Mendoza & the Central Andes

A long, narrow sliver of desert landscape, the Mendoza region is home to two of Argentina’s claims to fame – the Andes and wine. The city itself is lively and cosmopolitan and the surrounding area boasts hundreds of wineries offering tours – an educational (and occasionally intoxicating) way to spend an afternoon or a month.

If you can put your glass down for a minute, there’s plenty more to keep you busy. Just down the road is Cerro Aconcagua, the Americas’ highest peak and a favorite for mountain climbers the world over. A couple of ski resorts give you the chance to drop into fresh powder while Mendoza’s tour operators offer up a bewildering array of rafting, mountain-biking and paragliding options.

To the north, often-overlooked San Juan province is worth visiting for its small but important selection of wineries, bucolic traditional villages and desert landscapes in Parque Nacional el Leoncito and Parque Provincial Ischigualasto.

Explore Mendoza & the Central Andes

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Planning Toolkit

  • Golden rules to keep in mind when traveling to this destination.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Mendoza & the Central Andes.

  • Mountain

    Parque Provincial Aconcagua

    The region's most famous park is Parque Provincial Aconcagua, home of 6962m (22,841ft) Cerro Aconcagua, the highest peak outside the Himalayas and a…

  • Nature Reserve

    Parque Provincial Payunia

    Just over 200km south of Malargüe on the RN 40, the spectacular Parque Provincial Payunia is a 4500-sq-km reserve with a higher concentration of volcanic…

  • Park

    Parque General San Martín

    Walking along the lakeshore and snoozing in the shade of the rose garden in this beautiful 420-hectare park is a great way to enjoy one of the city’s…

  • Winery

    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…

  • Park

    Parque Provincial Ischigualasto

    A spectacular, if desolate, landscape of otherworldly rock formations, dinosaur remains and sedimentary mountain ranges. Drivers join convoys on slow…

  • National Park

    Parque Provincial Volcán Tupungato

    Tupungato (6650m) is an impressive volcano, partly covered by snowfields and glaciers, and serious climbers consider the mountain a far more challenging,…

  • Monument

    Cristo Redentor

    This monument tops a high altitude pass, once occupied by a rail line linking Argentina and Chile, offering spectacular Andean vistas. The dirt and gravel…

  • Park

    Parque Nacional El Leoncito

    The 76-sq-km Parque Nacional El Leoncito occupies a former estancia (ranch) 22km south of Barreal. The landscape is typical of the Andean precordillera…

  • Shrine

    Shrine of Difunta Correa

    Since the 1940s, this shrine, once a simple cross, has metastasized into a village with basic hotels, restaurants and shops, all dedicated to the legend…

  • Nature Reserve

    Reserva Natural Villavicencio

    Popular with day-tripping mendocinos, this nature reserve occupying a spectacular mountain setting only an hour north of Mendoza is also the origin of…

  • Museum

    Museo Fundacional

    Mendoza’s renovated Museo Fundacional protects excavations of the colonial cabildo (town council), destroyed by an earthquake in 1861. At that time, the…

  • Cave

    Caverna de Las Brujas

    Caverna de Las Brujas is a magical limestone cave on Cerro Moncol, 72km south of Malargüe and 8km north of Bardas Blancas along RN 40. Its name means …

  • Museum

    Museo de Vino Santiago Graffigna

    Museo de Vino Santiago Graffigna is a wine museum housed in a handsome brick building, a reconstruction of what the winery looked like before the 1944…

  • Museum

    Casa Natal de Sarmiento

    Casa Natal de Sarmiento is named for Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, whose prolific writing as a politician, diplomat, educator and journalist made him a…

  • Natural Feature

    Puente del Inca

    Naturally occurring stone bridge, once used by Inca to cross the Río de las Cuevas. The ruins of an old spa lie eerily beneath the bridge, which combined…

  • Observatory

    Complejo Astronómico El Leoncito

    This desert observatory in the Parque Nacional El Leoncito is open for daytime visitors. It's best, of course, to visit for nighttime stargazing; contact…

  • Viewpoint

    Terraza Mirador

    A good place to orient yourself is the Terraza Mirador, which is the rooftop terrace at City Hall, offering panoramic views of the city and the…

  • Winery

    Fabril Alto Verde

    The Fabril Alto Verde is a big, state-of-the-art winery that sells 90% of its wine for export; tours are in English or Spanish and come accompanied by a…

  • Winery

    Champañera Miguel Mas

    This small winery makes some of the country’s only organic sparkling wine, as well as other varieties. The whole process – apart from inserting the cork…

  • Winery

    Viñas de Segisa

    This stately old winery has a museum feel. The tour of the underground cellar complex is excellent and tastings are generous. This is one of the few…

Top experiences

Whether it’s a guided tour of a historic landmark, private tasting of local delicacies, or an off-road adventure — explore the best experiences in Mendoza & the Central Andes.

  • Activities