Travel from BA to Mendoza
 

We will be spending 10 days in Argentina in October - 4 in BA ; and thinking about a two day drive to Mendoza; staying there for 2-3 days in wine country; perhaps then driving to Santiago; and then leaving the car there, and flying home (Boston). Has anyone had any experience with an interesting itinerary by car for two days journey from BA to MEndoza; 2 days in Mendoza; and the 2 days driving to Santiago? And any experience in a oneway car rental from BA to Santiago?

Many thanks

Liz

We have driven in the past the one thousand one hundred kilometers between Buenos Aires and MEndoza and my honest advice is FLY. By all means fly.

I would doubt that you could leave a car rented in BA in Santiago. I would agree that the best idea is to fly BA-Mendoza then rent a car there and take the bus to Santiago. Much less hassle.

Drop off the car in another country? No way, it seems to me. I second the previous post's suggestion.

Thanks so much for this... BUT, can you tell me what the drive was like? Were the places that you could stay along the way? How long did it take? Did you see anything interesting?

Thx!

As I said we have driven in the past, may be a couple of times or more between Buenos Aires and Mendoza. To my recolection there is nothing worth remembering, I remmembering staying overnight at Rio Cuarto in the Province of Cordoba, and stopping a few times to eat something in Automovil Club Argentino outpost. No doubt thins must have changed
but there are no other landmarks that I recall. Sorry.
It does take a long time, the only reason we did it that way was because we lived in Buenos AIres and wanted to have a car in Mendoza.
I guess that if you are determined to go by car, you should go and have a first hand experience.

Dear ecnill:

I think you will have to decide how valuable your time is. Argentina is a large country. It will probably take at least 5-6 hours of driving.

Good luck,

MY

More than twice that, for BA-Mendoza.

ecnill
no sense to drive soooo much!!!!!. if you want to stop and see cities on the way, get a bus ticket. Somebody will do it for you and you will sleep on a real bed(180 grades seatd) if it is night.
Cut the distance into two and stop in Cordoba. There are dozens of places worth a visit.
YOU WILL SAVE A LOT OF MONEY TAKING THE BUS AND WILL BENEFIT FROM IT.
Mendoza Chile. again a bus can take you for peanuts.you just sit down and enjoy the beautiful 6 hs day ride.

Thanks so much for all teh advice about travel from BA to Mendoza. Does anyone have a particular bus line to recommend? We're plannign to stay in Mendoza three days, adn then head to Santiago for 1-2 days before returning to the States. Any suggestions about 1)how to get to Santiago the most scenic way? and 2) where to stay when there?

You will have no problems finding out once you are there which are the best bus companies. For me the most scenic way between Mendoza and Santiago is by land crossing the Andes. Long ago, there was a wonderful service, but I do not if it exists to-day, it was a choffered driven town car that took up to for pax , a door to door service. I thought it was tremendous.This was a company that offered this services and had very good drivers as well as nice cars.
Let me tell you also on a clear day, flying, Lan in particular the view of the Andes from the plane can be excellent too. One day the pilot flew fairly close to the Aconcagua Mountain and we had this fantastic view of one ot its sides.

I meant four pax, Maximum.

I'm in the same boat right now. I'm in BA until Thursday, flying to Santiago with LAN. I have 3 nights booked in Santiago, but I also have 3 nights free before I fly to Easter Island. I'm thinking that I will either take a luxury bus from Santiago (much shotrter trip than from BA) to Mendoza or I will fly. I just checked fares for 3/19-22 with LAN and it's ~$300 R/T. Kind of expensive for a 50 minute (all in) flight, but I also have tons of miles with AA and I may go that route(25K miles). Once I get to Santiago, I will check with the luxury bus companies about time/fares before I make my decision. The travel time might not be much shorter from Santiago to Mendoza(I believe it actually is somewhat shorter), but the scenery has it beat by far!!!

We took an excellent bus from Puerto Varas to Bariloche....and one way was 15 dollars.