Falling in Love with Argentina’s Land of Lakes

Six Months in South America, Part 5

After celebrating Carnaval in Uruguay, Kim and I traveled to the village of San Carlos de Bariloche in northern Patagonia, part of Argentina’s enchanting lake region. 

When I got to Bariloche, I didn’t want to leave. Something about the sprawling mountains and lakeside villages captivated me, and I ended up changing my flight to stay longer. 

I spent most of my time in Bariloche going on long, meandering hikes and sitting next to alpine lakes while sipping mate and watching kingfishers dive beneath the waves. 

I wrote this in my journal about the region: 

I could stay here for months and not get bored. All the close, accessible hikes. The gorgeous lakes and glaciers nearby. It’s the perfect size for walkability, and the bus and taxis are fairly affordable and consistent. I really would like to stay longer. We will see, but I need to come back here. 

Bariloche is known as a land of lakes. While there, I went to at least 12 of them. One famous excursion is to drive, hike, or cycle the Route of Seven Lakes. 

In reality, there are way more than seven lakes along the route, but these are the seven official ones:

1. Lago Machónico

2. Lago Falkner

3. Lago Villarino

4. Lago Escondido

5. Lago Espejo

6. Lago Correntoso

7. Lago Nahuel Huapi

We also saw a few of the “unofficial” lakes on the route including Lago Hermoso, Lago Traful, and Lago Espejo Chico. 

With so many lakes, Bariloche has fantastic beaches with people relaxing or kayaking during the summer months. During my three-week trip, I went to 10 beaches in the area; Playa del Viento, Playa Bonita, and Playa Petunia were my favorites. 

Northern Patagonia is a hiking paradise. I went on day hikes which I mapped using blog posts and the Bariloche Visitor Center’s handy Whatsapp chatbot, Nahuelito, which they offer in Spanish and English. 

You can ask Nahuelito about any route, excursion, or tourist spot in the region, and the virtual assistant will send you maps, links to trek registration, information about camping costs, how to get there by public transportation, and social media sites to check for weather reports. (To contact the visitor center on Whatsapp, text this number: +549294457-9837.)

Here were my favorites hikes:

1. Laguna Negra

2. Refugio Frey

3. Llao Llao Circuit

4. Los Arrayanes Trail

5. Cerro Campanario 

I was able to access all of these using public transportation; the bus system is quite good and used by both locals and tourists. 

Cerro Campanario and Los Arrayanes are perfect for short, solo hikes; I finished them both before work. The Llao Llao Circuit is usually done by bike, but my friends Armand, Kim, and I hiked most of it in a day and then took a taxi to a popular brewery, which had sweeping views of the lake and mountains. 

You’ll need a little more time to hike to Refugio Frey and Laguna Negra, at least eight hours for Frey and 10-12 hours for Laguna Negra. Many people turn Laguna Negra into a two-day hike and camp overnight at the Refugio. 

Bariloche is sometimes called the “Switzerland of Patagonia.” They even have a village called Colonia Suiza, which was founded by Swiss immigrants in the 1880s after the Argentine government offered land to anyone who would develop it. You can see similarities in the architecture of Swiss-style chalets and the love of good chocolate; there are tons of chocolate factories and shops around town (Rapa Nui is my favorite). 

Kim said Bariloche looked like Sweden in the summer, and it reminded me of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. I’ve noticed this tendency toward comparisons when I travel. Our brains subconsciously associate new places to spots we’ve already been or heard about, striving to find familiarity. 

I think that’s why so many travel blogs use headlines like the “Switzerland of South America,” or the “Hawaii of Europe,” etc. We want people to understand something singular, even though they’ve never been there before. 

However, Bariloche must be appreciated for its own merit. We could easily call Colorado “the Bariloche of the United States” or Switzerland “the Patagonia of Central Europe.” 

Comparisons are useful to help our brains make sense of the unfamiliar. But I highly recommend a visit to northern Patagonia to learn the stories and traditions of this spectacular region for yourself.