endoza was our first slow-travel destination in Argentina. It is located in Argentina’s vineyard and winery region, offering plenty of activities and culinary delights. Normally, we stay in each location we visit for about a month. But we added an extra week to our stay in Mendoza because we didn’t want to miss the Vendimia, Mendoza’s famous grape harvest festival. Besides, Argentina was very affordable due to the currency exchange rate made it even more appealing to stay a bit longer. We stayed for a total of 37 nights. Here is a breakdown of our slow travel budget for Mendoza, Argentina.
Housing – $597
Our one-bedroom apartment was in the center of the city. It was across the street from a large grocery store and within walking distance of Mendoza’s historical sights. While it was larger than most of our previous apartments, we were glad to have an air conditioner to use on hot days.
Food (Groceries and Restaurants) – $363
We did most of our cooking in our apartments as usual. The fact that Mendoza had some entire stores that sell only gluten free products made it easy to do our own cooking. We did eat out a few times, most notably at a winery and at a nice restaurant to celebrate our anniversary.
Activities – $41
A trip to Mendoza is incomplete without visiting the surrounding vineyards. We rented bikes ($8 each) and rode out to several wineries in the area. We also enjoyed visiting an olive grove that produces fresh olive oil and balsamic vinegar. There were plenty of free activities going on in Mendoza when we were visiting. We saw several parades and street festivals that were celebrating the grape harvest.
The grand finale was attending the Vendimia show. We were skeptical when we were told that this show rivals the opening ceremonies for the Olympics. Our doubts were proven wrong when we went to see this spectacular show filled with traditional dances, pyrotechnics, amazing choreography, acrobatics, and fabulous music. The price for tickets to the show was outrageous: $3 each. Yes, that’s right, $3 for this five-star spectacle.
Transportation – $76
Most of this was for bus tickets from Santiago, Chile, to Mendoza, but also includes the local buses we used to get around town.
Miscellaneous – $209
About half of this was for a one-week Spanish class. But it also includes a trip to the dentist, where we both had a full dental cleaning for about $20 each! This would have cost at least 5 times more back in the US. We just walked in without an appointment and the dentist saw us immediately. Some other miscellaneous expenses were for laundry service, toothpaste, and toilet paper.
Total travel budget in Mendoza, Argentina: $1,286
Considering that we stayed here for five weeks, this works out to be about $1,057 per month for our travel budget in Mendoza, Argentina. This makes it our cheapest destination yet! In addition to this amount, we also pay $175 per month for a global health insurance policy that covers both of us. Our coverage is better than our previous policy in the US and at a fraction of the price. We are enjoying Argentina and can’t wait to see what else it has to offer!
The Snail Travelers 
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