So if you’re heading through this part of the world where the distances are vast and the flight timings just aren’t working for you, I’d recommend driving from the lake region of Bariloche up to the wine region of Mendoza. Chances are for these regions you may have rented a car anyway, so its a question of if you’re prepared to pay the car relocation fee
The drive is a long one at roughly 14 hours. It includes the famous Seven Lakes route (see Driving the 7 Lakes from Villa la Angostura to San Martin for more details), but quite quickly after that you transition from luscious grassy mountains and lakes to more barren volcanoes / mountains, deserts, scrubland, with very few people and a part of the world that has little written about it – some key ingredients for an unexpected driving adventure
Google maps kept changing its mind whether to take the R40 or the more inland 237/151/143 route. We went for the R40 and were glad we did as the combo of the Andes range to our left and desert / plains to our right was a pleasantly beautiful surprise. Make sure you do keep an eye on the navigation though as it is very easy to get lost, which happened to us a few times. That feeling of having to choose between continuing to head down the dust path you hope will soon change to highway or to cut your loses and drive back the way you came for an hour isn’t that much fun . . . even less so the second and third times!