The lake district around Bariloche is less dramatic than the glacial terrain of southern Patagonia but nonetheless scenic with bright blue lakes and lush forests. A lot of people say the landscape is like the Alps and I found there was quite a European alpine resort feel.
We rented a car for four days so did not spend much time in the towns. In fact we stayed at random ‘deal’ hotels, such as the spacious Design Suites just outside Bariloche (popular with Argentinian families, a bit like centreparcs but without as many facilities) and a quiet hotel in a golf resort twenty minutes outside San Martin de los Andes.
From the outskirts of Bariloche, we cycled the Circuito Chico from kilometre 18. This was a reasonably short route (about 25km) through the lake district with plenty of long hill climbs. We had lunch at Punto Panoramico along the way (obviously with panoramic views!) and stopped at plenty of miradors (lookouts.)
Driving in this region was fun… or so I hear as a full-time passenger/DJ on this occasion. There were clearly marked lookouts on ‘la ruta de los siege lagos’ (seven lakes route), a 110km drive mostly along the winding ruta 40 between San Martin de los Andes and Villa la Angostura with a detour to Villa Traful. On the road, I particularly loved the abundance of bright wild flowers, seeing cows drink from the lake (we ran when they started running towards us on the beach!), small waterfalls and sheep crossing the road.
On our way back to Bariloche we chose a different route (mainly via Ruta 63 and 237) that is was more rugged and arguably just as beautiful as the more famous seven lakes side.
Villa Traful is a small village with a population less than 400 on the southern banks of Lago Traful. It is a slightly bumpy 27km drive along the ruta 65 that is mostly a good dirt track! Waking along the lake there was one of our best experiences in the lake district. I also loved the smell of the wild flowers.
In terms of food and drinks (my number one focus when travelling if you had not guessed) a few special mentions. Trout is a local speciality and we had great trout at Nancu Lahuen which was a surprising busy lunch spot in the otherwise quiet Villa Traful. It was a log cabin style restaurant where we also enjoyed the pasta, potatoes that were basically American taco tots and white wine.
El Mexicana restaurant (used to be called Dias de Zapata a while back so we struggled to find it initially) in Bariloche did great quesadillas and cocktails in a buzzing atmosphere. Families were still queuing to get in for Friday night dinner at 11pm when we were leaving! The mariachi band were superb – I have a great video that I can’t upload here 🙂 !
La Trattoria de la Famiglia Bianchi for great simple Italian – very busy and very good value, especially for the wine!
Excellent hot chocolates in San Martin de los Andes. We happened to be in this town of 28,000 (Bariloche is bigger with a population of about 110,000) when the football team Boca Juniors beat their arch rivals River Plate in a last minute goal. The streets of the small town centre were wild with a parade of cars driving through the few main streets on loop, honking, revving, waving flags, letting kids hang out of the windows, throwing firecrackers and streamers! People were jumping and chanting in the streets… all for a regular win, not a cup final! Boca Juniors are a Buenos Aires team that are traditionally a working man’s club whereas River Plate are seen as more posh. Clearly in San Martin de los Andes everyone out on the streets was supporting Boca although the guy who served us at the petrol station quietly said he supported the other team when Hiten was chatting to him about it! Better to keep quiet if you are a River Plate fan I think.
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