Mendoza, Argentina

Vineyards around Mendoza, Argentina (cc)

Mendoza Travel Guide

Introduction

Mendoza is the wine capital of Argentina. The customary greeting here is "Bienvenido a Mendoza, la Tierra del Vino" – translated as "Welcome to Mendoza, the Land of Wine." It is in fact one of the world's "Great Capitals of Wine," situated smack in the middle of the largest wine producing region in South America, with hundreds of bodegas in close proximity, making it a great hangout for wine lovers. The city itself is well endowed with parks and plazas, with no dearth of lush private gardens, surrounded by vineyards and olive orchards - olive oil, by the way, is Mendoza's other claim to fame. There are electric trolley buses plying the streets, and oracequias, irrigation channels, running alongside those streets, mingling the sparse rainfall with the snowmelt runoff from the Andes to cater to the city's water needs. Indeed, it is this conservationism that has transformed this unlikely city in the heart of the Cuyo Region, the most arid part of Argentina, into a verdant garden, and among the cleanest cities in South America. Mendoza also, one might add, offers in itself an ideal base for climbers headed to Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere, with an elevation of 22,841 feet (6,962 m), as well as for outdoor enthusiasts pursuing hiking, horseback riding, kayaking and other recreational activities, and, in the wintertime, skiing in the nearby Andes.

Location

Mendoza, capital of the Mendoza province, is located in the northern-central part of the province, on the eastern side of the Andes, in the heart of the Cuyo Region of Argentina.