Bariloche is a city of approximately 100,000 people, making it the largest city in Argentina’s “Lake District”. The city is surrounded by beautiful mountains on one side, and Lago Nahuel Huapi on the other. Although the city is cute, all of the best “attractions” are located outside of the city in the surrounding mountains and national parks. Except for the famous chocolate, of course.
Although we arrived in Bariloche at night, the streets were lit up and I could tell that the street was filled with cute restaurants and shops catering to tourists from around the world. We checked into our hostel, 41 Below, and then headed out to find a bite to eat on the main strip, before trying the famous chocolate. The chocolate definitely didn’t disappoint, and being that Easter just passed, everything was on sale. Bonus!
The following day, we awoke to beautiful blue skies and sunshine. After a few cold days in Patagonia, the sun has been a warm welcome (literally!), making me truly grateful that I missed most of Calgary’s winter this year. We headed out at a decent hour in the morning to take advantage of the nice weather, but as we attempted to get on the bus, we were informed that you need to pre-purchase all your tickets… on the other side of town. We huffed it across town and back to catch the next bus, and then made our way to an area called Llao Llao, off the circuito chico, which is the most popular loop for people walking, trekking, cycling, or driving the area. We walked along one of the many lakes in the area, taking in the fresh area and the trees, as well as the peace and quiet. At some point, we stopped to enjoy lunch near an old brick bridge, and then made our way back to the bus pick up spot. We caught the bus back approximately 2 stops, before we got off at Cerro Campanario, to do the gruelling 30 minute uphill hike to one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. The sun shone over the lush green mountains, reflecting off the multitude of blue lakes around us. It was truly breathtaking, and a view not to be missed in Bariloche. On top of that, the walk down was much easier than the walk up!
That evening, we made dinner and visited with some of the people in our hostel before heading to bed. Cerro Campanario certainly got the best of me, and I slept like a baby! The following day, we woke up to grey skies, and decided to have more of mellow day, as opposed to doing some of the bigger hikes in the area. The only problem with hiking in the Bariloche area is that, outside of Cerro Campanario, you can only do leisurely hikes, unless you want to hike for 6 or more hours of the day. We opted for a leisurely walk, and made our way through the town, along Lago Nahuel Huapi. From there, we made our way through the city centre to enjoy some of the famous chocolate. We felt it was only fair to try samples from a few different stores to get accurate results on the quality of the chocolate. After trying raspberry, Bailey’s, dulce de leche, coconut, and dark chocolate, we determined that the chocolate is in fact pretty great! We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out and relaxing, enjoying the calmness of Bariloche. That evening, we made dinner at the hostel, and because of the extra long picnic-style table in the hostel, we ended up eating with a few of the other people staying there. A bit of wine was involved as well, as is the norm in Argentina!
The following morning, we caught a bus from Bariloche to Osorno in Chile. Fortunately, there were 11 of us from the hostel taking the same bus, so we all woke up together, and shared cabs. Having people to talk to at the way too long border crossing into Chile was also an added plus! After reaching Osorno, we bid our farewells, as we were headed onto Santiago, while the others headed to various different places in Chile. We booked our bus to Santiago, and then headed out to explore the tiny town of Osorno which, as Lonely Planet promised, has nothing more than a Plaza de Armas with a giant bronze bull in it. Nevertheless, we passed the hours quickly, before boarding our night bus to Santiago.