Bariloche is the ski-epicenter of Argentina, a major summer trekking destination, the main airport for the Lakes District in Central Patagonia and is incredibly beautiful in all seasons. This is a small city of 140,000 people sitting on the shore of Nahuel Huapi Lake. Nahuel Huapi Lake has the equivalent surface area to Lake Tahoe but 3x more shoreline as it is drawn into fjord-like inlets and permeated by an archipelago of islands and peninsulas both big and small. Over the ’25-’26 new year I spent three weeks in the Lakes District and two in the Bariloche area climbing, hiking, running, eating and visiting its lakes and beaches.
What’s Up with Bariloche
I have never really been into the whole travel-remote-work life in tropical destinations, but Bariloche was the first place I felt I could make living abroad work for me. It is only +5 hours from the Pacific time zone with skiing and desert access in the winter, climbing/trekking in the summer, has a beautiful mountain setting with many cool regional places a drive or short flight away. It is possible to get really fast internet, drink out of the tap, eat really good restaurant food and get onto trail or rock in a short drive. I felt much more at home here compared to other international travel when interfacing with the public lands / access system and a community respect for nature (often no music and no trash) that didn’t charge for every view and experience like in Colombia or Costa Rica.
Its main drawback is that everyone in Argentina seems to also know this and it can be really busy with stop-go traffic on the main lake-road (RP237) during high season. I was pleasantly surprised though to see drivers often very courteous helping cars pull in and out of traffic. Maybe just a commentary on me, but there are lot of one-way streets in Argentina driving. Even after driving there for three weeks, I still don’t fully understand how four-way intersections without stop signs work, other than some sort of organic negotiation at low speed. The positive thing to say about tourism is that most of the tourists (outside of Frey) felt Argentinian and most of the time you only hear and speak Spanish. The most surprising (strangely hilarious?) thing about the tourism is apparently it is a big destination for high school senior year trips and I saw many large 60 person groups of teenagers walking around town in matching jackets from their tour organizer.
You can get everything from amazing Parrilla (American equivalent would be something like a steak restaurant serving quality meat without sauce but with more variety like a BBQ) and pasta to breweries, pizza, empanadas and pastries to go. The one thing that can be tricky to get (at restaurants especially, but also regularly at grocery stores) is a variety of fresh vegetables. It would be hard to be a vegetarian here given the primacy of beef in Argentina may even culturally surpass that of the United States. I will say, I loved getting empanadas the night before (12 for $32,000 ARS or ~$20 USD for four people) and eating them for lunch while out climbing.
Money: Transferring money to Western Union and picking it up at a store in town was by far the best exchange route in Jan 2025 when the blue-dollar and official exchange rate were much closer. With no fees from WU on the first transfer, it could not be beat at a little better than 1500 ARS = 1 USD. Cards are taken everywhere, but you often get a discount for cash as well.
Weather: We were in Bariloche mid-summer (over new year) in a heatwave that was 15 degrees over the average (upper 80s) so I mention shade a lot below.
Things we did
Note: Most hiking around Bariloche (i.e. in the national park) required a non-capped, free, registration with the National Park.
- Cierro Otto – Rotating restaurant with a Gondola from town. Drive up for the great views of the huge lake archipelago, but skip the expensive ticket to enter the building / mediocre restaurant unless looking for novelty.
- Playa Mundo – 8mi, 700′ (round trip) to a fairly popular beach (3 dozen people). It starts at a very busy trailhead, but ends in peaceful, quiet and great views.
- Many other beaches around that have a rocky shore with a sandy bottom around chest height. Lago Gutierrez is smaller and more protected so has warmer water.
- Mirador Castano Overa: Hike to standout, multi-waterfall bowl beneath Tronador’s glaciers
- Ruta 40: Travel between the towns, lakes and peaks up and down this road to see the greater region (Ex: El Bolson and San Martin de los Andes)
Infrastructure
- Patagonia Showroom: Gear rental
- JG Deportes: Only climbing specific store in town and only place with the Bariloche guide book (Also has Frey book)
- Berlina KM 12: Award Winning Brewery and good burgers (yes its a brewery, but it was also one of our favorite meals)
- Bacano Pizza: Our favorite Empanaderia
- Alto El Fuego: Contender for top Parrilla experience
- Patagonia (brand) store: Located in a very cool historic building with a great lawn, its worth a peek
Climbing
- Calabozo: Popular shaded climbing area with variety of routes
- Pared Blanca: Not on Mountain Project, but shady crag with hard climbing
- La Playa @ Cerro Lopez: Approachable climbing by the beach with a short approach
- Mogul @ Cerro Lopez: Super beginner friendly multi-pitch sport routes with great views of the lake
- Genesis: Longer approach with ‘large boulders’ dotting a ridge with many featured huecos
- Alpine spires at Frey (read more)
Dreams for the future
Now that I’ve spent some time in the region, these are things I would like to do if I returned:
- Mountaineer summit up Tronador
- Backcountry Ski around Frey
- Winter ski trip + climbing out in Chubut desert
- Stay at a hotel in the Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi (which contains Tronador) to get higher up towards Refugios or hike to the down-canyon Mirada del Doctor viewpoint. (The 2+ hrs drive mostly on the super dusty park dirt road at 30-40 km/hrs [each way] got pretty tiring in traffic)
- Many more multipitch around the lakes at Cierro Venta Sur or Cerro Lopez
