Things to do in Bariloche
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Bariloche
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Summer high season, all trails and refugios open, lakes warmest, January is peak crowds and prices, February is calmer and best.
Summer begins with long days past 9pm, season opening and pre Christmas calm before the late December rush.
Ski high season, but the last two weeks bring school holidays and student groups, the worst lift lines, noise and prices of the year.
Smart ski window after the mid August San Martin weekend into early September, strong snowpack, thin lines, spring skiing in good years.
Autumn shoulder, the underrated window, March holds summer weather with empty trails, April turns lenga forests red and gold.
In between month with low prices, town, beer and chocolate all working, and restaurant week traditionally programmed in October.
Fishing and rafting seasons open, trails opening from the bottom up, lupins arrive and prices stay at shoulder level.
The true trough, too late for refugio hiking and too early to trust skiing, short cold days, go only for a cheap quiet food trip.
What's on
- Fiesta Nacional del Chocolate Easter week, Semana Santa, dates vary by year
Giant chocolate bar built on Calle Mitre for Easter week, confirm the year's dates municipally.
- Fiesta Nacional de la Nieve August, dates vary by year
National Snow Festival, the winter flagship with torchlight descents, snow sculptures and concerts.
- Bariloche a la Carta October
Restaurant week programming, a genuinely good food trip window at low season prices.
- Carnival February or early March, dates vary
Carnival lifts the party level in Centro during the summer high season.
Worth the trip for
Best things to do in Bariloche
Cerro Campanario
Chairlift or steep trail to a 360 degree summit panorama over Nahuel Huapi, Moreno and the Llao Llao peninsula.
Circuito Chico
The essential 60 km lakeside loop of viewpoints, forest trails and beaches, best by car or bike with real stops.
Rapanui
The big bean to bar chocolate experience store, with cafe, Patagonian ice cream and an indoor ice rink at the back.
Mamuschka
The red matrioshka fronted rival to Rapanui, loved for truffles, sampler platters and a thick hot chocolate.
Cervecería Patagonia
Postcard beer garden above Lago Moreno, the golden hour finish to a Circuito Chico day, with its own brews on tap.
Centro Cívico
Free alpine stone civic square and lakefront promenade that orients you, with superb lake light at sunset.
Colonia Suiza
Swiss settler village best on market days for a communal pit cooked curanto lunch, craft stalls and fondue houses.
Puerto Blest
Boat day across the fjord like Blest arm to Valdivian rainforest, the Cascada de los Cantaros waterfall and lake.
Where to stay in Bariloche
Centro
first timers without a car, nightlife, ski bus logistics, eating
Walk to Mitre chocolate shops, restaurants, breweries and the buses for Catedral and Llao Llao, but steep and noisy in places.
The Kilometros, Bustillo corridor Km 4 to 18
best overall base with a car, families, groups and week long stays
Cabins, apart hotels and lodges along the lake with beaches, parking and kitchens, trading walk to dinner for space and lake access.
Llao Llao Peninsula
luxury, golf, honeymoon and resort days
Postcard resort enclave between two lakes, glorious but 25 km from Centro dining, so best as a split stay of two or three nights.
Villa Catedral
dedicated ski weeks and ski in convenience
Apartments and lodges at the foot of the lifts with no daily bus battle, but evenings are the base bars or a drive to Centro.
Lago Gutierrez and Villa Los Coihues
hikers, locals Bariloche and quiet long stays
Residential lake south of town with Frey trailheads and family beaches, cheaper cabins and a local feel, far from Centro nightlife.
Villa La Angostura
calmer alternative base, couples and Seven Lakes trips
Small walkable wood and stone village 70 km north, quieter and prettier than Bariloche but pricier per bed with fewer services.
Think twice about
- Far east Alto Bariloche sprawl beyond the bus terminal
A logistics trap, far from the lake and every trailhead, dependent on taxis for every meal, with little to walk to.
- Deep Llao Llao, Km 20 plus, without a car
Safe and beautiful but stranded after the last useful bus, paying remis prices to reach dinner. The trap is isolation, not crime.
- Villa Catedral in summer for a non hiking trip
A ski village empty of services out of season, 20 km from Centro, with limited dining unless you are hiking Frey.
- Centro nightclub blocks in late July
Inside the egresados student party zone at its loudest until dawn. Ask any Centro hotel directly about student groups in your dates.
Best restaurants in Bariloche
Alto El Fuego
Small wood panelled room doing the best all round grill cooking in town, the one steak dinner to prioritise.
El Boliche de Alberto
The 35 year parrilla institution, classic cuts and famously enormous sides, the reliable first night group answer.
Jauja
Best one stop Centro menu for Patagonian cooking, grill cuts, lamb, two trouts, venison, boar and homemade pastas.
Quiven Patagonia House Kitchen
Small lakeside tasting menu room with Nahuel Huapi views and real forest flavours under the theatre, book as the blow out night.
Quetro
Husband and wife supper club in their own house with no sign on the door, six courses revealed on arrival.
El Mallín
Kilometros neighbourhood favourite for grandma style Patagonian comfort, famous for its pastel de cordero.
Cervecería Manush
Craft beer gastropub benchmark since 2005, 20 plus own styles and food a level above pub filler.
Nené
All day bar restaurant locals use as a living room, medialunas by morning, goulash, concerts and pop ups by night.
Outdoor things to do in Bariloche
Cerro Catedral Alta Patagonia
South America's most developed ski area, 120 km of runs and a full base village, world class on powder days.
Piedras Blancas
Packaged snow play with sledding and tubing on Cerro Otto, snow fun for families and non skiers without a lift pass.
Cerro Bayo
Boutique second ski hill near Villa La Angostura, tree lined runs and lake views with a fraction of Catedral queues.
Refugio Frey
Stone refuge above Laguna Toncek ringed by granite spires, the classic overnight hike and best single night in summer.
Refugio Jakob
Second hut on the great refugio traverse, a serious alpine day from Frey on the hut to hut arc across the park.
Refugio Manfredo Segre
Laguna Negra refuge, doable as an overnight on its own or as the third hut on the Frey to Lopez traverse.
Refugio López
Refugio at about 1600 m on Cerro Lopez, a demanding day or overnight for a panorama over the whole lake system.
Parque Municipal Llao Llao
Best easy hiking in the district, flat forest trails to Villa Tacul beach and the Cerro Llao Llao double lake mirador.
Best hotels in Bariloche
Sheraton Bariloche Hotel
Big lakefront Centro hotel on San Martin with spa and lake view rooms, the corporate luxury walkable option.
Alma del Lago Suites & Spa
Five star lakefront suites and spa just west of Centro, bridging Centro convenience and Kilometros scenery.
Hotel Tres Reyes
Long running three star 200 m from the Civic Centre, the solid mid range Centro base that books out on value.
Penthouse 1004
Famous view hostel in the Alem tower, the ski bum veteran with dorms, privates and current mountain beta.
Charming Luxury Lodge & Spa
Small view obsessed lakeside lodge in the Kilometros, the luxury splurge that is not Llao Llao.
Cabañas Puerto Pireo
Luxury cottages with fireplaces beside Campanario at Km 17.1, self catering without slumming it.
Llao Llao Resort, Golf & Spa
The 1940 grande dame on its own hill between two lakes, with golf course, marina, private beach and spa.
Aldebaran Hotel & Spa
Smaller, quieter luxury alternative to Llao Llao on San Pedro Peninsula, with heated pool and lake views.
Is Bariloche expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | ARS 45,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | ARS 125,000 a person |
| Splurge | ARS 350,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Puerto Blest: a few days ahead
- Bosque de los Arrayanes: a few days ahead
- Isla Victoria: a few days ahead
- Cerro Catedral Alta Patagonia: a few days ahead
- Refugio Frey: weeks ahead
- Refugio Jakob: weeks ahead
- Refugio Manfredo Segre: weeks ahead
- Refugio López: weeks ahead
- Ski season: book accommodation, Catedral lessons and rentals and tee times weeks ahead for late July, buy Flexi or multi day passes online.
- Refugio bunks at Frey, Jakob, Negra and Lopez book out in January and February, reserve via Club Andino and register your trek with the park.
- Puerto Blest and Isla Victoria boats fill in January and July, book two to four days ahead in peak and carry payment for park fees.
- Reserve Alto El Fuego, Quiven, Quetro and El Mallin on weekends, Quetro's tiny room needs the longest lead.
- Tronador road has one way traffic windows, get the day's schedule from the park or your hotel before setting off.
Is Bariloche safe?
- Car break ins on Circuito Chico and at trailheads are the documented risk, leave nothing in the car, not even in the trunk at stops.
- Andes weather turns in an hour and most refugio routes have no phone signal, register treks, carry layers and check Club Andino status.
- Nahuel Huapi wind builds dangerous chop fast, guided paddling only offshore and respect boat cancellations.
- Winter roads need chains and daily road reports for Catedral, Bustillo and the Seven Lakes, drive in daylight.
- Tap water in town is drinkable, save Club Andino and park contacts in your phone before hiking days.
Bariloche travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Cerro Otto cable car as a standalone purchase, a captive summit compound with a view rated below Campanario.
- Half day Circuito Chico bus tours that never let you walk, the circuit's value is its trails and beaches.
- First Mitre parrilla with a tout outside is rarely the best grill, and boat photo packages are a hard sell, decline and keep your camera.
- Cruce Andino sold as a day trip is a very long transfer day that can run hours late, take it as onward travel to Chile.
- Chocolate Museum is a rainy half hour for kids, not a half day for adults, spend the time tasting at Rapanui and Mamuschka.
Getting around Bariloche: public transport and more
- SUBE card is mandatory for city buses, buy and top up at kioscos in Centro on arrival, one card can be tapped for a group.
- Key buses: 20 to Playa Bonita and Llao Llao, 10 and 13 for Circuito Chico, 55 to Villa Catedral, 50 to Gutierrez, 72 to the airport.
- Rent a car if staying four plus days and basing outside Centro, it transforms Kilometros, Tronador and Seven Lakes access.
- Bustillo is the single artery, Km 25 to Centro can take 20 minutes early and an hour on a January evening or July snow day.
- Use remis and taxis to fill gaps and agree the price before you ride.
Who Bariloche suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Bariloche your trip
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