Been To Mendoza/villa La Angostura/bariloche In November?

[GMXam]

If so, what were the highlights of your trip(s)?

What would you visit, again, and why?

What would you have skipped, and why?

If you drove, would you do it, again?

If you drove, what route(s) did you take and what was your experience like?

 

[nlaruccia]

Several years ago I went to Mendoza in November and drove around Tunuyan, Tupungato, Potrerillos amd Villaviciencio. Sorry for the misspellings. I can't remember how to spell their names. Anyway, it was beautiful but very hot. Then I did a road trip and drove from
Salta to Jujuy to Tucuman to Buenos Aires. I actually enjoyed the second trip more. I've never been to Villa La Angostura, but it looks gorgeous. I went to Lago Escondido near Bariloche. If you're ever in Villa La Angostura my cousin has a good Mexican restaurant there.

 

[lucha54]

Mendoza - LOVED the Alta Montaña day tour (note that if you have a car you can just drive the same route as the tour; it goes up to the Chilean border stopping in various small towns, diques, viewspots, Puente de las Incas, etc. and you can stay up there for a night, maybe in Uspallata?). I got sick so I didn't get to do any wine tasting I was there in November too and it was very hot but not so bad heading up the mountain. I didn't drive in Mendoza.

Bariloche - I went last year in Feb. and we rented a car and went up to San Martin de Los Andes... I prefer Bariloche because I'm a city-person and it's just more open, in terms of not being squished in between two hills (a bit reminiscent of Como Italy but smaller). But if you go to San Martin definitely take the boat for the day (or drive around the lake 30 min.) to Quila Quina for swimming and kayaking or rowing around. Also there is a drive up to a very pretty view spot but that road is treacherous. The road from SMA to Bariloche is crazy too, a large swath of it is unpaved. So pee ahead of time. To be honest, I was disappointed by the Ruta de 7 Lagos! The prettiest places were at both ends of the journey. Yeah there were a few really pretty lookouts but it was just lake after lake after lake after viewspot etc. And all the people we saw biking looked REALLY tired and with a bunch of dust and car exhaust in their faces. Maybe if you want to camp for a night in a peaceful spot, it's useful for that.

Villa La Angostura; never really got off the main street (which I thought didn't have much character) besides to go to the port and get the boat to the Bosques Arrayanes. Totally worth it!!! but what was not worth it was the walk all the way something like 12km back to the port... the pretty trees are only on the tip of the peninsula anyway and then it's just regular forest. it would have been fine if someone told us that the last part of the trail coming back to the port was closed off; we had to take an alternative trail that was very difficult and by that time we were nearly out of water; it was stressful.

Bariloche; love this place. Definitely head along the Circuito Chico and stop at the lift for Cerro Campanario - the best viewspot of them all!!! And then continue on to Llao Llao; spoil yourselves with lunch or a drink at the hotel (or a spa day which my friend did but I didn't because it was 1200 pesos) and continue on to the Swiss Colony for a tea or shopping in the cute stores full of hand made goods.... LOVED Circuito Chico and the Llao Llao Peninsula!!

I'm actually going back this year in Feb. to the area south of Bariloche that I missed: El Bolson (Lago Poelho) which is 2 hours south and Los Alerces Nat'l Park outside of Esquel which is another 2 hours south of that. If you have the time, both are supposed to be really great also.

If you aren't going to SMA/ Ruta de 7 Lagos, I would say you really don't need a car unless you want more independence and flexibility. You can go to Bosques Arrayanes on a tour from Bariloche that takes a ferry boat to Isla Victoria and then the Bosques. You can bus around Circuito Chico. Bolson is really small and there are a bunch of hikes directly from the town. Esquel you can get a day tour or get a transfer to camp in the National Park. The only reason we got a car was so that we could do the 7 lakes route and stop where we pleased. The day trips that drop people in SMA leave really early and its up and down up and down off the bus to take photos with a big group of other tourists. I was with a friend who was pretty high maintenance so for that reason it was better that we rented a car, but if you stay in a convenient spot in Bariloche, all the things I mentioned are easily accessed by bus or tour.

PM me if you have any more questions about anything I mentioned!

 

[Tilda]

Villa la Angostura is really the only place that I can tell you about. As a turist it is very difficult to get into the things that you can do. The turist information is terrible.

To be honest Villa doesn't have anything that other cities around the seven lakes district can't provide it simply depends on what sort of activities you are after. The main category is sport ralated activities.
Horse riding, canoeing, hiking, open water swimming, sailing, beach time or sitting on your rented deck drinking Malbec.

Villa's advantage is that everything is close, really close. It's disadvantage is that it is small, there will not be any of those city activities that you may want. As with any place in the Lake District the weather is unreliable at best. In the last few years we had one December when the temperatures didn't go over 14 c and it rained, and last December was 30c and sun all the way through.

The other cities around here have their own advantages, but since I live here I am rather biased. If you do decide to come here let me know and I'll give you some phone numbers for activities. I also rent out my parents house when they are not here, a two bedroom place.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

I used to run motorcycle tours out of Mendoza. Going north there wasn't much to see before Catamarca. Between Catamarca and Jujuy/alto plano is excellent. The best of Mendoza is West and South. Go West to the Chilean border. Take a full day out, stay in Penetentes, and a full day back. Lots to see along the route in way of sweeping vistas, old deserted mining towns, mountains, kayaking, etc. South of Mendoza is the great Tupungato wine country. Great for day and overnight trips. Once you get south of Malargüe it is wind and gravel until you get to San Martín de Los Andes. Once past Bariloche it's wind and gravel until Rio Gallegos.

Have fun!

 

[lucha54]

Oh well if we're talking about the north here too, i'll throw in some votes for Cafayate, Cachi and the Quebrada de Humahuaca (Pumamarca, Tilcara and Humahuaca) all being 10++!!

 

[GMXam]

Several years ago I went to Mendoza in November and drove around Tunuyan, Tupungato, Potrerillos amd Villaviciencio. Sorry for the misspellings. I can't remember how to spell their names. Anyway, it was beautiful but very hot. Then I did a road trip and drove from
Salta to Jujuy to Tucuman to Buenos Aires. I actually enjoyed the second trip more. I've never been to Villa La Angostura, but it looks gorgeous. I went to Lago Escondido near Bariloche. If you're ever in Villa La Angostura my cousin has a good Mexican restaurant there.

Thanks for the tips, Nlaruccia. I'll check out those areas of Mendoza. Did you visit any wineries while there? Which ones did you like the most and why? Mexican food, girl, that is going down in my list...granted there all all types, if the salsa is hot, I'm there.

 

[Tilda]

Now I'm going to have to eat at Ay, Ay, Ay Maria. It survived the volcano so that it's obviously got a local customer base. I pass is almost every day on the school run. As far I'm aware it's the only Mexican here.

 

[GMXam]

Lucha, I love ya for this.

For Mendoza, We may have to skip Chile this time, but next time!

Bariloche: Quila Quina looks promising. Hopefully, it's warm enough when we are down there for swimmimg/kayaking. Thanks for the heads up about the road between SMA and Bariloche (and the pee ahead of time warning ). Others have told us the same things about Ruta 7 Lagos. We'll save the cycling for some other promising areas less traveled by cars. Exhaust and flying rocks does not sound fun at all. Also, circuito chico and the Llao Llao Peninsula are on the list.

Villa La Agostura's boat to the Bosques Arrayanes is on my list. I'll check about the trail route before we leave the port. Boating there and walking back sounded like the better route over walking there and boating back.

El Bolson: I ran out of room in the title but we plan to visit while we're in Bariloche. We'll have to check out Los Alerces Nat'l Park, too.

We're taking a car for a few reasons: we're a party of four (bus tickets each leg and for as much as we're planning to see can get pretty costly), we'll be deciding based on the weather what we'll do so last minute get up and go is easier with a car, and we can choose to be high maintenance or not if the mood arises (just kidding about that last one, maybe). We'll likely bus or walk around the cities/towns we visit, unless it's more cost effective to take the car.

Thanks so much for the info! I'll get with you for more detailed questions.

Mendoza - LOVED the Alta Montaña day tour (note that if you have a car you can just drive the same route as the tour; it goes up to the Chilean border stopping in various small towns, diques, viewspots, Puente de las Incas, etc. and you can stay up there for a night, maybe in Uspallata?). I got sick so I didn't get to do any wine tasting I was there in November too and it was very hot but not so bad heading up the mountain. I didn't drive in Mendoza.

Bariloche - I went last year in Feb. and we rented a car and went up to San Martin de Los Andes... I prefer Bariloche because I'm a city-person and it's just more open, in terms of not being squished in between two hills (a bit reminiscent of Como Italy but smaller). But if you go to San Martin definitely take the boat for the day (or drive around the lake 30 min.) to Quila Quina for swimming and kayaking or rowing around. Also there is a drive up to a very pretty view spot but that road is treacherous. The road from SMA to Bariloche is crazy too, a large swath of it is unpaved. So pee ahead of time. To be honest, I was disappointed by the Ruta de 7 Lagos! The prettiest places were at both ends of the journey. Yeah there were a few really pretty lookouts but it was just lake after lake after lake after viewspot etc. And all the people we saw biking looked REALLY tired and with a bunch of dust and car exhaust in their faces. Maybe if you want to camp for a night in a peaceful spot, it's useful for that.

Villa La Angostura; never really got off the main street (which I thought didn't have much character) besides to go to the port and get the boat to the Bosques Arrayanes. Totally worth it!!! but what was not worth it was the walk all the way something like 12km back to the port... the pretty trees are only on the tip of the peninsula anyway and then it's just regular forest. it would have been fine if someone told us that the last part of the trail coming back to the port was closed off; we had to take an alternative trail that was very difficult and by that time we were nearly out of water; it was stressful.

Bariloche; love this place. Definitely head along the Circuito Chico and stop at the lift for Cerro Campanario - the best viewspot of them all!!! And then continue on to Llao Llao; spoil yourselves with lunch or a drink at the hotel (or a spa day which my friend did but I didn't because it was 1200 pesos) and continue on to the Swiss Colony for a tea or shopping in the cute stores full of hand made goods.... LOVED Circuito Chico and the Llao Llao Peninsula!!

I'm actually going back this year in Feb. to the area south of Bariloche that I missed: El Bolson (Lago Poelho) which is 2 hours south and Los Alerces Nat'l Park outside of Esquel which is another 2 hours south of that. If you have the time, both are supposed to be really great also.

If you aren't going to SMA/ Ruta de 7 Lagos, I would say you really don't need a car unless you want more independence and flexibility. You can go to Bosques Arrayanes on a tour from Bariloche that takes a ferry boat to Isla Victoria and then the Bosques. You can bus around Circuito Chico. Bolson is really small and there are a bunch of hikes directly from the town. Esquel you can get a day tour or get a transfer to camp in the National Park. The only reason we got a car was so that we could do the 7 lakes route and stop where we pleased. The day trips that drop people in SMA leave really early and its up and down up and down off the bus to take photos with a big group of other tourists. I was with a friend who was pretty high maintenance so for that reason it was better that we rented a car, but if you stay in a convenient spot in Bariloche, all the things I mentioned are easily accessed by bus or tour.

PM me if you have any more questions about anything I mentioned!

 

[GMXam]

Hiking, fishing, swimming (if it's warm enough in early November), beach time, sailing, canoeing, and rented deck drinking Malbec...yes.

This will be our respite from BA life before we venture South. If you are free when we are there, maybe we can meet for coffee somewhere. I'll PM you when we get closer to that time. Thanks for the info, Tilda.

Villa la Angostura is really the only place that I can tell you about. As a turist it is very difficult to get into the things that you can do. The turist information is terrible.

To be honest Villa doesn't have anything that other cities around the seven lakes district can't provide it simply depends on what sort of activities you are after. The main category is sport ralated activities.
Horse riding, canoeing, hiking, open water swimming, sailing, beach time or sitting on your rented deck drinking Malbec.

Villa's advantage is that everything is close, really close. It's disadvantage is that it is small, there will not be any of those city activities that you may want. As with any place in the Lake District the weather is unreliable at best. In the last few years we had one December when the temperatures didn't go over 14 c and it rained, and last December was 30c and sun all the way through.

The other cities around here have their own advantages, but since I live here I am rather biased. If you do decide to come here let me know and I'll give you some phone numbers for activities. I also rent out my parents house when they are not here, a two bedroom place.