The Argentine Lakes District is where Patagonia turns green: Andean forest, snow peaks like the Tronador, lakes of every colour, and the dry steppe never far behind them. It is also the gentlest driving in Patagonia. Barely 410 km in eight days, two nights in each place, and the Seven Lakes road, one of the most beautiful drives in the country, as the thread between Bariloche, Villa La Angostura and San Martín de los Andes.
Day 1 · Bariloche
Highlight · Cerro Catedral, the mountain named for its spires, reached along the lakeshore past Playa Bonita.
The car is collected on arrival, and the afternoon goes to Cerro Catedral, the mountain whose spires gave it its name, reached along the lakeshore past Playa Bonita. In winter it is the country's best-known ski area; in summer its lifts open the high trails.
Night · Bariloche
Day 2 · Lake Nahuel Huapi to Puerto Blest
Highlight · Lago Frías, emerald green under the Tronador.
A day on the water. Boats leave Puerto Pañuelo across the Nahuel Huapi, past the islet where Perito Moreno is buried, to Puerto Blest on the wet western shore. A short road continues to Lago Frías, emerald green under the Tronador, and on the way back a stair climbs beside waterfalls to Lago Los Cántaros.
Night · Bariloche
Day 3 · Villa La Angostura
Highlight · A mountain village of timber and stone at the narrow neck of the Quetrihué peninsula.
Drive · 78 km
North around the Nahuel Huapi to Villa La Angostura, a mountain village of timber and stone founded in 1932 and named after the narrow neck of the Quetrihué peninsula. Cerro Bayo is its ski hill; in summer it is a base for boats, trails, riding and fishing.
Night · Villa La Angostura
Day 4 · Los Arrayanes
Highlight · A forest of cinnamon-barked arrayanes, found almost nowhere else, on the Quetrihué peninsula.
Walk · Los Arrayanes · 12 km
A day for the Quetrihué peninsula and the Los Arrayanes national park, created to protect a forest of arrayanes, cinnamon-barked trees found almost nowhere else, among coihues, cypresses and other species of the southern Andean forest. The forest is reached by boat across the lake or on a 12 km trail from the village.
Night · Villa La Angostura
Day 5 · The Seven Lakes road to San Martín de los Andes
Highlight · A detour to Villa Traful on its lake, then the rose-lined streets of San Martín de los Andes.
Drive · 197 km · 67 km gravel
On the Seven Lakes road, with a detour to the village of Villa Traful on its lake. San Martín de los Andes sits at the head of Lake Lácar in a valley cut by glaciers: rose-lined streets, Mapuche craft markets and the Chapelco ski area above town.
Night · San Martín de los Andes
Day 6 · Lanín national park
Highlight · The snow cone of the Lanín volcano over the black volcanic beaches of Lake Huechulafquen.
A day in the Lanín national park, named after the perfect snow cone of the Lanín volcano, 3,776 m. Seven Mapuche communities live inside the park; its northern valleys hold centuries-old araucaria forests. Within reach: the black volcanic beaches of Lake Huechulafquen, fishing in the Lolog and Curruhue lakes, a walk across a solidified lava flow and the Epulafquen hot springs.
Night · San Martín de los Andes
Day 7 · Back to Bariloche
Highlight · A free afternoon in Bariloche after the road back from San Martín de los Andes.
Drive · paved
The paved road back to Bariloche and a free afternoon in town.
Night · Bariloche
Day 8 · Bariloche
Highlight · The last drive of the trip, to the airport at Bariloche.
The car is returned at the airport.
