The smart way for humans to go to Mars is for there to be accommodations waiting for them when they arrive. Literally.
The way to do this is to send robots first to prep for our arrival. By this I mean a nuclear powered horizontal tunneling robot, that will mine, reinforce and seal a very spacious tunnel for the astronauts to live inside.
After first doing the same on the Moon, to make a permanent underground Lunar base.
Such a robot doesn’t have to be fast, just thorough, and their lander can be cannibalized for things like pressure doors, ceiling, walls and flooring.
But the advantage to doing it this way is that a lot more supplies and equipment can be brought with, and what is done there can be cumulative, not just a brief one shot. The robots can spend years preparing for the humans to arrive.
And even better, the nuclear reactor that powers the robots will be ready and waiting to provide the astronauts with all the energy they need.
I know mars has lava tubes so those might not be a bad place to get started setting up shop. Your bots could probably tunnel into canyon walls as well.
I always wondered why no one suggested an approach similar to mountain climbing: ie, set up base camps/stations along the way until you reach a point to make the final trek to the goal. Say, build a better Earth-orbit station. I mean a really good one. Then maybe one between Earth and Moon, or just a moon base, then one or two between the Earth-Mars orbit (I know, keeping it in a reasonable orbit will be a pain, maybe it could just be an unmanned fueling post), then make the jump to Mars. Overall it would be more costly, but with new techs being developed by the exploration, it may pay for itself over time.