The Last Stop Before Patagonia

Worth saying plainly first: Malargüe is not Patagonia. Geographically it sits in Mendoza's Cuyo region, north of the Colorado River line most Argentines use to mark where Patagonia actually starts. We're not going to blur that to make a better pitch.

What it is: a town Ruta 40 — the road — runs straight through on its way south. From Mendoza city, RN40 continues through Pareditas and Malargüe before crossing into Neuquén province at Chos Malal and Zapala, which is where most travelers would agree Patagonia proper begins. If you're driving RN40 south, or flying into Mendoza before continuing on toward Bariloche, San Martín de los Andes or further south, Malargüe isn't a detour from that route. It's already on it.

A stopover, not a separate trip

That's the actual argument for building six days here into a longer Patagonia itinerary rather than skipping straight through: the infrastructure to fly into and start a trip is already at Mendoza's airport, and the road south already runs past San Rafael and Malargüe regardless. Treating that stretch as dead driving time between the wine region and the glaciers is one option. Turning it into six days of rafting, mountain biking and trekking through the Cañón del Atuel and the Sosneado high country, before continuing south, is the other.

The mountains get bigger and colder further south. This is where they start — the foothills before the real thing.

It also suits a particular kind of traveler better than a bolt-on day trip would: someone who's already committed to a longer, slower trip through Argentina — not trying to see Patagonia in four days between flights, but building a route, the way RN40 itself was built.