Bariloche...delivering on the hype!

Mar 17

Mar 17 Bariloche...delivering on the hype!

Welcome to the most scenic place imaginable - it's as if a location were needed for waterside photo shoots and Mother Nature obliged (appreciate your effort there love!).

Bariloche is the Lake District's capital and despite being a small city, the downtown was too intense for us having come from 4 weeks of rugged and remote Patagonia. Move down the lake shore 7kms however and it's replaced by boutique hotels, waterfront restaurants and quiet walking paths. The sun shines, water glistens and trees stand like statues - we had found a temporary home in Argentina.

It wasn't hard to decide on our activities. We spent our time hiking through Argentinas original ski resort (sin snow thanks to endless sunshine), relaxing with a waterfront view over steak and red wine, and sampling the local delicacy - CHOCOLATE 🍫 .

Summit of Cerro Catedral, but where's the snow

Bariloche has something else though, something very easily missed despite it being blatantly obvious... it's the juxtaposition of climates zones. By hiking Cerro Otto (or running it as I thought was a good idea) it becomes so obvious you may as well have been slapped in the face. To your left the Andes with their snow capped peaks and mythical outlines stretch out of sight, move 20kms to their right and it's evergreen forests of conifer and monkey puzzle running down to a multitude of lake shores; it's less like they grew there, more fitting is the notion of ready covered islands emerging from a watery base such is the proximity of water and trunk. Finishing you off another 50kms right is a desolate desert resembling the Nevada landscape surrounding Las Vegas. Seriously this environmental diversity needs to be seen to be believed.

The region is positively bursting with sights to take your breathe away. There's the classic Ruta77 loop best attacked by car or bike. The miradors (viewpoints) are spectacular, you can easily drop a kayak into the glass-like lakes and paddle to remote islands, or if you're inclined more towards the luxurious then stop by llao Llao Hotel for a stupidly expensive coffee (from a Nespresso machine of all things) and maybe even around of golf. It's part of 'The Leading Hotels of the World' so seeing inside is worth it, just do as we did and leave once you see the price of everything.

Beyond Bariloche you have 2 choices heading north. We recommend getting to the much-hyped 7 Lakes Drive between Bariloche and San Martin de los Andes via the less travelled and much dustier RN237 then RP65 roads. You'll be treated to canyon-like scenery, yet more gobsmackingly beautiful lakes and best of all...very few people! It's easy enough to then rejoin Ruta 40 to see the 7 lakes.

Very simply you should:

Buy a flight to Bariloche
Charge your camera
Hire a car
Set off to explore

I'd like to thank Doug and Loli who told us about this area. It lives up to, and goes beyond the hype!

Also a special thank you to Victoria and Javier who allowed us to park in their hostels driveway and use all facilities at a very reasonable cost. The place was only 1 month old, is setup perfectly, and our hosts couldn't have been lovelier. Muchos Gracias!