Mendoza Multi-Day Trips: Andes, Wine, Canyons
A coach leaves Mendoza’s Terminal del Sol before sunrise, climbs the Cristo Redentor tunnel by mid-morning, and drops you in Santiago in time for a late dinner. That single overland crossing is the most famous multi-day option out of Mendoza, but it is far from the only one, and the city’s real strength for longer stays is how many genuinely different trips fan out from it once you stop treating it as a one-day wine stop.
Over the Andes to Chile
Andesmar and CATA Internacional both run the 7 to 9 hour Ruta 7 crossing through Potrerillos, Uspallata and Puente del Inca, through the Cristo Redentor tunnel at 3,200 meters, and down Chile’s switchback highway into Santiago. Bring a passport or DNI, expect a Chilean agricultural inspection (no fruit, honey or seeds crosses the border), and check conditions before you travel: winter storms close the pass for days at a stretch. Pay bus fares and any roadside snacks by card in ARS, not USD, at the terminal; foreign cards already clear at the favorable market rate, so there is no reason to carry cash dollars looking for a better deal.
San Rafael and the Atuel Canyon, properly
Agencies sell this as a 14-hour day tour from Mendoza, which means 7 to 8 hours of driving for roughly 4 hours on the ground. It is a bad trade. Basing yourself in San Rafael or Valle Grande for 2 to 3 days instead lets you actually work the 50km canyon on Ruta Provincial 173, ride a catamaran on Embalse Valle Grande, raft the Atuel River, and visit southern bodegas like Suter or Bianchi without the marathon bus ride bookending everything. If the shorter version still fits your schedule better, check the Atuel Canyon day trip , but go in knowing what you’re trading for convenience. Check San Rafael’s own tourism office for current road conditions on Ruta Provincial 173 before you commit to either version.
Aconcagua’s multi-day treks: the permit trap
The 3-day Trekking Corto to Confluencia, the 7-day Trekking Largo to Plaza de Mulas, and the 18 to 21 day summit expeditions are the other major multi-day draw, and they carry one rule that catches people out: only the single-day Confluencia entry ticket can be bought online. The 3-day, 7-day 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 head up Ruta 7. A guide is not legally required to climb, and solo permits exist at a higher fee, but that doesn’t loosen anything else: the medical checkpoints at Confluencia and Mulas, the mandatory evacuation insurance, and the permit itself all still apply, and Aconcagua’s 6,961 meters carries a real fatality record that no amount of paperwork changes. See the official Aconcagua park portal for current permit rules before you plan around it.
Basing in Valle de Uco instead of day-tripping it
Staying 2 to 4 nights in the Uco Valley beats rushing it from the city: The Vines Resort & Spa puts you a short drive from Zuccardi Piedra Infinita and Salentein for unhurried multi-course lunches instead of one tasting squeezed between drives. Whichever bodega you book, expect a reservation window measured in weeks, not a walk-in door: Catena Zapata takes bookings 2 to 3 months out and is closed to anyone without one, and the pattern holds across the top names in Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley. A rental car from Mendoza earns its keep here, since the valley’s wineries sit far enough apart that a hired driver or tour is otherwise the only alternative.
Malargüe and La Payunia, if you have the days
The volcanic wilderness south of San Rafael, over 800 black basalt cones across Reserva Provincial La Payunia, paired with the stalactites of Caverna de las Brujas and the thermal valley of Valle Hermoso, is a genuine 3 to 4 day trip, not an add-on. Malargüe sits roughly 450km south of Mendoza city, 5 to 6 hours one way, so treat it as its own expedition rather than a stretch goal tacked onto a shorter itinerary.
Verdict: the Andes crossing and the Atuel Canyon both reward going as multi-day trips rather than day tours, and Aconcagua’s permit desk in Mendoza is the one step that can strand an otherwise well-planned climb if it’s skipped.
One concrete tip: collect any Aconcagua trek or ascent permit before you leave the city, not after you reach Uspallata or Puente del Inca. There is nowhere upriver to get one. For the single-day version of the same Ruta 7 corridor, see the day trips guide .