Mendoza

The beautiful province of Mendoza is renown worldwide for its high-quality, exquisite wines, but also for being home to the Mount Aconcagua -the highest summit outside Asia- and as a popular destination for outdoor sports.

More than 70% of all wine produced in Argentina comes from the Mendoza region, with 39% of vineyards featuring red grapes, 21% white grapes and 40% rosé.
Mendoza’s most representative wine is, however, the Malbec. Brought from France in the 19th century, this grape easily adapted to weather conditions and soil in this region, and quickly developed its best form, turning into what is today known as the argentine Malbec –widely acknowledge as the best Malbec of the world.
In the first week of March the "Festival de la Vendimia" takes place, a popular celebration including week-long parties and parades that attracts thousands of wine lovers from all over the world. The celebrations include local music festivals at the many Plazas in the city, religious ceremonies to bless the grapes and express gratitude for the harvest to the Virgen de la Carrodilla -the Patroness of the Vineyards- and finally crowning the Wine National Queen (Reina Nacional de la Vendimia) after a fancy show at the Greek amphitheatre Frank Romero Day.

After wine and vineyards, comes probably the mighty Aconcagua as the second most popular attraction in Mendoza. Hundreds of tourists arrive here every year, pursuing the dream and challenge of conquering "The Colossus of South America". Belonging to the 7 Summits, the Aconcagua is with 6,962mt. (22,840ft) not only the highest peak from South America, but also the highest one outside Asia.
Although climbing the Aconcagua is certainly a challenging adventure, its level of technical difficulty can be considered rather low in comparison with other high peaks in the world, and thus can be done by adventurers without previous mountaineering experience. Its main difficulty lies, however, in the unpredictable weather and vigorous wind storms that almost constantly dominate the highest part of the mountain.
If you are up for the adventure, please make sure to contact a local and experienced guide in order to get the most of your trip and avoid potential dangers.

Other interesting attractions in Mendoza include the Inca Bridge, aprox. 175 km from the city. The name of this natural stone bridge over the Río Mendoza goes back to the importance of this region had for the pre-hispanic Inca settllers, which used to visit this area to enjoy the healing power of the surrounding thermal waters springs. Thanks to the mineral rich waters, the neighbouring rocks present some really beautiful colours in the range of orange, yellow and ochre.

Hiking, biking, fishing, rafting, horseback riding and skiing are among the most popular activities in Southern Mendoza. While the modern Ski-Resort at Las Leñas is the chosen destination in winter, San Rafael -230km south from Mendoza city- is the destination for adventure travellers in summer. Class II and III rafting at the Atuel River, rapelling and climbing at the Atuel Cannyon and, of course, some world-class wine tasting are among the many ways you can have a lot of fun in Mendoza!