Argentina: Buenos Aires, Mendoza Wine Country and the Andes

1. Day 1: Arrive in Buenos Aires

   Ezeiza International Airport to your hotel in Buenos Aires

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Buenos Aires
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Ezeiza International Airport (EZE), about 35 km south-west of the centre, where a driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the drive into the city, usually 45 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. The day is yours to settle in. Overnight flights from North America land in the morning, so if your room is not ready, leave your bags and walk the leafy streets around the hotel, or sit in a corner café with a cortado and a medialuna and watch the city go by. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week: the plan in each city, the flight to Mendoza, how paying works in Argentina and how the bodega tastings run. Then we walk to a neighbourhood parrilla for a welcome dinner of grilled beef, provoleta and salads with a glass of Malbec. Porteños eat late, but tonight we sit down early so you can sleep off the flight.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Ezeiza International Airport (EZE)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner at a parrilla

   Free time: Free until the early evening briefing

2. Day 2: Plaza de Mayo, San Telmo and a tango evening

   Plaza de Mayo along Avenida de Mayo, then south on foot into San Telmo

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Buenos Aires
   Day 2 details

   We start at Plaza de Mayo, the square at the centre of Argentine history: the pink Casa Rosada, the Cabildo where the 1810 revolution began, and the Metropolitan Cathedral, which holds the tomb of General San Martín. From there we walk south down Calle Defensa into San Telmo, the oldest neighbourhood, with its cobbles, colonial houses and antique shops. Your guide shows you the fileteado, the curling painted lettering on old signs and shopfronts, and we stop at Plaza Dorrego and the San Telmo Market, an iron-and-glass hall from 1897 full of fruit stalls, antiques and coffee counters. On Sundays the street fair fills Defensa from end to end. Lunch is in San Telmo. The afternoon is free to rest before a late night. In the evening we go to a tango house: a short beginners' class for anyone who wants to try, then dinner and a show by professional dancers and an orchestra. The show usually starts after dinner, so expect to be back near midnight.

   Included

   • Plaza de Mayo, the Casa Rosada (outside), the Cabildo and the Metropolitan Cathedral with your guide
   • San Telmo on foot: Calle Defensa, Plaza Dorrego and the San Telmo Market
   • Lunch in San Telmo
   • Tango evening: a short beginners' class, dinner and a show

   Easier option: Skip the San Telmo market stop and rest at the hotel after lunch, or watch the tango class and arrive just for dinner and the show.

   Free time: Afternoon free before the tango evening

   Activity: About 3 km on foot in the morning, partly on cobbles.

   

3. Day 3: An estancia day in the Pampas

   Buenos Aires to San Antonio de Areco and an estancia, then back

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Buenos Aires
   Day 3 details

   After a late night we leave at 9 am and drive about an hour and three quarters north-west across the flat green Pampas to San Antonio de Areco, a small town that has kept the gaucho tradition alive in its silversmiths, saddlers and old general stores. We walk the quiet centre and the bridge over the Areco river, and visit the Museo Gauchesco Ricardo Güiraldes when it is open. Then we drive out to a working estancia, a cattle ranch with a long colonial-style house and a shaded garden. Lunch is the main event: a long asado of beef, sausages and grilled vegetables cooked over wood, with empanadas, salads and local wine at a shared table. Afterwards the gauchos show their horsemanship, often the sortija, where riders at a gallop try to spear a small ring, and you can take a short ride or a horse-drawn carriage around the fields. We are back in Buenos Aires by early evening, with the night free.

   Included

   • San Antonio de Areco on foot with your guide
   • Museo Gauchesco Ricardo Güiraldes, when open
   • Day at a working estancia with an asado lunch and wine
   • Gaucho horsemanship display
   • A short horse ride or a carriage ride

   Easier option: Take the carriage ride in place of the horse, or stay in the estancia garden after lunch.

   More active option: A longer ride across the fields with an estancia gaucho, about an hour, for riders with some experience.

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: Riding is at walking pace for beginners; helmets are provided. Wear long trousers and closed shoes.

4. Day 4: Recoleta at opening, then a free afternoon

   Recoleta Cemetery and Recoleta on foot, then free time in the city

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Buenos Aires
   Day 4 details

   We walk into Recoleta Cemetery at its morning opening, before the tour coaches arrive. It is a city of marble and bronze mausoleums laid out in streets and squares, where presidents, poets and generals lie, and where Eva Perón rests in the Duarte family vault; your guide tells the stories behind the most striking tombs. From the cemetery we walk through Recoleta, past the Basílica del Pilar and the grand French-style apartment buildings, to El Ateneo Grand Splendid, a 1919 theatre turned bookshop where you can read in the old boxes and have coffee on the stage. The rest of the day is yours: walk the rose garden and lakes of the Bosques de Palermo, visit the MALBA or the Fine Arts Museum, see La Boca, or shop in Palermo Soho. Your guide suggests restaurants for dinner on your own. If you would rather spend the day in another country, the optional day trip takes the fast ferry across the Río de la Plata to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay instead.

   Included

   • Recoleta Cemetery with your guide
   • Recoleta on foot and El Ateneo Grand Splendid

   Optional experiences

   • Day trip to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, by fast ferry (about 1 h 15 each way) with a walk through the old town, in place of the morning walk; price shown at booking

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 3 km on foot in the morning, on flat pavements. Bring your passport if you take the Colonia day trip.

   

5. Day 5: Fly to Mendoza, Malbec in Luján de Cuyo

   Buenos Aires Aeroparque to Mendoza by air, then Luján de Cuyo and Mendoza

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Mendoza
   Day 5 details

   We leave the hotel at about 8:30 for Aeroparque, the city airport by the river, and fly about an hour and fifty minutes west across the Pampas to Mendoza. On a clear day the Andes appear as a white wall ahead on the approach. From the airport we drive about 40 minutes south to Luján de Cuyo, the district where Argentine Malbec made its name, with vineyards in Agrelo, Perdriel and Vistalba fed by snowmelt in old irrigation channels. At the first bodega a winemaker or the bodega's guide walks us through the vines and the cellar, explaining why the dry air, big swings between day and night temperatures and stony soils suit Malbec, then we taste through the range. Lunch is a long one at the bodega, several small courses each paired with a wine, the way Mendoza does it. In the late afternoon we check into the hotel in Mendoza and your guide walks the group round Plaza Independencia and the tree-lined streets, with the evening free.

   Included

   • Flight from Buenos Aires Aeroparque (AEP) to Mendoza (MDZ)
   • Bodega visit in Luján de Cuyo with a vineyard and cellar tour and tasting
   • Wine-paired lunch at the bodega
   • Orientation walk around Plaza Independencia in Mendoza

   Easier option: Skip the vineyard walk and join the group in the cellar for the tasting and lunch.

   Free time: Evening free in Mendoza

   Activity: Domestic flights have tighter checked-bag limits than international ones; we tell you the allowance when we confirm your dates.

   

6. Day 6: The road to Aconcagua

   Mendoza up the Mendoza river valley to Uspallata, Puente del Inca and the Aconcagua park, then back

   • Drive about 6 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Mendoza
   Day 6 details

   Today is the long road day, about six hours at the wheel in all, and over our usual four-hour cap because there is only one road into these mountains, Ruta Nacional 7, and no hotel near the top worth a third night away from Mendoza. We break it into stops. We leave at about 8:30 and follow the Mendoza river past the turquoise Potrerillos reservoir, then climb through red and ochre canyons to Uspallata, a green valley of poplars where we stop for coffee. Higher up, at about 2,720 m, is Puente del Inca, a natural stone bridge over the river stained orange and yellow by mineral springs, with the ruins of an old spa hotel beneath it. A few minutes on is the entrance to Aconcagua Provincial Park at Horcones. On the gravel trail to the Horcones lagoon you see the south face of Aconcagua, at about 6,960 m the highest mountain outside Asia, filling the head of the valley. We eat lunch on the way down and are back in Mendoza by early evening.

   Included

   • Potrerillos reservoir viewpoint
   • Coffee stop in Uspallata
   • Puente del Inca
   • Aconcagua Provincial Park at Horcones, entry included, and the lagoon trail with your guide
   • Lunch in the mountains

   Easier option: Stay at the viewpoint by the Horcones car park, which has the same view of Aconcagua, or take a free day in Mendoza instead of the drive.

   More active option: The full lagoon trail and the viewpoint above the Horcones valley, a few kilometres in all, walked slowly because of the altitude; we confirm the exact trail length with the park.

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: This is the only day over our four-hour driving cap, by design, because the mountains are reached on one road; the stops break it into short stretches. Horcones is at about 2,950 m. Walk slowly, drink water and bring a warm windproof layer; the wind can be cold even in summer. If the road is closed by snow or rockfall, we swap in a Cacheuta and Potrerillos day closer to the city.

   

7. Day 7: Uco Valley vineyards and a farewell dinner

   Mendoza south to the Uco Valley, then back

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Mendoza
   Day 7 details

   We drive about an hour and a half south to the Uco Valley, the newer wine country where vineyards climb to about 1,000 to 1,500 m on the slopes below the Andes, around Tupungato, Tunuyán and San Carlos. The light is clear and the peaks stand right behind the vines, so it is the best wine landscape of the trip. At the first bodega we walk the high vineyard and the winery, often a striking modern building of concrete and stone, and taste wines made from Malbec, Cabernet Franc and white grapes that ripen slowly in the cool nights. The second bodega is for lunch: a long, unhurried meal looking out over the vines to the mountains, with a pairing for each course. In harvest season, roughly February to April, you see the picking and the first fermentations. We drive back to Mendoza in the late afternoon. In the evening the group meets for a farewell dinner in the city.

   Included

   • Two bodegas in the Uco Valley with vineyard and winery tours and tastings
   • Wine-paired lunch at the second bodega
   • Farewell dinner in Mendoza

   Easier option: Skip the vineyard walk and join the group for the tasting.

   More active option: If the two bodegas chosen for your departure are close enough, cycle the quiet vineyard roads between them with a support vehicle; we confirm the route and distance when we confirm the bodegas.

   Free time: Late afternoon free before the farewell dinner

   Activity: You can pour out or skip any wine; spittoons are at every tasting.

   

8. Day 8: Depart from Mendoza

   Your hotel to Mendoza airport (MDZ)

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 8 details

   The last morning is yours. Mendoza wakes up early and quietly, so it is a good time to walk to Parque General San Martín, a large park with a lake, rose garden and plane trees laid out at the edge of the city, or to climb Cerro de la Gloria for the view back over the vineyards to the mountains. You might buy a few bottles from a wine shop near Plaza Independencia; ask your guide how to pack them for the flight. There are no group activities today, so you leave whenever your flight requires. We drive you to Mendoza's El Plumerillo airport (MDZ), about 20 minutes from the centre, at a time your guide agrees with you the day before. Most guests fly back to Buenos Aires for an evening international flight home from Ezeiza, or connect through Santiago de Chile. If you would like to stay longer in Mendoza or add Iguazu Falls, ask us when you book and we arrange the extra nights.

   Included

   • Drop-off at Mendoza airport (MDZ)

   Free time: Free until your airport transfer

   Activity: Book a flight from Mendoza leaving after about 11 am. If you connect to an international flight at Ezeiza, allow at least four hours between flights, as the domestic flight may land at Aeroparque across the city.

Wildlife and weather: Mendoza is dry and sunny most of the year, hot from December to February and cool at night in spring and autumn. Harvest runs from about February to April, when the vineyards are busy and the Vendimia festival fills the city. Ruta Nacional 7 above Uspallata can close in snow in winter, so the trip does not run from June to August. Buenos Aires is hot and humid in January and February. Watch for condors over the Mendoza river valley and guanacos near the road.

• Buenos Aires4 nights
• Mendoza3 nights