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Knowing Mendoza
Breakfast at hotel. We dedicate half a day to visit the city of Mendoza, famous for its legendary trees, wide sidewalks and its great order and cleanliness. Founded over 400 years ago by the first colonists, this city offers a lot of history and culture. We will visit La Alameda, the historical zone where Pedro del Castillo founded this large city in 1561, where most shops and civic life was concentrated until it disappeared with the 1861 earthquake. The town council was, in the old days, where the Foundational Area Museum is nowadays. There are still remains of what once was the San Francisco church. We continue to the new city, post-earthquake.

We visit its principal avenues, the downtown, the Plaza Independencia (Independence Square), the civic neighbourhood with the Government House, the Law Courts and the General San Martin Park going along the Civit Avenue, entering the park through the Portones (Gates). We can enjoy the beautiful woods in the park, as well as the Rosedal (rose garden) next to the lake and the clubs located in the area. We also meet the Caballitos de Marly (Marly Little Horses, replica of the ones in Paris), the Fuente de los Continentes (the Fountain of the Continents), etc. Then we climb the Cerro de La Gloria (The Glory Mount) where there is a monument to the Ejercito Libertador (the Liberator Army) and very near it, the Greek theatre Frank Romero Day.

Along the Cordillera de los Andes through Villavicencio.
Breakfast at hotel. We go towards the Andean mountain range through the road to Villavicencio, reaching the highest place at the foothills in Cruz del Paramillo, some 3.000 meters over sea level. During the journey we see a monument representing the division of the San Martin Army when going to free Chile. When entering the foothills, we can see the Puesto de Vaquerias, entrance to the Natural Reserve of Villavicencio. The Termas de Villavicencio hotel is in it, it has a typical Nordic-Scandinavian style, now closed since 1978. We overcome endless curves from the Hotel Villavicencio to the Cruz, climbing the foothills up to 3,200 meters over sea level, coming across some guanacos, hares, foxes and watch some condor fly.

In Uspallata, we can optionally have breakfast and continue as from here with the high mountain road. During the journey we see the Uspallata Valley, the Picheuta Bridge (San Martin milestone), the Aconcagua Mount, the Penitentes and Puente del Inca (Inca Bridge). Our route takes us then to Aconcagua Park, we descend while entering the park to trek up to the southern wall and the Horcones Lake. We continue up to the border village of Las Cuevas, where the old railway station is located, we can have lunch (not included) and if the weather allows us, we climb up to the Cristo Redentor (Christ The Redeemer) located at 4,200 meters over sea level on the Santa Elena Mount. We remain speechless with the Potrerillos Reservoir, built between the high peaks. We return to Mendoza.

Mendoza
Breakfast at the Hotel. Free day. Optional: Shopping for the city of Mendoza.

Optional - Towards the origins of wine: Mendoza wineries.
We begin this itinerary along Maipu, Mendoza wine and olive cradle, going to prestigious wineries in Mendoza province, such as La Rural - Ruttini, where we can see their museums and discover their San Felipe wine, bottled in caramagnola. If it is Sunday we replace this one for another winery but of handcrafted production. We then continue to the Zuccardi winery to taste the Santa Julia wines. This family got the Best of the Great Wine Capitals prize in the year 2007, in recognition of their history. Near midday we have lunch at the Casa del Visitante, where there are the cellars and restaurant.

Uco Valley & High Vineyards
Breakfast at the hotel. We begin the journey to the south of Mendoza province, to the Uco Valley, crossing the river with the same name and arrive at Tunuyan to know the wineries that manufacture worldwide known handcrafted wine. Tunuyan, Tupungato and San Carlos are a summary of blue sky, long tree lines and snowy mountains, where a formidable area for high production of wine is created, unique for its quality, grapes cultivated between 1,000 and 1,500 meters over sea level. These zones are now covered of vineyards irrigated with a high technological level, where the technique of micro oxygenation of the wine is used. This is the case of the Lurton winery, where we visit the organic wine factory together with its vineyards with wine-tasting.

We can appreciate the Tupungato volcano, 6,800 meters high. Then our wine tour continues to the Manzano Histórico, place where San Martín rested after the liberating campaign in Chile and Peru. There is a monument to this called El Retorno a la Patria (Return to Homeland) where strangely San Martin can be seen with plain clothes. We continue our way to Arroyo Grande, in the Argentine Portillo Pass where we can see the Punta Negra Mount with its 4,400 meters. We continue through a winding road among the Pinares de Wosso up to the Salentein winery, where we visit its facilities, its restaurant in its cultural center Kilka and its impressive cellar where the aging barrels lie. We finish the journey going back to Mendoza.

Note: The program development is subject to the routes status, the snow, the traffic and the temporary closing of the wineries due to annual maintenance.

Wine tourism in Mendoza: Along Mendoza wine traces.
Breakfast at the hotel. We will see the true transformation of the place during this program. The wine industry, with the man´s effort, has made the desert disappear and turn into an oasis thanks to canalization and ditches which were the irrigation systems that the Huarpes and Incas natives created. Nowadays the computarized watering technique is used, being Argentina one of the most important producers worldwide. We will go through the first wine-region in Mendoza which spans on Maipu and Lujan de Cuyo departments. Along our road, we find family wineries producing handcrafted wine such as the one of the Cecchin Family or Cavas de Don Arturo that produce organic wines. There are also industrial wineries in the zone such as La Rural, Finca Flichman, Cavas de Weinert o Zuccardi. We visit one to two wineries where experts receive us, teach us about the wine manufacture process and then we taste wines of international quality. Depending on the program we might also visit a factory that produces olive oil.

Note: This program can be performed during the morning or the afternoon. Depending on the time we visit an industrial production winery and another one of organic production. If we go in the afternoon we also go to an olive oil factory, if we go in the morning, we don´t. The possible wineries could be: La Rural, López, Cavas de Weinert, Cavas de Don Arturo, San Huberto, Zuccardi and Cecchin Family. In Winter, the tour depends on the snow and the conditions of the roads as long as National Gendarmerie authorizes the vehicles to go by. The ascent to the Cristo Redentor (Christ The Redeemer) is performed between January and February.