! We chose a colder day to go, around 12 degrees Celsius. However, this isn’t like the hot springs I am used to – the outdoor pools weren’t that warm at all, and I was too cold to stay sitting in them for more than a few minutes! They have indoor pools which are a lot warmer but I found them pretty rowdy, a lot of groups of friends talking loudly and kids running around – not quite what I had in mind for a peaceful, post-hike activity. Also, only half the pools were open, as the bottom half were only operational in summer.
Maybe it would have been better in warmer weather? I do have to say, in summer when the other pools are open, this would be a great family activity – 10-year-old me would have loved it, with lots of activities for kids including a large water-slide.
Cost:
Getting there: We drove, but you can Uber/taxi, or there are tour operators that offer transfers. It was a 40 minute drive from our Airbnb in Lujan de Cuyo, or a one hour drive from the town centre.
