BARILOCHE: SWITZERLAND WITH LATIN SPIRIT

When we decided to go to Bariloche, I didn’t do a whole lot of research. I heard from friends that it was a really nice place to go, definitely a must in Argentina, and that it had a Swiss feel to it. As Hielke and I really wanted to visit Patagonia, Bariloche seemed like a good start, as it is located in the North of Patagonia. A fun fact regarding Bariloche is that our Dutch-Argentinean queen is from this region. So when you are Dutch, expect to talk about Maxima a lot when you visit Bariloche! We stayed in Bariloche for four nights and found it the perfect introduction into Patagonia.

These amazing yellow flowers seemed to be everywhere in Bariloche

Where we stayed

We stayed in “Selina” for four nights. Selina is a hotel chain which we noticed all throughout South-America. They often have very stylish hotels where you can do a lot of activities. I was very curious for this hotel chain and we decided to try it in Bariloche. They have rooms at all sorts of price-levels, for example: they have luxury apartments as well as dorms. We stayed in a private room with a shared bathroom (€ 25 per night). The room was in a mountain hut style and the bathroom was very new and clean, so it was no problem to share. What is really nice is that Selina also has a on-site restaurant, with healthy, affordable meals (mains from € 6) It also has a swimming pool, sauna, fitness and yoga/dance/stretch classes. We found this perfect for relaxing after a full day of activities. You can buy a full day pass for € 7,50 and then you can use all the facilities or pay per class, which was about € 4 per class. I did a stretch class, in which a lot of locals participated and found it a nice way to get to know the Argentinean culture!

Selina is also known for its cool murals, it was fun to see this combined with the Swiss architecture

Mountainbiking tour Circuito Chiclo

Bariloche is located in Argentina’s Lake District and we decided to explore the area by mountainbike. The Circuito Chiclo route is located about 18 kilometers outside of Bariloche. We rented bikes at the start of the route for € 15 per bike. You can easily take a bus to the start of the MTB-route, but you need a public transport card with credit on it. You can buy those at the kiosks (the costs are below € 1 one-way). We did the small circuit route of Circuit Chiclo and I found it long enough. The circuit is located in the mountains and if you are not used to cycling in the mountains, it gets really heavy. I wasn’t the only cyclist stepping off my bike every now and then because the hills were too steep. One of my favorite things of the MTB-tour was the beautiful yellow flowers which were in full bloom. All the roads were lined up with these amazing flowers, which made the views even more spectacular.

The scenery switched from yellow flowers to lake views and back
I brought my yellow dress with me on the bike, to be able to take some pictures with the yellow flowers 😉

To finish the Circuito Chiclo you need to cycle about 4 hours, this is supposed to include stops. We had a nice, relaxing lunch stop at Cerveceria Patagonia and we didn’t make it in 4 hours. We would definitely recommend to stop at Cerveceria Patagonia, the beer tastes even better after an hour of cycling and they have good lunch options as well. The views from the Cerveceria are breathtaking, so you do pay a premium price, but we still payed only € 26 for two mains, two giant beers and a desert. If you are a sporty spice, I would definitely recommend hiring a mountainbike!

Exploring the Lake District by car

Of course you can do many sorts of hikes in Bariloche, but we decided to hire a car to explore the region. As Patagonia was in full bloom when we visited, this was the best way to be flexible and do some flower hunting. I particularly wanted to see fields of lupins, which we luckily ended up finding 🙂 We first rode to Cerro Campanario chairlift to start our day. Tickets were about € 6 per person two-way and you receive an enjoyable ride up the mountains for about 15 minutes. In the mountain you can do a short walk around a platform and see all the stunning lakes in Bariloche’s neighborhood. It was a nice and relaxed way to get a feel of the area.

The most famous ski-area of Bariloche is the Cerro Cathedral. It was super weird to see a ski-resort when there is no snow and there are no people, but it definitely looks like a good place to go skiing. They even seemed to have some skibars. Having a car also makes it really easy to visit the National Park of Nahuel Huapi. This is the place where we ended up finding fields of lupins! We asked the owners of the field if we could take pictures, and luckily we were allowed 🙂

I loved searching for the perfect spots that included views of the mountains with flower in front of it
Can you spot me saying hi to the lupins?
Can you believe this is in Argentina? The ski hotels at Cerro Cathedral were completely empty in the Argentinean summer

The town Bariloche itself

On our last day in Bariloche we were supposed to go horseback riding, but unfortunately the tour forgot to pick us up.. It was too late to make other plans, so we ended up exploring Bariloche itself. Exploring Bariloche is definitely not a punishment; the town has cute Swiss-style architecture, the houses are very well maintained and have nice flower gardens, there are cheese and chocolate shops and there are lots of (micro)breweries. We were recommend the Manush brewery and really liked visiting it. They offer cheese platters that can serve as a meal, they have honey beer and good deserts. I particularly love deserts in Argentina as they all seem to come with dulce de leche and chocolate.

I am ready to move in here
Main shopping street in Bariloche

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