Multi-Day Trips From Mendoza, Argentina
Mendoza sits close enough to the Andes, Chile, and its own southern desert that the temptation is to squeeze all three into rushed day trips. It’s the wrong call for most of them. Sorted by how many nights each one actually needs, here’s what rewards staying over instead of driving back.
2 to 3 nights: San Rafael and the Atuel Canyon
Agencies sell this as a 14-hour day tour, 240 to 270km each way, which spends most of the day on the bus for roughly 4 hours in the canyon itself. Basing in San Rafael or Valle Grande instead means real time on the 50km canyon along Ruta Provincial 173, a catamaran on Embalse Valle Grande, rafting on the Atuel River, and a stop at a southern bodega like Suter or Bianchi. Book the Atuel Canyon and San Rafael excursion if you want the guided version once you’re staying over rather than rushing back, and check San Rafael’s tourism office for current road conditions on Ruta 173 before you commit to a date.
3 to 21 days: Aconcagua, if the permit desk is your first stop
Aconcagua’s trekking and climbing packages range from the 3-day Trekking Corto to Confluencia, through the 7-day Trekking Largo to Plaza de Mulas, up to 18-to-21-day summit expeditions. All of them share one rule that catches unprepared travelers: only the single-day Confluencia entry ticket can be bought online. The multi-day trek and ascent permits must be collected in person, in Mendoza city, at the Aconcagua park visitor center inside the Subsecretaría de Turismo building on Av. San Martín 1143, before you leave for Ruta 7. A guide isn’t legally required to attempt the 6,961-meter summit, solo permits exist at a higher fee, but the mandatory medical checkpoints at Confluencia and Mulas, the required evacuation insurance, and the permit itself apply regardless, and the mountain’s fatality record is why those rules exist in the first place. Check the official Aconcagua park portal for current permit categories before you build an itinerary around one.
2 to 4 nights: basing in the Uco Valley
Staying at a property like Casa de Uco Vineyards and Wine Resort turns the valley’s high-altitude, architecturally striking bodegas, Zuccardi Piedra Infinita, Salentein, Domaine Bousquet, into a relaxed multi-day stay rather than one rushed tasting squeezed into a day trip from the city. Every one of those wineries expects a reservation made weeks or months ahead; Catena Zapata alone books 2 to 3 months out and simply turns away anyone who shows up without one, and that pattern holds across the valley’s best-known names. Check this organic and biodynamic wine adventure if Domaine Bousquet’s certified organic program is the anchor for your stay.
3 to 4 days: Malargüe and La Payunia
400km south of Mendoza city, 5 to 6 hours one way, Reserva Provincial La Payunia holds over 800 black basalt volcanic cones, paired well with the stalactite caves at Caverna de las Brujas and the thermal valley at Valle Hermoso. Treat the distance honestly rather than folding it into a San Rafael side trip; it’s its own multi-day expedition, best reached with a rental car or a hired driver rather than a single agency transfer.
7 to 9 hours one way: crossing the Andes to Chile
Andesmar and CATA Internacional both run the Ruta 7 crossing through Potrerillos, Uspallata and Puente del Inca, through the Cristo Redentor tunnel at 3,200 meters, into Santiago via Chile’s switchback highway. Bring a passport or DNI, expect a Chilean SAG agricultural inspection at the border, and check conditions before departure since winter storms close the pass for days at a time.
Verdict: the Uco Valley stay and an Aconcagua trek both justify committing several nights; San Rafael and Malargüe are worth it only once you’ve accepted the drive time as part of the trip rather than a cost to minimize.
One concrete tip: collect any Aconcagua permit before you leave Mendoza city, not once you’re already at Uspallata or the park gate, there is no permit office further up Ruta 7. For the single-day version of the same Ruta 7 corridor, see the day trips guide .