Your guide to heading out of the city and exploring what lays beyond Buenos Aires.

By Katie Hammel

For the ambitious traveler, the best of Buenos Aires can be seen in a few days, and even those who want to take a more relaxed approach can get a good feel for life in the city in about a week. But chances are you shelled out a good amount of money for those tickets to Argentina, so taking a short trip is hard to justify. Luckily, there are plenty of other areas in Argentina worth visiting nearby. During a recent trip to Argentina, my husband and I decided to spend a few days in Mendoza, then take a couple of day trips to the Pampas and to Uruguay, all doable side trips beyond the border of Buenos Aires.

Mendoza

Two hours by plane from Buenos Aires, Mendoza City sits at the heart of Argentina’s wine country. The area’s high desert climate at the base of the Andes mountain range is responsible for the uniqueness of the wine produced here. The city itself is small enough to explore in an afternoon, so you can devote the rest of your time to wine tasting or taking advantage of the region’s outdoor activities. For our first day, we chose to concentrate on the wine.

We’d booked a room at a bed and breakfast in the center of town. The owner’s son, Javier, offered to arrange a day of wine tasting for us. Since planning tastings in Mendoza on your own can be a little daunting for newcomers — staff at many places don’t speak English and reservations are mandatory — we decided to take him up on the offer. (more…)