We will begin with a morning arrival in Buenos Aires, where the elegance of European and South American culture coexist, with grand boulevards, great architecture, beautiful parks and a high fashioned citizenry. The historic neighborhoods of Recoleta and Belgrano are very European while San Telmo and La Boca still carry the influences of early working class migrants. Our three nights here will combine the best of the neighborhoods, historic buildings, and parks with great restaurants, antique markets, and a classic tango show.

It is only ten minutes to the domestic airport for our departure to Mendoza, the capital of Argentina’s world class wine area, nestled against the high Andes and enjoying 300 sunny days each year. The tree-lined streets and parks are “made for walking." We will visit the most interesting of the wineries on Los Caminos de Vino and have a memorable dinner of Mendozan specialties matched with the best of their Torrontes and Malbec wines during our two night stay.

We will leave Mendoza early by coach for a great climb into the high Andes, following the Rio Mendoza through magnificent scenery, a natural bridge and hot springs at Puente del Inca, and a stop to view Aconcagua, South America’s tallest mountain at 22,900 ft. Once over the top of Andean ridge, we will enter Chile and cruise down into the sunny valley of Santiago, a sophisticated city of over 5 million people, backed up against the high Andes so close you feel you can reach out and touch the peaks. For two nights we will visit several of Chile’s great wineries including Concha y Toro and Santa Rita and see the highlights of the city.

Our final segment will be a visit to the heart of the wine country of Santa Cruz, and its great wine valleys of Maipo, Rapel, Curico and Colchagua. Our visits will include Montes and Casa Lapostolle, whose Clos Apalta red was rated #1 in the world by Wine Spectator magazine in 2008. We will save enough time to walk around the central square in Santa Cruz and visit the wine museum.

Our journey will be completed with a drive to the Santiago airport for our connecting flights to Buenos Aires and the USA.