Give Mendoza four or five days. One belongs to the city: Plaza Independencia, Parque General San Martín and the climb to Cerro de la Gloria. Two belong to the wine, split between Luján de Cuyo or Maipú near town and the Uco Valley under the high Andes. Spend the last on the mountain road west to Puente del Inca and the Aconcagua park.
Mendoza is a desert city made green by hand: irrigation channels run along every street and feed the plane trees that shade it. Rebuilt on a grid of five plazas after the 1861 earthquake, it sits at the foot of the Andes with four-fifths of Argentina's wine around it.
Carlos Thays laid out the park in 1896, and it now runs to about 400 hectares of planted desert with a kilometre-long lake. Enter through the Glasgow-cast gates and finish at the bronze Army of the Andes monument on Cerro de la Gloria, unveiled in 1914.
The family that pushed Malbec to altitude built its winery as a Maya-style pyramid in the Agrelo vineyards, and the tasting room under it is the reference point for the region. Groups are small and every visit is booked online in advance.
Zuccardi's stone winery at Paraje Altamira topped the World's Best Vineyards list three years running before entering its Hall of Fame. Pair the tour with lunch at Piedra Infinita Cocina, served from 12:30, with the Andes filling the window.
After the 1861 earthquake the city was redrawn on a 64-block grid around one central square and four satellites: España, Chile, San Martín and Italia. Walk all five in a loop, and drop into the modern art museum under Independencia on the way.
Flat roads, bike rental shops on Calle Urquiza and a cluster of wineries within pedalling distance make this the cheapest wine day in Mendoza. Start at La Rural's wine museum, founded by Felipe Rutini in 1885, and finish at Trapiche's 1912 building.
Around 180 km west of the city, the short Horcones circuit puts you in front of the south face of a mountain of nearly 7,000 m, the highest outside Asia. Tickets are not sold at the gate, so book an entry slot online before you set out.
Trading on the same corner since 1883, the central market is where the city buys its olives, cured meats, dried fruit and empanadas. Come hungry before noon, eat at the counters and leave with olive oil.
Alejandro Vigil's El Enemigo estate stages its visit as Dante's Divine Comedy: an underground barrel cellar for the Inferno, then Purgatory and a stained-glass Paradise. Stay for lunch, which holds a Michelin star.
The site museum sits over the excavated colonial cabildo that the 1861 earthquake buried, and reopened in 2025 after a full renovation. Cross the plaza to the Ruinas de San Francisco, the Jesuit church the same quake left standing as a shell.
About 70 km west, below the Potrerillos dam, operators run the Río Mendoza year-round at class II to III, with class IV water in the summer melt. A half-day run covers roughly 12 km and pairs well with the Alta Montaña road.
Three nights of Cuyo folk song in Tunuyán, in the Uco Valley.
Civic events marking Pedro del Castillo's founding in 1561.
The Italian community fills Plaza Italia with food and music.
Harvest festival: the Vía Blanca parade, then the Acto Central in the Greek theatre.
Holy Week concerts in wineries, churches and theatres.
Tastings marking the 1853 start of the province's agricultural school.
Thousands of runners, finishing in Parque General San Martín.
National wine day, celebrated across the province's wineries.
El Plumerillo airport sits about 8 km northeast of the centre, with flights from Buenos Aires and Santiago. A taxi takes around 20 minutes.
The long-distance bus station, a short ride east of the centre. Coaches cross the Andes to Santiago in about seven hours, more at the border.
Light rail from Las Heras through the centre to Maipú, opened in 2012. The easy way out to the Maipú wine route.
The metropolitan bus network takes payment only on a SUBE card, sold at kiosks. BiciTRAN rents bikes at the same fare.
Beef, plenty of onion, olives and egg, baked in the oven.
A colonial stew of tomato, onion and egg, cooked over wood.
Beef over embers, the default Sunday lunch at a winery.
The province holds about 84% of Argentina's Malbec vineyards.
Mendoza presses its own. Taste it at the Maipú producers.
Sold by the scoop at the Mercado Central, green and black.
Argentina's aromatic white, poured beside the reds.
Quince paste, eaten with cheese as a dessert.
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