Things to do in Mendoza
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Mendoza
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Harvest and autumn, best overall, grapes in, leaves turning and days settling to 20 to 27 degrees.
Spring, best alternative and best for outdoors, rafting builds and hiking opens fully.
Summer, good for mountains and water but hard at midday in the vines and busy in January.
Winter, quiet and cheap with dramatic snow on the Andes, shorter hours and some small bodegas closed.
What's on
- Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia first week of March
Parades, folk music and a mass spectacular at Teatro Griego Frank Romero Day where the Harvest Queen is crowned.
Best things to do in Mendoza
Zuccardi Piedra Infinita
Stone winery focused on soil parcels, with the tour and paired lunch as one essential Uco block.
Catena Zapata
Historic family winery that put Argentine Malbec on the world map, in a striking pyramid building.
Bodega Lagarde
One of Mendoza's oldest wineries, founded in 1897 and still family held, with a starred restaurant.
Bodega Tierras Altas
Boutique family winery known for its Malbec Experience and small winery charm.
Bodega Roberto Bonfanti
Small family winery loved for garden lunch under the trees, food and service over spectacle.
Maipu by bike
Cheap happy rite of passage pedalling between family bodegas, chocolate and olive oil producers.
Bodega Salentein
Uco pioneer with a cross shaped winery, underground cellar and the Killka art gallery.
Bodega La Azul
Tiny family winery with a rustic open air restaurant and generous unpretentious cooking.
Where to stay in Mendoza
Mendoza City Centre
first trip, especially without a car
Walk to dinner, bars, markets and tour pick ups, with every wine and mountain tour collecting centrally.
Chacras de Coria
food and wine focused trips and repeat visitors
Leafy wealthy village suburb with excellent small restaurants and wineries you can walk or cycle to.
Lujan de Cuyo, Vistalba and Agrelo
romantic vineyard stays inside a longer trip
Posadas and winery hotels among the vines, more rural and less walkable so a car or driver helps.
Uco Valley
splurge finish to a trip, two nights
Dramatic vineyard resorts with the Andes as a wall and the best winery restaurants within 20 minutes.
Maipu
budget travellers wanting a slow bike day
Cheapest wine country sleeping among olive groves, walkable to bike rentals but quiet at night.
Think twice about
- East of the city centre and east of the bus terminal, and northern Las Heras away from its centre
The one safety pattern residents state consistently, with no tourist reason to base there.
- Isolated rural addresses in Uco, Agrelo or Maipu without a car
An isolation trap for non drivers, with no restaurant, taxi rank or night coverage nearby.
- Potrerillos and Uspallata as a sole base
Wonderful for a mountain night but one to two and a half hours from the bodegas with little dining choice.
- Godoy Cruz and Guaymallen industrial and highway strips
Characterless motel corridor Mendoza with nothing walkable and small savings versus the centre.
Best restaurants in Mendoza
Angelica Cocina Maestra
Starred tasting menu built wine first around Catena's high altitude bottlings.
Casa Vigil
Starred Dante themed house restaurant, sophisticated but warm and garden driven.
Zonda Cocina de Paisaje
Starred garden first cooking inside the 1897 Lagarde winery, deeply tied to landscape.
Azafran
The city's flagship starred tasting menu, reviving Indigenous Huarpe foodways and ingredients.
Brindillas
Small quiet starred room with subtle Japanese influence, a local food person's favourite.
Riccitelli Bistró
Starred vegetable led bistro where the garden is the centre and meat the garnish.
Piedra Infinita Cocina
Four course regional lunch facing the Andes through glass, paired by altitude and soil story.
Osadia de Crear
Best non starred winery restaurant value in Lujan, creative courses in a garden setting.
Outdoor things to do in Mendoza
Parque Provincial Aconcagua
Essential Andes day via Potrerillos, Uspallata and Puente del Inca to Aconcagua's south face.
Mendoza River rafting
White water rafting on glacial meltwater, bigger Class III to IV water in summer.
Horseback riding in the Andes foothills
Sunset or full day cabalgata with calm horses, gaucho guides and an asado in the foothills.
Cordon del Plata
Guided full day hiking in dry rocky high desert foothills, with condors if you are lucky.
Cerro Arco
Locals' training hill behind the city, about three hours return with a panoramic payoff.
Hotel Termas Cacheuta
Premium spa day with stone thermal pools terraced above the river, grotto and mud therapy.
Parque de Agua Termal Cacheuta
Big cheap public thermal water park with slides and picnic areas, best on a weekday early.
Lujan de Cuyo bike tour
Guided cycling on quieter leafy lanes than Maipu, with two wineries and a winery lunch.
Best hotels in Mendoza
The Vines Resort & Spa
Benchmark Uco splurge with villas, fire pits, lake and Andes views, plus Siete Fuegos on site.
Cavas Wine Lodge
Free standing adobe villas among vines with plunge pools, vineyard luxury with city access.
Park Hyatt Mendoza
Best luxury base without a car, behind a colonial facade on Plaza Independencia.
Entre Cielos
Small design and wellness resort with vineyard lofts and a hammam, better for two nights.
Casa de Uco
Uco vineyard resort, a good option for golfers.
Diplomatic Hotel
Reliable mid range city hotel, walkable to Aristides with tour pick ups at the door.
NH Mendoza Cordillera
Reliable mid range hotel whose park edge spot suits walkers best.
Mod Hotels Mendoza
Reliable mid range city centre option in the walkable centre west grid.
Is Mendoza expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | ARS 105,900 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | ARS 257,200 a person |
| Splurge | ARS 605,200 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Zuccardi Piedra Infinita: weeks ahead
- Catena Zapata: weeks ahead
- Bodega Lagarde: a few days ahead
- Bodega Tierras Altas: a few days ahead
- Bodega Roberto Bonfanti: a few days ahead
- Bodega Salentein: a few days ahead
- Bodega La Azul: weeks ahead
- Casa Vigil: weeks ahead
- Almost no serious bodega accepts walk ins, so reserve tours and starred lunches ahead.
- Starred winery lunches and Zuccardi and Catena premium tastings need two to four weeks, six to ten for Vendimia.
- Book drivers three to seven days ahead in season and group winery lunches four or more weeks out.
Is Mendoza safe?
- Petty theft is the main risk at Mercado Central, the terminal, festivals and on transport.
- Do not ride back in Maipu after tastings and a big lunch in summer heat.
- Altitude, fast weather and unmarked trails are the mountain risks, so hire guides and carry water and layers.
- Stay in the centre west, Aristides and Chacras orbit at night and use Cabify for long unlit stretches.
Mendoza travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Cheapest big bus High Mountain tours with minimal time out of the bus at Aconcagua.
- Arriving in Uco without a driver or booking and expecting apps to improvise a day.
- Confusing the Cacheuta hotel spa with the public water park next door.
- High volume Maipu group tours sold by terminal and Peatonal touts.
- Buying current release wines in winery gift shops when city vinotecas are often cheaper.
Getting around Mendoza: public transport and more
- Walk the flat shaded city centre and use Cabify at night for short hops.
- Use a private driver for wine days, split between three or four people.
- Taxis and Cabify work for Lujan and Chacras, but apps do not work as a plan for Uco.
- The tram train and buses reach Maipu, but public transport is a false economy for Lujan and no option for Uco.
Who Mendoza suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Mendoza your trip
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