The 8th Best View in the World, Bariloche, Argentina!

Bariloche, Argentina!

Bariloche is around a 20 hour bus trip south of Mendoza, as is at the foothill of the Andes. It is surrounded by mountains, forests and lakes and is beautiful!

Its perhaps most known due to the great skiing and snow-boarding during the winter, but i visited it before the start of the season, and realised that it has a lot to offer all year round!

The town itself is super super cute, with a complete ‘European ski holiday’ feel to it. Most of the shops and houses are trimmed with wood and have a log-cabin feel to them! The scenery is stunning. You are totally surrounded by mountains and a huge lake.

About a 40 min bus out of town you get to a cable car, running up one of the mountains (it closes at 5pm btw – me and my friend arrived just after the cable car closed, so literally ran up the mountain – it was supposed to take 45 mins but we did it in less than 20!). When you get to the top the view is breath taking (or perhaps i couldnt breath because I had just ran up a mountain?). You are on the peak of the mountain, and are surrounded by mountains and lakes in ALL directions. You have a 360 degree view of perfect skylines, snow-capped mountains, and crystal clear lakes. This view was rated the 8th best view in the world by National Geographic magazine. I have no idea how one would work that out, but i would say its one of the best views i’ve ever seen at least!

If you visit, i strongly recommend doing one of the cycle trips (most hostels have maps outlining the suggested route). The route takes you through a bunch of the mountains and past many incredible lakes. Me and a friend did the 27km route, which was very tough at times, but the views totally made up for the pain of cycling uphill for 10 mins at a time!

In the town you have the main square, which is full of cool sculptures (and a load of skateboarders). There you will also find a few Saint Bernards, which are kept there for tourists to take pictures with. I felt really sorry for them to be honest. But i couldn’t resist in getting a picture of the puppy Saint Bernard. Perhaps one of the cutest dogs i’ve ever seen!

Bariloche is also well known for its chocolate, and chocolate shops! Every few shops you will find a chocolate making shop, some of them are HUGE and filled with all types of chocolate that i never knew about! Its a fat kids dream.

Bariloche = Beautiful.

written by dannyfresh on 2009-10-18 #places #mountain #lake #view #argentina #location #patagonia #bariloche