It's in this very thread, post #49:

Mendoza to Santiago by bus

I know it's been a while since you asked this but here it goes: we were at Familia Zuccardi in April. We took one of the local agent tours with another couple from New Zealand. The deal included a visit to the Don Bosco school and winery (with an olive oil plantation to boot), where we met a very friendly host. Then on to Zuccardi for the tour and later lunch. I believe you can also call in and reserve a table. The service there was relaxed and efficient. The couple from NZ was overwhelmed by the amount of food offered and we all enjoyed the wine pairings. I will not comment on the quality as I am no expert, but I can say I enjoyed the meal and the whole tour. All this (including pick up and drop off at our hotel) for the equivalent of $30 US each!

Panam Clipper:

Thanks for your report!^ How did you arrange this tour? Do you have a link, phone number etc.?
I am planning 3 days/2 nights in Mendoza ... after reading Gaucho's comments, I probably staying away from renting a car and making/joining a tour.
Also thanks to Gaucho running this thread^

PanamClipper-- many thanks for the great report! ^

Last time I got some advice that probably won't work for me so I'm posing my questions again in the hopes that someone may have some more concrete information. Basically I have two questions:

1) Does anyone have some recommendations on arranging private or semi-private wine tours out of Mendoza? I'd probably be looking for a full day tour on a Saturday in early February.

2A) I also need to figure out how to get from Mendoza to Santiago (with considerable baggage) on the following Sunday to catch an 11 pm flight to the United States. I had planned to hire a driver, but some of the earlier responses were this was prohibitive. There are two of us traveling -- if we fly the airfare appears to be running somewhere around $450 to $600. Also LAN has two flights on the day in question -- one early in the morning; the other arriving at 8:15 pm, which seems to be cutting things close.

2B) If we do drive, when should we have the driver leave to safely get to Santiago by around 8:30 pm?

2C) Is the bus a viable option? How comfortable is it -- and, how long does it take?

Thanks in advance for the advice!

prh-- where are you staying? Do you have access to a concierge service at your hotel? If so, I suggest you have them arrange for a car & driver and have the vehicle take you around Mendoza to your various appointments. Please note that you will have to book/make appointments. Walk in visits are not the norm.

If you are getting high airfares and there are two of you... then maybe the option of hiring a small van for both of you may not be such a bad option. Again, I would try to get a concierge to shop around for fares for you.

The Bus is a very viable option... you should be able to get a premium bus service that should be quite nice. This will be the most cost effective solution as a excess bags on the bus service will be very inexpensive.

2A) You need to do some cost/benefit research and calculations here.

Assuming you have already paid the $100 Chile reciprocity fee for your passports and are not flying Lan out of SCL and don't plan on flying them for a while...

FYI, there are $70 base fare "RT" MDZ-SCL tickets (read: "throwaway") for approx.$92 all in. The problem will be luggage:

So, being creative and assuming the change fee is not prohibitive, how about trying to add on a one-way LAN segment, MDZ-SCL, to your current return segment out of SCL and interline your bags to your final destination? If you do this, the LAN baggage rules then change to:

2C) If you decide on the bus, the most convenient for an ultimate transfer to SCL would be to take the bus with the Chilean company Turbus from Mendoza to the Terminal Alameda in Santiago (the main Turbus and Pullman Bus terminal). After receiving your bags, you can then stroll over to the airport transfer bus kiosk and purchase your pasaje for the hourly bus that leaves from the platform in front of that kiosk (1.800 pesos). They will check your bags below like on any intercity bus in Chile and Argentina. There is also an official taxi stand area if you exit the terminal to the left of the Turbus airport transfer kiosk. If you have sufficient hours to burn, there is also a bag check storage facility inside the terminal and the Metro station Universidad de Santiago is connected to Terminal Alameda on the bottom level.

WARNING (especially for the bus terminal in Mendoza but applicable to all bus terminals in this part of South America): WATCH YOU LUGGAGE, HANDBAGS AND POCKETS!! You can relax though once you have you luggage checked into the bus hold.

Observation: In Argentina, the person loading the bags in the hold is looking for a small tip. In Chile, this is not done. The bus attendant though always publicly asks for a small tip on the route between these two cities.

Replying to the two replies above, first thanks. Now let me try to respond to some of the questions and comments above:

1) We're staying at the Hyatt -- I've just contacted the concierge, who has asked me which wineries we want to go to -- suggestions? I also asked about the "transfer" to Santiago.

2) My flight situation is this -- we're on a frequent flyer ticket on AA from the US to Santiago and back. I've also got a LAN South American Airpass which will take us from Santiago to Punta Arenas, up to Iquazu, down to BA, and over to Mendoza. When I booked the Airpass, I had thought the drive over the Andes would be a neat way to end the trip and figured that it wouldn't break the bank. When I checked lan.com for the one-way flight from MDZ-SCL, it was quoting $305. It seems if I modify my Airpass the cost would go down about $80. BUT, that still leaves us with the dilemma of getting to SCL around noon (with bags in hand) or around 8:15 in the evening which seems a little too close for comfort.

Interestingly, I just checked lan.com, if we book a roundtrip ticket from MDZ to SCL and back, the roundtrip ticket is $70! Can we safely do that and throw away the return??????

Ssssshhhhhhhh! Don't ask, don't tell. Its $92 with taxes and other charges.

Still leaves the checked baggage cost issue. Do you only have 20k each?

There is also a left luggage facility at SCL.

http://www.aeropuertosantiago.cl/con...20040708153249

The bus AFAIK will not have any extra luggage fees assuming you are traveling like a tourist.

I will try to find the name of the agency where we made the arangements. I can meantime give you the name and number of the guide we had that day: Liliana N. Rodriguez Tel (0261) 4390864 and her cell (0261) 578605. I am sure that you can easily arrange the winery tours once you arrive in Mendoza. Familia Zuccardi was the one we really enjoyed . Heard great things about bodega Tapiz but did not make it - will have to do it next time. You should also consider the day tour to "La Cordillera" unless you plan to cross the Andes by surface to go to Chile.

Your post has inspired me to make plans to travel between BsAs and Mendoza this way!

I do have a couple of questions. I went through a "trial" booking online on andesmar.com (haven't actually booked yet) of a first-class itinerary just to familiarize myself with what's available, and looked at the seat maps. I doubt that there is the equivalent of seatguru.com for these buses, so I wondered if you had any recommendations for seats that are particularly good or bad. The seat maps show a lower and upper floor; piso inferior has seats 1 - 6, and piso superior has seats 7 - 26, so it appears that the "lower floor" is actually just the front of the bus, and then I'm guessing that there are a few steps up to the rear of the bus, where the majority of seats are. Since I'll be traveling alone on the bus, I'll probably pick one of the single seats (on the right side), but if you can think of any particularly desirable or undesirable places to sit on the bus, please let me know.

Also, how was the food? Was it at least of airplane quality and quantity? ;)

I plan to take an overnight bus, stay one night at a hotel in Mendoza, then take another overnight bus back.

Panam Clipper:

Thanks! I guess that I can arrange everything when I am at MDZ. I'll keep Liliana's phone numbers.
Thanks again.

Wow! I do hope you have a similarly pleasant experience. First off - I just noticed that Andesmar has fine tuned their booking system a bit and now the origin/destination listing is more logical showing BUENOS AIRES RETIRO TERMINAL as an option. Yes, if you are alone you will want one of the single seats on the right. We chose seats on the upper level because we thought we might like the view and also because the toilet is at the front of the lower level. If you get the front row you'll have the best view of course and there are curtains to keep the light out if you choose to do that. Other than that there really is no big difference. It really is a top and bottom arrangement, not just front and back.
Food was plentiful - you can choose your entree when you make your booking (chicken, beef or vegetarian). How does it compare with airline food - perhaps a bit better than average coach on an international flight, depends on the airline. I did not regret not taking any extra snacks.
Another poster recommended caution at the bus terminals and I agree that you must be watchful at both ends. Do not lose sight of your stuff until you deliver it to the bus people and you get a bag tag. Finally make sure you get on the right bus because there are two or three leaving within 30 minutes of each other - and this is Andesmar alone to Mendoza! Retiro is a VERY busy terminal as you will see but quite manageable if you allow enough time.

I do urge you to consider staying more than just one night. In addition to a tour of the wineries you might want to go on a 'regular' tour to the Andes (paseo Cordillera) and even spend another day just walking around the city. Parque General San Martin as well as the Municipal Market in the middle of the city are worth while checking. A shame to go that far and not spending a little more time.

Full (?) disclosure. As I recall she was not fluent in English, I did the translating during the tour for the other tourists.
I suspect that you will end up paying more if the arrangements are made through the concierge at the hotel than if you do it directly with a travel agent. I still don't remember the name of the one we used but it was on Rivadavia street between España and 9 de Julio.

If you are staying at the Hyatt, I dont see you paying more than if you book yourself, perhaps with the exception on the transportation. If you are charged for a winery visit, the price will not vary if you have the concierge book it for you.

I dont know what your interests in terms of wines are (styles, etc.), but IMHO some names that you need to consider visiting are:

a) Bodega Benegas
b) Banfi - Cinco Tierras
c) Achaval Ferrer
d) Bodega La Azul
e) Clos de los Siete
f) Andeluna Cellars
g) Rutini La Rural