Today we like to discover the enormous extensions of Argentina travelling from East to West by car. East to West means in this case from Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires on the banks of Río de la Plata to the capital of the province of Mendoza, the city Mendoza, just below the mountains of the Andes or Cordillera.

And the landscapes you can experience are varying from the skyline of a megacity, pampas and steppes and vineries  to mountains.

The distance is about 1080 km (675 mi) and starting not later than 8:00 am you can do this trip in one day  to feel the enormous extension and observe the landscapes cruising through Argentina. Cruising by car in Argentina is always a big thing. It is inexpressible, you must experience this.

Well, for the trip Argentina offers two different alternatives:

1. Ruta 8 – Leaving Buenos Aires by following the Pan-American Highway for a short way and then heading west passing several villages and small cities of Pilar, Arrecifes, Pergamino, Venado Tuerto and Rio Cuarto and to Villa Mercedes in the Province of San Luis.

2. Ruta 7 – Leaving Buenos Aires by following the Highway “Acceso Oesto” passing the villages and cities of Lujan, Junin, Rufino, Laboulaye, Vicuña Mackenna to Villa Mercedes.

View Discover Argentina Buenos Aires – Mendoza in a larger map

Both routes join in Villa Mercedes and form the Ruta 8 passing the capital of the Province of San Luis, the city San Luis, to Mendoza

Both roads are in good conditions. I personally prefer the second alternative (Ruta 7). It is faster because you never enter into the cities/villages and it is less used.

The Start

A classic start of such a trip has to begin in Buenos Aires down town driving a round around the 57 m (187 feet) high Obelisk at the junction of Av. 9 de Julio and Av. Corrientes. For me it is a must to feel one more time the pulse of this vibrant megacity before cruising through the wide land. The traffic, the people, the sound of the cars, busses, motorcycles, all this gives Buenos Aires its unique charm.

Photo: Toyota Hilux with Obelisk:

Heading south on the worlds broadest Avenue, the Av. 9 de Julio, we enter into the Autopista 25 de Mayo that leads us west out of Buenos Aires. A last view on downtown and we drive on the Autopista through the city. Later we turn right on Acceso Oeste and pass the toll station. Now the buildings are lower and on the right side we see the Soccer Stadium of Velez Sarsfield in the district of Liniers. Here we cross the Highway General Paz. This highway forms the limit between Capital Federal and Province of Buenos Aires.

Traffic rules

Keep in mind that new traffic rules have to be respected. This is until today something special in Argentina. Every province has it’s own traffic rules. And Argentina has a federal law for traffic. Maybe, one day they will change this.

Province of Buenos Aires

In the province of Buenos Aires the buildings are just lower as in Capital Federal but initially the traffic is the same and the highway has more lanes than in Capital Federal. After some kilometers/miles we pass another toll station and now the traffic becomes less. You will see more and more trucks. Trucks are the only transport system in Argentina that works and you can see modern and old trucks, for example the old Mercedes 1114 (Built from 1959 to end of the 1990) that is still running on the roads of Argentina.

After passing a second toll station we note a change of the landscape. The buildings disappear and the real Argentina, the Pampa, begins.

Then, after one hour the signs of Lujan are coming up. Lujan is the first city and we take the opportunity to visit the biggest Cathedral from Argentina. It is only 5 minutes away from the highway.

Photo: Cathedral Lujan, Argentina:

After coming back on the highway it changed into a road and cruising through the enormous extension to the west of Argentina begins. Until the limit of the Provinces Buenos Aires and Santa Fe we see flat land and fields with different grains and cattle or cattle and grains (It depends of what you want to see first).

Argentina is an important exporter of soy beans, wheat and vegetable oil products, as well as meat. The steaks are marvelous. A tip: Eat a lomo al punto (medium cooked) with fries and a simple mixed salad and if you are not the driver, with a good red wine from Mendoza. That would one of the best meals you ever eat.

Driving, sorry cruising, you’ll note that the land is very, very flat and the road goes straight, straight ahead for kilometers/miles. We will tell you a small secret. We entered into a region were the creeks and rivers have no access to the ocean. That means, the precipitations only can evaporate or trickle away into the soil where they built up during many thousands of years a very big reservoir of ground water. It is one of the biggest reservoirs of the world. All the lakes and lagoons you see are a product of the precipitations.

Photo: Laguna de Gomez:

Now the road has no turn and heads straight ahead. It seems that it is going directly to heaven.

Province of Santa Fe

Some kilometers/miles ahead we reach “Laguna La Picasa” on a new road. The old road was destroyed by flooding caused by enormous precipitations in 2002/2003, when the level of the laguna was elevated for some 3 meters/yards. Today we can observe many birds beside the road. Between many other birds we saw a flamboyance of flamingos.

Video Laguna La Picasa:

Province of Cordoba

Photo: Sign at border between the provinces of Santa Fe and Córdoba:

Then we enter into the Province of Cordoba and we just have travelled half of the way from Buenos Aires to Mendoza. Here, at the border we stopped for another coffee break. This time beside the road. This is not too dangerous because on the road is not so much traffic and

the green beside the road is up to 50 m/yards broad.

Province of San Luis

Back on the road we head to the Province of San Luis. This province is a province of Argentina, but its Governor called it “another country”. The road changed and is now a highway. During the night it is illuminated with 17 lights every kilometer. In the city of Mercedes you see a lot of industry. This is the product of a different style of politics. The governors are all from the family Rodriguez Saa and they said, transform this province into a tax paradise and the industry will come. That happened many years ago and today the industry is there and the people have jobs. This province right now offers Wi-Fi for free in all cities and villages to all people that like to use is.

A tip: Don’t forget refueling in Mercedes. On the long way to Mendoza Mercedes is the last city with a petrol station beside the highway. If you don’t do that, you have to leave the highway in the city of San Luis or if you are sure about the fuel you have, you can go ahead until the village La Paz in Mendoza, some 120 km (72 miles) from the city of San Luis.

On the way to the city of San Luis you can see the wonderful thunderstorms of the Argentine Pampas. They were not very big, but they had deep black clouds and formed a lot of rainbows.

Photo: Thunderstorm with rainbow in the pampas of San Luis:

After the first thunderstorm once again we headed west, passing the Sierras of San Luis and the Capital of the Province of San Luis, the City San Luis.

Photo: Las Sierras of San Luis:

Province of Mendoza

At the border to the Province of Mendoza the highway changed back into a road and a border control awaits you.

A tip: Eat all the fruit that you transport. The limit between the provinces of San Luis and Mendoza is a fito sanitary barrier and it is not allowed to pass fresh fruits, etc. to Mendoza. They control all: Every suitcase, bag, cooling box. Everything! The reason is, that the Province of Mendoza is declared as free of the fruit fly and the Government protects its province. After some 22 kilometers (14 miles) we pass the village of La Paz. Here we find a petrol station to refuel, if you didn’t in Villa Mercedes or the city of San Luis. Right now the road changes back into a highway that leads us until the city of Mendoza.

As the night was coming up we arrived in Mendoza, were we stood in the Hotel “Cervantes” in Mendoza downtown.

It is very easy to find. Straight ahead from the end of the highway four blocks, a right turn into Avenida San Martin, three more blocks and another right turn into Amigorena Street and you see the Hotel “Cervantes” on the right hand beside the big YPF-Petrol station. The hotel has an own parking area and it is very comfortable, silent and offers a very good restaurant. And it is one stone’s throw away from “Paseo Sarmiento” (Pedestrian area), where you can go to shopping and you’ll encounter many restaurants with different cuisine to enjoy the city of Mendoza.

With its 2.780.403 km² (1,068,300 sq mi) Argentina is the 8 biggest country on the world. A state like Texas enters 4 times and a country like Germany enters 7.8 times into Argentina. In this big country live some 40 million habitants. Some 14 million of them are living in the region of Gran Buenos Aires and form a vibrant megacity at the shores of the Rio de la Plata.

Outside of Buenos Aires you feel the enormous dimensions of this country. Travelling is possible by air, by bus and car and in some cases by train.

Discover Argentina means you need time

If you really want to feel the dimensions of Argentina you have to discover this great nation by car, not in a hurry like in the Megacities of the world. No, take your time, soon you will learn cruising and enjoy the landscapes, the Pampa with the cows or the grain fields. In the western part before reaching the Andes the landscape changes into steppes and sometimes into desserts. In the north eastern part you will find the province of Misiones with its famous Falls of Iguacu and hundreds of other small waterfalls. In the south, in Patagonia, are the steppes. You drive kilometers and kilometers (miles and miles) and meet nobody. But it is beautiful to feel this cruising on the roads of Argentina.

As we know nearly all parts of this fantastic country of Tango, Soccer and Steaks, we started to prepare a series of articles to present you Argentina and the Patagonia.

Argentina – Its enormous extensions

View Extensions of Argentina in a larger map

The extensions of Argentina are enormous. From north to south 4300 km (2700 mi) and from east to west 1300 km (800 mi).

To travel from north to south, from La Quiaca at the border to Bolivia to the most southern city of the World, Ushuaia, Argentina offers three alternatives:

From east to west the distance from Buenos Aires to Mendoza is some 1080 km (674 mi), then you have to drive some 160 km (100 mi) more to the Chilean border. For this trip Argentina offers two alternatives:

1. Ruta 8 from Buenos Aires following the Pan-American Highway for a short way and then heading west passing several villages and cities as Pilar, Arrecifes, Pergamino, Venado Tuerto and Rio Cuarto and then passing Villa Mercedes, San Luis on Ruta 7/8 to Mendoza

2. Ruta 7 from Buenos Aires passing for Lujan, Junin, Rufino, Laboulaye, Vicuña Mackenna and then passing Villa Mercedes, San Luis on Ruta 7/8 to Mendoza

Travelling from Buenos Aires to the Falls of Iguacu means leaving Buenos Aires and heading north east. There are no alternatives:

• You only follow the “Ruta del Mercosur” some 1287 km (804 mi) on Ruta 9 to Zarate turning right on Ruta 12 and later on Ruta 14 passing the cities of Gualeguaychú, Concordia, Paso de los Libres and Posadas. Here you follow once more Ruta 12 to Port of Iguacu.

In the next article we will lead you first from Buenos Aires to Mendoza and then we head south into the northern part of Patagonia to show you some beautiful places.

- Discover Argentina -

Leaving the city of Mendoza heading south is possible in two ways. The fast one is on the Ruta 40 and the beautiful one on the small streets passing the vineyards to Ugarteche. From Ugarteche you head south on Ruta 40 until arriving in the small village Pareditas. The fast alternative is a trip of one and a half hour and is 123 km/77 mi long. The other one depends of the different vines you to taste.

View Ruta 101 – Mendoza, Argentina in a larger map

From Pareditas you have three different alternatives to drive to El Sosneado. They depend of the car that you are using:

1. The comfortable way is along Ruta 143 to San Rafael and later on Ruta 144 to Ruta 40. This route is fully paved and you can drive it with any car.

2. The classic route is along Ruta 40 to the junction with Ruta 144. For this route I recommend the use of a 4×4 SUV/Pickup. But you can still drive this 114 km / 71 mi with a car not exciding a speed of 40 km/h / 25 mi/h. (Duration about 3 to 4 hours).

3. For the adventure route a 4×4 SUV/Pickup is necessary. The distance of this trip is about 155 km / 95 mi. (Duration about 5 to 6 hours).

I have preferred the adventure to enjoy the beautiful landscape of the Andes mountains. But you must be prepared. In Pareditas you should refuel because there you’ll find the last petrol station until El Sosneado and check the oil gauge, etc.

As we left the village Pareditas on Ruta 40 we didn’t find the Ruta 101. We knew that the dirt road Ruta 40 heads straight ahead and the paved road Ruta 143 turns a little bit left and is paved. But we didn’t find Ruta 101. So we turned back to the police station and asked.

The first question back was: “Do you have a good car?” and as I showed the policeman our Toyota Hilux pickup 4X4 he said “Ok, with this car you can drive along the Ruta 101! Drive some 200 m/yards on the Ruta 40 and turn right and at the next corner turn left. That is Ruta 101 and leads you to El Sosneado. You will need between 5 to 6 hours to arrive!”

After turning on Ruta 101 we had a very long straight part in front of us. There was a lot of dust, not only in front of us, also behind of us and the pickup blewed it all up. We entered into the southern part of the Province of Mendoza. But this dirt road was in very good conditions and allowed to speed up to 60 km/h (38 mph). First it seemed to become boring because the landscape was flat, no mountain, no Andes, only flat land. After some 20 km (14 mi) we made the first stop on a hill to enjoy the landscape. In front of us the road, at the right a marvelous panorama view of the Andes and behind us the dust. This was the first impressive panorama view we had of the Andes in southern Mendoza.

Later we saw in front of us a small village with trees. It was Los Alamitos with its Alamos trees.

Then after another long straight road we met some horses in a creek beside the road. The Andes in the background gave us another great view. From now the road had more curves and a different landscape.

A tip: There are no traffic signs, no houses, and no cell phone worked and we had no GPS and one problem was coming up: How to find the right way? The easy way is to follow always the broadest or the most used road. You can identify that like the Indians in the Westerns, only look for the tracks.

Another difficulty is that you have to be careful. It is always possible that an animal is crossing the road, maybe goats, cows, horses or even lamas.

You will meet nice places for a coffee break beside a creek with water so clean, that you can drink it.

Sometimes the road is so narrow that you have to honk before a curve. That is law! But nobody is controlling it. On that trip of 154 km (96 mi) we didn’t meet any other car on the road.

We crossed Arroyo Hondo (Hondo Creek) and the extinct Volcano Cerro Diamante came in sight. The road became more narrow and poor. Sometimes we had to speed down to walking speed, but the landscapes and Río Diamante near the village La Jaula recouped us therefore.

Now the landscape changed a little bit. Instead of a desert we saw more green grass. We arrived in the center of the Pampa Diamante. The precipitations from the Andes reachs this zone. More in the north Mendoza is different.

You also can observe some impressing geological formations beside the road. Suddenly a very small and steep way down to a creek and once more up on a hill and we saw a symbol of the modern times. An oil pump driven by a diesel motor was nodding and pumping up crude oil out of the earth. Some 5/3 more kilometers/miles and we were back to civilization and this beautiful, different trip of 5 hours on the nearest road to the Andes ended in El Sosneado.

We were back on Ruta 40 and headed some 48 km (30 mi) to Los Molles near Las Leñas were a great dinner cooked by our friend Adolfo was waiting for us. We spent the night in a Cabaña in the Los Molles Complejo Turístico.