Other activities in Argentina
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Esquí Mendoza Competición
For standard ski and snowboard equipment rental, try Esquí Mendoza Competición.
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Bodega Escorihuela
Bodega Escorihuela, founded in 1884, is one of the country’s oldest wineries. It has an art gallery, a restaurant and a famous barrel from Nancy, France, with an impressive sculpture of Dionysus. Take bus ‘T’ from Mendoza’s Av Sarmiento at Av San Martín.
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Dollar Rent-a-Car
Neuquén is a good province to explore by automobile, but drivers should be aware that RN 22, both east along the Río Negro valley and west toward Zapala, is a rough road with heavy truck traffic. On that note, try Dollar Rent-a-Car, the only rental company downtown.
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Fabril Alto Verde
The Fabril Alto Verde is a big, state-of-the-art winery that sells 90% of its wine for export; tours here are in English or Spanish and come accompanied by a rather dreary promotional video. The award-winning organic brands Buenas Hondas and Touchstone are produced here.
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Catena Zapata
Catena Zapata is one of Argentina’s most esteemed wineries. Tours are fairly mundane but are conducted in English, German or Spanish. Tasting – if you put down the cash – can be educational indeed. Get there by taxi (cheaper if you catch a bus to Luján de Cuyo and grab one from there).
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Suter
Halfway between Fincas Andinas and San Rafael, Suter is a rather unromantic, modern affair, but a worthwhile stop for some discounted wine. You can set up a half-day tour, visiting the vineyards with an agronomist, tasting specialty wines and eating a big lunch in the vineyard.
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Carlos Aníbal Schumann
Carlos Aníbal Schumann is recommended for its excursions and packages, which include visits to the reserves, Misión Nueva Pompeya and indigenous communities in the area. It also runs a campground and lodge in Villa Río Bermejito, a riverside settlement 67km northeast of Juan José Castelli.
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Almacen del Sur
This working farm produces and exports gourmet deli goods that are grown and packed on the premises. Free tours of the production facilities are available. There’s also an excellent restaurant here, serving delicious set lunches (the more expensive ones come accompanied by local wines) in a leafy garden setting.
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Expediciones Pinocho
Two-hour excursions on Bahía San Julián are run by a marine biologist-led team at Expediciones Pinocho. The penguins stick around from September to April; when conditions permit, you’ll be able to step off the boat and walk around an island where penguins swim, doze and guard their eggs.
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Hasta las Manos
The organization of mountain guides, Hasta las Manos, is recommended for exciting multiday treks with mules to the Calilegua or Baritú national parks, with a stunning change in terrain as you descend into the subtropical forest systems. They also offer sandboarding at Abra Pampa (AR$160 for the day) and high-mountain excursions.
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Cabañas Doña Pipa
Cabañas Doña Pipa is home to Ramon Ossa, a Barreal native, who is a highly recommended mountain guide and excursion operator. He knows the cordillera intimately. He can arrange trips to Cerro El Mercedario, including mules and equipment. Another website to check is www.fortunaviajes.com.ar.
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Ruta 40
If you’re really up for a road trip, contact Ruta 40. The small, multilingual outfitter takes travelers on eight-day journeys from Comodoro Rivadavia to Puerto Deseado and down RN 40, with stops at Cueva de las Manos and several lovely estancias before ending up in El Calafate. Consult for current rates and departure dates.
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Complejo Termal Cacheuta
This excellent, open-air thermal-baths complex is one of the best in the country, due to its variety of pools and dramatic setting on the side of a valley. Midweek is the best time to come as weekends get crowded with kids splashing around on the waterslide and in the wave pool and the air runs thick with the smoke from a thousand parrillas.
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GuanaCondor Tours
The experienced GuanaCondor Tours runs tours in summer to Cueva de las Manos, accessing the park via the former Estancia Los Toldos, with a challenging hike that adds considerably to the experience. Also ask about its trips to Monte Zeballos, a high mesa with excellent views, and the overnight trip to Paso Tehuelche.
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Hacer Cumbre
Hacer Cumbre rents good-quality mountain bikes and offers guided rides in the breathtaking countryside around Cerro Ongamina, which you can combine with trekking, horseback riding and 4WD offroading.
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Cerro San Bernardo Teleférico
For outstanding views of Salta and its surroundings, take the teleférico from Parque San Martín to the top of Cerro San Bernardo. A trail that takes you up the hill begins at the Güemes monument at the top of Paseo Güemes. Atop is a confitería (cafe offering light meals), whose terrace has the best views, a watercourse and artesanía shops.
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Onas Patagonia
You can access Torres del Paine via boat to Glaciar Serrano. The same tour can be done leaving the park, but may require camping near Río Serrano to catch the Zodiac at 9am. The trip costs CH$85,000 with Onas Patagonia. The trip includes the entrance fee to Parque Nacional Bernardo O’Higgins, but not admission or further transportation within Torres del Paine.
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Viviendo Montañas
For guided hikes further into Cerro Wank mountains, as well as horseback riding, trout fishing and mountain biking, contact Viviendo Montañas, which has an office on the main road in town. The company can also take you trekking to the top of Cerro Champaquí (2790m), the highest peak in the sierras.
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Volando Bajo
Volando Bajo is the most established of the plethora of tour operators in town. It offers tours to the nearby archaeological/paleontological park at Bajo de Veliz, and a trip combining the nature reserve, and Miradors de Sol and de los Condores. Tandem parasailing flights last 20 to 30 minutes, depending on wind conditions.
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Cavas de Zonda
The Cavas de Zonda is in a cave about 16km west of San Juan, via the RP 12, near the town of Zonda. This champagne-maker boasts having the only wine cellar in South America whose ‘roof is a mountain’ and, true or not, its temperatures are perfect for cellaring its excellent sparkling wines. And hey…it’s a darn good marketing tool. Bus 23 leaves the San Juan bus terminal from platform 20 six times daily.
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Alcamar Travel
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Gran Hotel de Villavicencio
If you’ve ordered mineral water from any restaurant or cafe in Argentina, odds are you’ve ended up with a bottle of Villavicencio on your table. These springs are the source, and their spectacular mountain setting once hosted the prestigious thermal baths resort of the Gran Hotel de Villavicencio. Popular with the Argentine elite during the middle of the 20th century, the resort has been closed for more than a decade; promises have floated around for years that it would ‘soon’ reopen.
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Las Marianas
One of the prettiest wineries in the region, this one was built in 1922, abandoned in 1950 and reinstated in 1999. The main building is gorgeous, with thick adobe walls and a few examples of the original winemaking equipment lying around. The mountain views out over the vineyard are superb. If you’re coming by bus, catch the 16 (40 minutes) near the corner of Santa Fe and Mendoza in San Juan. Get off at the corner of Calle Aberastain and Calle Nuevo, where you’ll see a signpost to the winery (an 800m walk).
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Finca Colomé
Some of Argentina’s finest wines are produced at this ecological bodega, which is set (as they say hereabouts) ‘where the devil lost his poncho, ’ some 20km down a spectacular gravel road west from Molinos. The vineyards (including some ancient pre-phylloxera European vines) and hotel enjoy a stunning natural setting, surrounded by hills and mountains that seem to change color hourly. Forward thinking on environmental, social and cultural fronts is also in evidence: the complex is electrically self-sufficient, has funded substantial infrastructural improvements in the local community and now boasts a stunning museum designed by artist James Turrell, with a permanent…
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Centro Paleontológico Lago Barreales
For true dino freaks, the best place to satiate the hunger for bones is the Centro Paleontológico Lago Barreales, 90km northwest of Neuquén. Here you can actually work – as in get your hands dirty digging – on-site with paleontologists in one of the world’s only fully functioning dinosaur excavation sites open to the public. You can visit the museum and take a guided tour of the site in about 1½ hours, but the real pleasure comes from the unique opportunity offered by sticking around. Prices (which help fund research) are AR$400 for one day and AR$1050 for two days and one night. It also offers scientific/educational tours, making a circuit of Neuquén province…
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