Mendoza side trip from BA
Mar 30th, 2008, 11:56 AM
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Mendoza side trip from BA
We will be in BA for 8 days in November. I would like to take a side trip to Mendoza. Do we have enough time to fly to Mendoza for a couple of days and still have enough time for BA. Or can you recommend any other side trips from BA for a couple of days.
Thanks
Thanks
Mar 30th, 2008, 12:26 PM
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2 weeks was not enough time in the city for us last fall, but you could take a high speed ferry to Colonia Uruguay for the day, go to an Estancia for the day or one for an overnight..you can go to Tigre for the day..
Any trips with flying on an already short stay, put me off because I know how much time is eaten up with waiting for planes to take off, customs etc.
Any trips with flying on an already short stay, put me off because I know how much time is eaten up with waiting for planes to take off, customs etc.
Mar 30th, 2008, 06:49 PM
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Hi, We were in Argentina in Jan-Feb, 2008 for three weeks-12 days of which were on a cruise to Antarctica.
We spent the first two days in BA, then three days in Mendoza-I love this part of Argentina. We then had one and a half days at Iguazu Falls, two days in Ushuaia, pre cruise, and a final day in BA.
We spent two days travelling Mendoza to BA to Iguazu then Iguazu to BA to Ushuaia. But the Mendoza (and Iguaza also) flight is just two hours and you only need to be at the City Airport an hour ahead. So that is no big deal. The Mendoza flight is an early morning or late afternoon(on Lan) so we were heading to the Mountains by 9am after stopping at our lodging to drop luggage and have breakfast. Even on the double flight to Iguazu, we got there in time to have a very nice walk on the Upper Falls Circuit.
Actually we both liked Mendoza much better than BA, though BA is a nice city with interesting things to see and do, it reminds me of Europe.
Many people say you need a week there, but three days was plenty for us.However we really wished we had a few more days for Mendoza, the wine and the food is outstanding and the pace is very relaxing.
Below is a report of our Mendoza days:
Mon Jan 28 - The BA hotel sent us an early room service breakfast and we checked out. At 5am we headed to the airport. We flew Lan’s 6:15am flight to Mendoza out of AEP. The flight was on time and we arrived in Mendoza at 8am. I had arranged a package with Grapevine Wine Tours Ltd. So we were meet by our driver for the day, who actually was our driver for all the things we did. We first went to the Finca Adalgisa. I love this place. We stayed here for three wonderful nights. Our room was not ready, but they took our luggage and fixed a nice breakfast for us. Refreshed and now awake we headed out for the day’s adventure, tour of Aconcagua National Park and the high Andes. We followed the old trans-Andean railway, very scenic, though the Uspallata valley to the Park. This route is known as the Seven Tunnels. We visited the Incan Bridge, Las Bovedas monument and Cerro de los Siete Colores, seven colors mountain. We had lunch at an out door bar-b-que place in Uspallata. Argentina’s idea of bar-b-que is very different than Texas’ but it was good. We then returned to the Hotel and took a much needed nap. The hotel has a wonderful wine tasting room. The hotel is really part of an wine estate. They bottle a wonderful Malbec, in fact, it was our favorite, but it is only available at the estate. At about 7pm we head to our first wine tasting at the hotel and have a grand hour or so. We should have just made this dinner, but now, after a bottle of great wine and some wonderful cheese, nuts and olives we take a taxi to a small local Italian restaurant where we have more wine and a very nice pasta. It started to rain while we were eating and we couldn’t get a taxi to get back to the hotel, so someone at the restaurant took us back to the hotel.
Tues Jan 29 - We loved this day! We did a Private Wine tasting tour with Grapevine Vine. We visited 4 wineries in the La primera zone sub regions of Agrelo and Perdriel home of Malbec. First to Bodega Alta Vista (French) tasting Single Vineyard Malbec. This is an old winery and the tour was very interesting. Then to Bodega Lagarde (Traditional) for 1942 semillon and boutique champagne. We went out to the vineyard and learned a bit about the different vines. We also did a barrel tasting here. It is a very small winery with good wines and the wines are shipped to Texas. Next we headed for a tasting and a gourmet lunch at Bodega Ruca Malen. The lunch was outstanding! I would say it is a must do if you are in the area. Well, now it is sometime after 2 and we have had at least a bottle of wine a piece since we started this morning (the tastings are very, very generous!) We go on to our last winery at Bodega Tapiz for tastings from vintage barrels, tanks and bottles. I am having knee problems at this point and the tour has lots of stairs, so they set us up in the lobby and conduct the tasting there. Since we don’t go the “cellar” we just taste some of the various wines, but that is OK, as we don’t really need to Taste anything else at the point! Back to the hotel for another much needed nap! That night we head over to Club Tapiz for a very nice dinner and some more good wine! Actually this was one of the places I had tried to stay. It is very nice, but I really liked the atmosphere of Finca Adalgisa.
Wed Jan 30 - This day is a lazy one. We go into Mendoza with our driver, he has found a store that has what my husband is looking for for his computer. He leaves us and we wonder around the plaza a bit then take a hair raising taxi ride back to the hotel. We have another great meal at La Boungogne, where we do their wine tasting lunch. This is another must do, We send the afternoon swimming and enjoying the Finca. It is truly a great place to stay. I was a bit worried at first since it was my third choice. The other two couldn’t give us all three days. That night we had the next to last of the great meals we enjoyed in Argentina. We went to Malmans 1884. Their food is really good, much of it is cooked in an open air oven in the courtyard. The restaurant is located in an old winery in Mendoza that dates to the 1880's hence the name. We loved our time in Mendoza. I wish it was not such a long trip from the US! But tomorrow we move on.
Thurs Jan 31 - We flew on the Lan 8:45 flight from Mendoza to Buenos Aires. We had about a four hour layover in Buenos Aires AEP. Then we flew to Iguazu Falls on Lans 2:40 flight. After another uneventful and on time flight we arrived at 4:25pm. We stayed at Iguazu Falls Sheraton, in a falls view room with breakfast. There is a lot mentioned on this board about the view not being worth it. Well, for us it was. The park closes at 6 and the sun doesn’t set till 9 so we sat in our room by the big picture window and had our evening drinks and enjoyed the view and watched as the sunset and changed the colors of the mist and the clouds. It is really a nice view too. You can see lots of the Falls. We got to the hotel by 5, so we had time to do the upper circuit. Most of the people were gone by now, so we had the walks and view sites to our selves, another advantage to staying in the park.
The restaurant menu didn’t appeal to us and we didn’t really want to sit in the bar restaurant, so we ordered room service and enjoyed the view while we ate. A great way to end a travel day.
Fri, Feb 1 - We arranged for a Half day morning tour of Brazilian side. Yes, we did get visas before we left and were glad we did. They were stopping all traffic at the border and making everyone show their paper work/passport. We had to have our passports stamped, so I am also glad we got our yellow fervor shots before we went too. In my opinion, it is well worth the money to see the Falls from Brazil. There is no comparison of the two views and you really don’t get the true feel for the water force and volume unless you get out into the Devil’s Throat on the catwalk on the Brazilian side and look up and into the horse shoe shapped area that is the Throat. It is truly awesome! That afternoon we took the train to the catwalk and walked to the over look of Devil’s Throat on the Argentina side. It is a great view, but you are looking over the falls and down so you don’t really see the whole picture of the height and depth of the falls. By the time we got back off the train it was almost 5pm, so we did the lower falls circuit. Both the Upper and the Lower Circuits are beautiful, but I think the Lower Circuit is more fun. We again had it all to our selves and had a great time getting drenched at the bottom of one of the falls. We exited the trails with the ranger as he was checking to see that everyone was off the walks. Again we chilled out watching the falls as the sun went down, then we had a good pizza and drink in the bar for dinner. Our one day and 2 nights was enough for us. The only thing we didn’t do was the boat rides. I couldn’t do the steps-they are very step and narrow.
My only strong suggestion is if you do a side trip to either Mendoza or anywhere else you fly Lan. Our four Lan flights were on time, the two AA flights were over an hour and a hlf delayed as were all mosr all the AA flights the days we were flying.
Have a get time. We did.
We spent the first two days in BA, then three days in Mendoza-I love this part of Argentina. We then had one and a half days at Iguazu Falls, two days in Ushuaia, pre cruise, and a final day in BA.
We spent two days travelling Mendoza to BA to Iguazu then Iguazu to BA to Ushuaia. But the Mendoza (and Iguaza also) flight is just two hours and you only need to be at the City Airport an hour ahead. So that is no big deal. The Mendoza flight is an early morning or late afternoon(on Lan) so we were heading to the Mountains by 9am after stopping at our lodging to drop luggage and have breakfast. Even on the double flight to Iguazu, we got there in time to have a very nice walk on the Upper Falls Circuit.
Actually we both liked Mendoza much better than BA, though BA is a nice city with interesting things to see and do, it reminds me of Europe.
Many people say you need a week there, but three days was plenty for us.However we really wished we had a few more days for Mendoza, the wine and the food is outstanding and the pace is very relaxing.
Below is a report of our Mendoza days:
Mon Jan 28 - The BA hotel sent us an early room service breakfast and we checked out. At 5am we headed to the airport. We flew Lan’s 6:15am flight to Mendoza out of AEP. The flight was on time and we arrived in Mendoza at 8am. I had arranged a package with Grapevine Wine Tours Ltd. So we were meet by our driver for the day, who actually was our driver for all the things we did. We first went to the Finca Adalgisa. I love this place. We stayed here for three wonderful nights. Our room was not ready, but they took our luggage and fixed a nice breakfast for us. Refreshed and now awake we headed out for the day’s adventure, tour of Aconcagua National Park and the high Andes. We followed the old trans-Andean railway, very scenic, though the Uspallata valley to the Park. This route is known as the Seven Tunnels. We visited the Incan Bridge, Las Bovedas monument and Cerro de los Siete Colores, seven colors mountain. We had lunch at an out door bar-b-que place in Uspallata. Argentina’s idea of bar-b-que is very different than Texas’ but it was good. We then returned to the Hotel and took a much needed nap. The hotel has a wonderful wine tasting room. The hotel is really part of an wine estate. They bottle a wonderful Malbec, in fact, it was our favorite, but it is only available at the estate. At about 7pm we head to our first wine tasting at the hotel and have a grand hour or so. We should have just made this dinner, but now, after a bottle of great wine and some wonderful cheese, nuts and olives we take a taxi to a small local Italian restaurant where we have more wine and a very nice pasta. It started to rain while we were eating and we couldn’t get a taxi to get back to the hotel, so someone at the restaurant took us back to the hotel.
Tues Jan 29 - We loved this day! We did a Private Wine tasting tour with Grapevine Vine. We visited 4 wineries in the La primera zone sub regions of Agrelo and Perdriel home of Malbec. First to Bodega Alta Vista (French) tasting Single Vineyard Malbec. This is an old winery and the tour was very interesting. Then to Bodega Lagarde (Traditional) for 1942 semillon and boutique champagne. We went out to the vineyard and learned a bit about the different vines. We also did a barrel tasting here. It is a very small winery with good wines and the wines are shipped to Texas. Next we headed for a tasting and a gourmet lunch at Bodega Ruca Malen. The lunch was outstanding! I would say it is a must do if you are in the area. Well, now it is sometime after 2 and we have had at least a bottle of wine a piece since we started this morning (the tastings are very, very generous!) We go on to our last winery at Bodega Tapiz for tastings from vintage barrels, tanks and bottles. I am having knee problems at this point and the tour has lots of stairs, so they set us up in the lobby and conduct the tasting there. Since we don’t go the “cellar” we just taste some of the various wines, but that is OK, as we don’t really need to Taste anything else at the point! Back to the hotel for another much needed nap! That night we head over to Club Tapiz for a very nice dinner and some more good wine! Actually this was one of the places I had tried to stay. It is very nice, but I really liked the atmosphere of Finca Adalgisa.
Wed Jan 30 - This day is a lazy one. We go into Mendoza with our driver, he has found a store that has what my husband is looking for for his computer. He leaves us and we wonder around the plaza a bit then take a hair raising taxi ride back to the hotel. We have another great meal at La Boungogne, where we do their wine tasting lunch. This is another must do, We send the afternoon swimming and enjoying the Finca. It is truly a great place to stay. I was a bit worried at first since it was my third choice. The other two couldn’t give us all three days. That night we had the next to last of the great meals we enjoyed in Argentina. We went to Malmans 1884. Their food is really good, much of it is cooked in an open air oven in the courtyard. The restaurant is located in an old winery in Mendoza that dates to the 1880's hence the name. We loved our time in Mendoza. I wish it was not such a long trip from the US! But tomorrow we move on.
Thurs Jan 31 - We flew on the Lan 8:45 flight from Mendoza to Buenos Aires. We had about a four hour layover in Buenos Aires AEP. Then we flew to Iguazu Falls on Lans 2:40 flight. After another uneventful and on time flight we arrived at 4:25pm. We stayed at Iguazu Falls Sheraton, in a falls view room with breakfast. There is a lot mentioned on this board about the view not being worth it. Well, for us it was. The park closes at 6 and the sun doesn’t set till 9 so we sat in our room by the big picture window and had our evening drinks and enjoyed the view and watched as the sunset and changed the colors of the mist and the clouds. It is really a nice view too. You can see lots of the Falls. We got to the hotel by 5, so we had time to do the upper circuit. Most of the people were gone by now, so we had the walks and view sites to our selves, another advantage to staying in the park.
The restaurant menu didn’t appeal to us and we didn’t really want to sit in the bar restaurant, so we ordered room service and enjoyed the view while we ate. A great way to end a travel day.
Fri, Feb 1 - We arranged for a Half day morning tour of Brazilian side. Yes, we did get visas before we left and were glad we did. They were stopping all traffic at the border and making everyone show their paper work/passport. We had to have our passports stamped, so I am also glad we got our yellow fervor shots before we went too. In my opinion, it is well worth the money to see the Falls from Brazil. There is no comparison of the two views and you really don’t get the true feel for the water force and volume unless you get out into the Devil’s Throat on the catwalk on the Brazilian side and look up and into the horse shoe shapped area that is the Throat. It is truly awesome! That afternoon we took the train to the catwalk and walked to the over look of Devil’s Throat on the Argentina side. It is a great view, but you are looking over the falls and down so you don’t really see the whole picture of the height and depth of the falls. By the time we got back off the train it was almost 5pm, so we did the lower falls circuit. Both the Upper and the Lower Circuits are beautiful, but I think the Lower Circuit is more fun. We again had it all to our selves and had a great time getting drenched at the bottom of one of the falls. We exited the trails with the ranger as he was checking to see that everyone was off the walks. Again we chilled out watching the falls as the sun went down, then we had a good pizza and drink in the bar for dinner. Our one day and 2 nights was enough for us. The only thing we didn’t do was the boat rides. I couldn’t do the steps-they are very step and narrow.
My only strong suggestion is if you do a side trip to either Mendoza or anywhere else you fly Lan. Our four Lan flights were on time, the two AA flights were over an hour and a hlf delayed as were all mosr all the AA flights the days we were flying.
Have a get time. We did.
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