# Anyone been to Patagonia area of Argentina?



## Laurie (Feb 22, 2007)

Looks like some decent TS availability there, perhaps it would be a great place to go during our winter, their summer.


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## JoAnn (Feb 22, 2007)

We were in Bariloche for about 2 days, almost 2 years ago in early April.  Is that where you are thinking of going?  Very nice city, lots of shops and restaurants.  We only ate one meal out (we were with a tour) and it was very good and very cheap...DH had steak, I had a huge hamburger and it was about $10. Lots of chocolate shops  
The only thing I did not like was the number of dogs running around all over...fighting (female in heat) on the main street.  But we saw that all over Chile and Argentina.


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## Laurie (Feb 22, 2007)

JoAnn,
Yes, I noticed a really cheap Extra Vacation in Bariloche for Jan 2008, just over $200 for the week, and the pictures of Bariloche I googled were gorgeous. I'm already booked for Jan 2008, but the location intrigued me. Did it feel very urban to you, or town-ish, or countryside-ish? I love summer mountain hiking, and it would be great to be able to do that during our winter.
I'm not sure I'd want to be based in a city, but a town like Banff would be wonderful.


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## JoAnn (Feb 22, 2007)

Laurie, Bariloche felt 'touristy' to me, and I'm sure it was meant to be just that.  And it was hard to get the feel of the place when you are on tour with some things already planned for you and no other transportation, and in a downtown hotel to boot.  The area is beautiful and looked 'German/Swiss' with lots of Tirolean (is that the right spelling?) style buildings. And your comparison to Banff is about correct.  Busy down town area but lots of other things to do outside of the downtown area.  It was cold when we were there...but it was April and we were in the mountains.    But I did feel as though I wouldn't mind going back there on our own sometime...in the summer!


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## djyamyam (Feb 22, 2007)

*Go if you can!*

We were there last Feb/Mar at the tail end of their summer season and wished we had stayed there longer.  The city is on the edge of a large lake (Nahuel Huapi) with cottages/resorts all around the lake leading into Bariloche.  There is a 5 square block where the tourists spots (& lots of chocolaterias) are.  Outside of that is that of a small city.  Your comparison to Banff is apt.  I describe it as a larger version of Wanaka, New Zealand.  

There are lots of excursions out of Bariloche to nearby glaciers and hiking in the surrounding area.  We found some on our 2nd last day and wish we had found them sooner as they were full day excursions or multi-day excursions.  I'm not sure how hard core hiking you want to do but there are backpack camping trails in the area to some great places.  We didn't have our gear with us as we weren't looking to do that this trip.  I'm sure there were excursion companies that provided that, or even set up for you as well.  We didn't have enough time to do that.

I know in their winter, all the ice climbing guides from southern Patagonia head to Bariloche for skiing.  So that translates to nice summer mountains (e.g. Whistler)


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## djyamyam (Feb 22, 2007)

Laurie said:


> JoAnn,
> Yes, I noticed a really cheap Extra Vacation in Bariloche for Jan 2008, just over $200 for the week, and the pictures of Bariloche I googled were gorgeous.


 
You may want to confirm if there are any additional charges. When we went, we didn't stay in TS because we weren't going to be there long enough but I remember seeing something about an additional power surcharge fee.


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## rhonda (Feb 22, 2007)

Ushuaia.  Hiking in and around the Tierra del Fuego National Park is beautiful.


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