Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
310
What's with All the Chocolate?
Bariloche is a chocolate-lover's heaven. Within 3 blocks on the main drag, Calle
Mitre, dozens of chocolate shops offer tasty little morsels of ar tisan chocolate.
The industry sprang from early Swiss pioneers who settled at the nearby village
of Colonia Suiza and sa w the pot ential in all those health y cows. Classic local
flavors include
dulce de leche,
chocolate with lemon, and choc olate with local
berries. All the shops ar e quite good and pr oduce high-quality chocolate, but
the constant lines in
Mamuschka,
Mitre 298 (
&
02944/423294
), attest to the
fact that this shop sells the absolut e best chocolate in town. It's worth waiting
your turn for the cute red boxes of delicious treats. Mamuschka also has a nice
smoke-free cafe inside, and a branch at the base of C erro Catedral ski resort.
(Take note of the colorful tile work, by a local artist, on the sidewalk when you
walk into Mamuschka.)
which are lined with doz ens of shops selling r egional specialties. O ne of the nicest for
lovely home furnishings and accents is
El Coihue,
at Bustillo Km 15.5 (
&
02944/448623).
Also try the charming tiny shop
Los Juncos,
Bustillo Km 20 (
&
02944/448107).
For local handicrafts predominantly made of wood and wool, stroll the
outdoor arti-
san mar ket
behind the Centr o Civico, held each afternoon ex cept Tuesdays and
Wednesdays, from noon to 8pm (depending on the time of ear). It's also worth checking
out the indoor
artisan market
on Moreno between Quaglia and Villegas, which is open
daily from 11am to 8pm. There is a small shop of all-natural wool products run by a local
Mapuche indigenous group. All the vendors are friendly.
11
Tour Operators
A plethora of travel agencies offer everything under the sun along the streets of Bariloche.
Most tours do not include lunch, and all charge extra for a bilingual guide. The best of
the lot includes
Travelideas,
Villegas 316 (
&
02944/424659
; www.travelideas.com.ar),
and
Limay Travel,
V.A. O'Connor 710 (
&
02944/420268;
www.limaytravel.com.ar).
Both offer a wide v ariety of land ex cursions to E l Bolsón, Cerr o Tronador, and cir cuit
sightseeing r outes.
Huala A dventure Tourism,
S an M artín 86 (
&
02944/522438;
www.huala.com.ar), specializes in adventure sports such as white-water rafting, trekking,
and horseback riding, as w ell as creative and fun multiday outings that combine activi-
ties. They can also help with car r entals and hotel accommodations.
PARQUE NACIONAL NAHUEL HUAPI
Nahuel Huapi
is Argentina 's oldest and most popular national par k, with a range of
activities for any fitness level. It stretches from the Seven Lakes Road in the north to the
Manso River in the south. The park also surr ounds the city of B ariloche, and its head-
quarters are downtown in the Civic Center (see “Visitor Information,” above). The park's
main feature is the 3,500m (11,480-ft.) extinct volcano
Tronador
(Thunderer),
named
for the r umbling pr oduced b y ice falling fr om the mountain 's peak. B ut the par k is
also known for its glacial-formed Lake N ahuel Huapi (the largest of mor e than a doz en
lakes), as w ell as its lo vely forested peninsulas and its water ways, which ar e often com-
pared to the channels of southern Chilean P atagonia or the fior ds of N orway. During
