Overnight Bus to Mendoza
 

My husband and I will be traveling to Mendoza from Buenos Aires in November. I'm thinking about taking the over night bus from BA to Mendoza, then flying back.

Has anyone tried the bus? My husband isn't keen on a 13-hour ride, but we would travel first class, which seems pretty nice. And we'd actually have more time in Mendoza that way.

On a related note, is Aerolineas totally unreliable? They are quite a bit cheaper than LAN, but if we do fly I don't want to get stuck in the airport all day! Thanks.

Hola PatRode,
Great question!! This will be our second trip to Argentina in Feb. but we will be coming from Santiago, Chile this time. We want to take the bus over the Andes to Mendoza and was wondering the same thing about going to BA from Mendoza. I hope we both hear something soon. The only thing I heard is that you go at night so you won't see much as far as BA to Mendoza and visa versa is concerned.

We took the bus from BA to Cordoba overnight and it was great. We left before mid night and arrived around 8:00 the next morning. With a little help from a Benadryl tablet, I slept all night it was great. The seat completely reclined and was comfortable. All for $25 US. I recommend travelling by bus within Argentina if you have the time and yes, pay for the first class. It is worth it as often a meal is included. Best of luck and have a wonderful time back in Argentina.

I have NOT taken the bus from BA to Mendoza, but I DO know our buses are pretty good and yes, you travel mostly at night and should be able to get some rest, particularly if you take first class.

Furthermore, I did a search on the subject and got many results:

http://tinyurl.com/4upy5o

About flights, I suggest sticking to LAN. There is a good reason for Aerolíneas to be cheaper.

Have a great time in our country.

Buses nowadays are very comfortable, and they cost 250 pesos for the best service, that includes dinner.

Aerolineas used to be very unreliable, and I have suggested before to avoid them as the plague, however now the unions are actually working for the company rather than against, and the service has improved.

You'll find timetables for some bus services at http://www.plataforma10.com.ar

The services from Andesmar have been recomended in my site but I had no chance to try them yet.

Regards
Javier

great question and info!! we're hoping to do an overnight from BA to Cordoba, then another Cordoba to Mendoza, and finally back to BA from Mendoza.... so all tips are very helpful.

couple additional questions, 1) do we need to purchase tickets in advance? or is it easy to do so once we are there? 2) is the difference between semicama and cama, whether the seats fully recline? and is ejecutivo "first class"? 3) any lines that are better than others? 4) anything else to know about overnight bus travel??

Some tips
1) do we need to purchase tickets in advance? or is it easy to do so once we are there?

Depending on the time of the year, it may be advisable to get tickets in advance e.g. January, February, long weekends. Otherwise you may get them two o three days beforehand

2) is the difference between semicama and cama, whether the seats fully recline? and is ejecutivo "first class"?

The exact meaning of these terms is not standarised, however you would expect the "cama" to be almost fully reclined (170°), Ejecutivo is a sort of very comfortable but not fully reclinable.

3) any lines that are better than others?

It depends, Andesmar (http://www.andesmar.com) is quite good, and it travels to Mendoza and Cordoba.

4) anything else to know about overnight bus travel??

Take a good book.

Regards
Javier