The city is well laid out and almost everything worth
visiting is well within walking distance. The bus station is an easy 15
to 20 minute walk to the main Plaza del Armas (the center of Mendoza).
As with other Argentina cities the Siesta time is a big part of every
weekday. Typically shops and most restaurants will close sometime
between the hours of 1 and 2pm and reopen again starting around 4:30 to
5pm until 8 or 9pm. If you are not from a country that is on a Siesta
schedule, this can put a crimp in your eating and shopping habits for
the first few days.
Restaurants often start to fill up around 10pm and reach their height of
popularity around 11pm. We recommend eating a small breakfast, lunch
around 1 or 2pm and then head to the restaurants around 9pm when they
open and you will beat the dinnertime rush which typically starts around
10pm.
The city streets are clean - there are often stoplights at most of the
intersections. Watch for large ditches and or holes on the outside of
most of the sidewalks. The ditches are for drainage and can be quite
deep (don't want to stumble into these accidentally); the holes are also
quite deep and typically are carved down into the sidewalks for trees.
Sometimes the trees are missing and its just an uncovered hole.
Sundays are pretty much "dead" in Mendoza. Most of the shops are closed
(some restaurants, mini-markets and Internet cafes will be open), but
there is significantly less traffic (both cars and on foot). |
