While it also offers adventure tourism including hikes in the Andes and rappelling in caves and old mines, Mendoza, Argentina is probably most well known for its many wineries. While I was there on a quick stop between Santiago, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina I decided to do a little exploring and I visited two of the region’s wineries as well as an olive oil factory – and, of course, enjoyed the samples.
I had done some research online but didn’t find any good deals for winery tours so I decided to wait until I got there and see if I could dig up a more economical option. Luckily, I was right! If you’re headed to Mendoza, I highly recommend holding off until you get there to book a tour as the ones I found were about 1/5 the price of what I saw online. This is likely especially true if you speak Spanish (I took a Spanish language tour) but you should still find a better deal on English language tours by waiting. Head to the main pedestrian street that connects the Plaza de la Independencia and the Avenida San Martin and you’ll see a number of tour companies. Just walk in and start comparing prices and you’ll find yourself a good deal.
Check out the video below to get an idea for what the wineries and olive oil factory were like (it wasn’t harvesting season so there’s not a lot of action with the machines, but it was still a cool experience). Bonus: random useless knowledge: green olives and black olives are actually the same fruit from the same olive tree, just at differing levels of ripeness.