Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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1
SAN CARLOS DE BARILOCHE
1,621km (1,005 miles) SW of Buenos Aires; 180km (112 miles) S of San Martín de los Andes
Just mention B ariloche to an Argentine, and y ou'll inspire a whimsical sigh. O fficially
known as San Carlos de Bariloche, this city represents the good life in the national con-
sciousness. With stunning natural scener y and fine cuisine, it 's a winter and summer
playground for vacationing Argentines, and it's practically a rite of passage for Argentine
youth to explore nature in the Nahuel Huapi National Park here, with Bariloche in the
middle.
Bariloche is blessed with a strategic geographic position. With the rugged plains of the
Patagonian Steppe to the east, the to wering snowy peaks of the Andes to the w est, and
the glistening and grand N ahuel Huapi Lake in fr ont, opportunities for adv enture are
abundant. Even if y ou're not much of an adv enturer, you'll still find plenty of pleasant
sightseeing tours, boat trips, boutiques, driving ex cursions, and fine dining to keep y ou
busy. Or just park yourself wherever the view is good and soak it all in.
The city itself embodies a strange juxtaposition: an urban city plopped do wn in the
middle of beautiful wilderness. Unfortunately, Argentine migrants fleeing Buenos Aires,
an ever-growing tourism industry, and 2 decades of unchecked dev elopment have left a
cluttered mess in what was once an idyllic mountain town. Bits and pieces of the charm-
ing architecture influenced by German, Swiss, and English immigration are still in evi-
dence, but
“el centr o”
of B ariloche can be tacky and chaotic. Visitors to B ariloche are
sometimes overwhelmed by its hodgepodge of ugly apar tment buildings and clamor ous
discos, and the cr owds that descend on this ar ea from mid-December until the end of
February and again during ski season in J uly. A visit to B ariloche, ho wever, does not
necessarily mean staying in (or spending hardly any time) in the city's core. Your best bet
is to spend less time in to wn, and more on the lake or in the mountains. D rive 10 min-
utes outside to wn, and y ou'll be surr ounded again b y thick for ests, rippling lakes, and
snowcapped peaks that riv al the Alps. I f y ou're looking for a quiet v acation, y ou'd be
better off lodging outside the city center, on the road to the Llao Llao Peninsula or in the
town of Villa La Angostura (p . 327). O n the flip side, B ariloche offers a w ealth of ser-
vices, including the area's largest and best-serviced airport.
11
ESSENTIALS
Getting There
BY PLANE
The
Aeropuerto Bariloche
(
&
02944/426162
) is 13km (8 miles) fr om
downtown. Buses to the city center line up outside the arrival area; they're roughly sched-
uled to coor dinate with flight arriv als. A taxi to the center costs about $15 (£10)—a
bargain if y ou have a gr oup of two or thr ee people.
Aerolíneas Argentinas,
Mitre 185
(
&
02944/422548;
www.aerolineas.com.ar), runs at least thr ee daily flights fr om Bue-
nos Aires; in summer, it operates two daily flights fr om El Calafate as well.
LAN,
Mitre
534 (
&
800/999-9526;
www.lan.com), r uns two or thr ee flights a day fr om B uenos
Aires.
Lineas Aéreas del Estado,
Quaglia 238, #8 (
&
02944/423562;
www.lade.com.
ar), serves small destinations in the ar ea such as Neuquen and Esquel. It's nearly impos-
sible to make it to Bariloche from North America or Europe in a day, as you must change
airports in B uenos Air es. As of 2008, the B razilian airline
TAM
(
&
888/235-9826;
www.tam.com.br) has twice-weekly flights from Sao Paolo.
