Bariloche has been the perfect place to wind down after the fairly hectic road trip through Salta and Jujuy provinces, and the general busyness of the last few weeks. Apart from anything else it’s been an absolute treat to stay in the same hotel 5 nights in a row after so much moving around.

I arrived on Saturday evening – after a day spent travelling, as the journey had involved flying via Buenos Aires, I was keen to head out for a short walk to stretch my legs. I couldn’t get over how many chocolate shops I encountered! There is one street on which at least every second shop seems to be a chocolate shop; and if you don’t fancy chocolate, they have waffles and ice cream too! Bariloche is definitely not where one comes to lose weight!

The next morning, feeling quite tired, I headed out to investigate a couple of short walks I’d read about. The first, to the top of Cerro Campanario, can be avoided entirely by taking a chair lift up and down, but I figured the leg stretch would do me good, so hiked up the fairly steep path (it probably only took about 45 minutes but it was a fairly dull hike up a dirt track through forest so I was more than happy to reach the summit). The views from the top, on a good day such as this was, are superb, and the gentleman I asked to take a photo of me, did a very good job indeed.

After that I returned via the same path and caught the bus to Llao Llao, to hike Cerro Llao Llao, which had been described as “a small hill which provides some very good views”.

I definitely wasn’t feeling 100%, and that “small hill” seemed to take forever to reach the top! Rather like Cerro Campanario before it, I found it a really rather dull hike, up a dirt track through thick forest giving virtually no views until one got within 20 minutes of the summit, when suddenly the odd clearing would provide very good views indeed. But I nearly gave up during the final section, as the path returned to being completely enclosed, and flattened off, and I started to despair of ever reaching the top! And then suddenly, there it was – and wow, what a view! I sat for at least half an hour, watching others arrive, take lots of pictures and leave – it was wonderful just to sit and take in the views. It had probably only taken me an hour to get to the top – it just had felt like forever in my tired state.

After that I headed back down to get the bus back to the hotel, figuring that was enough activity for one day. But did manage a delicious – and huge – meal of trout and boiled potatoes at a nearby restaurant.

I hadn’t been drinking during my road trip, but this evening was really in the mood for a glass of red wine with my meal. Unfortunately, Argentines had been voting that day for their next president, vice president and senate, and it turns out alcohol sales are banned on election days! So I had to make do with fruit juice instead – which was very tasty but really not what I had been looking forward to!

On day 2, still feeling exhausted, I had a bit of a walk round town, and spent the rest of the day in my room, reading and sleeping, before heading out for a really rather delicious meal of goulash and spätzle, in a restaurant appropriately named ‘Alpina’. Washed down with a very delicious Malbec!

Day 3 I headed off to hike up to Refugio Frey from Cerro Catedral – this is apparently one of the most popular day hikes in the area.

Getting around Bariloche is very easy, with a good bus network that operates on the same prepaid “SUBE” card I’d used in Buenos Aires and Mendoza. Fares are a bit haphazard though – in Buenos Aires a single journey seemed to cost between 75 and 150 pesos, but in Bariloche the cheapest fare I paid was 175 pesos (to Cerro Campanario) and the fare to Cerro Catedral, at 510 pesos, was surprisingly expensive. Given there was no discernible difference in the distance between Catedral and Campanario, I could only guess that pricing is based on how busy the route is, with less-busy routes being more expensive (Cerro Campanario is served by multiple bus lines which run at least every 20 minutes; Catedral is served, at this time of year, by a single, hourly service). The unexpectedly high fare to Catedral caught a number of people out, as they found they didn’t have enough credit on their cards and had to ask others on the bus to pay with their cards, in return for cash. Even I found the return journey to and from Catedral wiped out all the remaining credit on my card, and had to top up as soon as I got back.

I’m sorry to say I found the hike to Refugio Frey also pretty dull – it’s 10km each way, the first 6 or so of which are on a really rather flat path that winds its way across the hillside through yet another thick forest which is massively overgrown with bamboo. There are numerous bridges over some really quite pretty streams and waterfalls, but very little else of much interest.

It gets progressively steeper and eventually passes a really lovely hut built into a massive rock face, after which the final 2 km just becomes hard work on legs that are starting to tire, as one suddenly finds oneself having to struggle up a steep rocky gully, the rocks spaced too far apart to step across the tops, but too close together to be able to pick a route between. So it’s a constant up-and-over business which wasn’t helped by the fact that there was also a fair bit of remaining snow cover on either side of the gully. I did find myself briefly distracted, just above the Piedritas hut, by what looked like very colourful birds’ nests in the trees – these turned out to be bright yellow branches which appear to grow in clusters; I’m not sure what type of trees they are but I found them fascinating.

The final 500m to the refuge was through thick snow – my legs felt like jelly by the time I arrived! I signed in at the refuge (all hikers are asked to do so) then sat outside in the sun and ate some of the biscuits I’d brought with me. I’d naively expected the refuge to be serving food, but the staff were just sitting down to their own lunch (it was 12.15 at this stage), and there was no menu on display; the only items that appeared to be for sale were cans of soft drinks or packets of crisps and biscuits.

After about 30 minutes of soaking up the sun I headed back down – the path through the snow was fairly slippery and I had to take it slowly, and the path down the gully was no more enjoyable on the way down than up! But the rest of the return journey was okay, albeit, being so flat, not much quicker than the walk up had been. I arrived back at 3.30 and the next bus was only due at 4.10, which allowed time for a cheeseburger and chips washed down with a beer, at one of the “après-ski” bars dotted around the car park. I was surprised at how many people were dressed in full ski gear – I had seen a large group of young people heading up the mountain when I’d arrived earlier in the day; they were all wearing the same uniform and I’d wondered if they were resort workers or possibly trainee instructors (though none of them were carrying skis or boards; their boots looked like snowboarding boots). I didn’t think to check what, if any, ski runs were open – there did appear to still be plenty of snow on the upper slopes but I wouldn’t have expected any ski slopes to be open at this time of year. Possibly people just go up for the views? I know there are mountain bike tracks but none of these people looked like they were dressed for mountain biking. Sledging possibly?

I’ve since Googled the name that was on the back of the jackets the youngsters were wearing – Surland – it turns out this is a holiday company aimed at students. Another company, Travel Rock, also has a huge presence in Bariloche – I encountered large groups of young people wearing “Travel Rock” jackets everywhere I went!

Day 4 I rented a bike and cycled the “Circuito Chico”, a 27 km circuit around the peninsula which is touted as being a wonderfully scenic route. The problem was, I’d been ruined by the views I’d had on day 1 – nothing else could come close. So while it was thoroughly enjoyable – and the bike, thankfully, in much better condition than the one I’d hired to tour the wineries in Maipu – it didn’t really have any “wow” factor. I suspect I’m also a bit spoiled by living in the U.K. Lake District – I couldn’t help comparing both the hiking and the cycling in Bariloche, to what I’m used to in the U.K., and finding Bariloche comes up short. It’s all just a bit samey around Bariloche, and maybe it’s the time of year but I found a distinct lack of spring colours and blooms; in the U.K. I’m always admiring colourful plants at the roadsides or on hillsides, but here it’s just loads of green trees, crystal clear waters and snow-capped hillsides, but very few flowers to be seen. I stopped for a picnic lunch at a lovely beach but unfortunately, with a very fresh breeze blowing, it was too cold to consider swimming, and I soon started to feel chilly so got back on the bike and carried on. Altogether an enjoyable day but I found myself longing for the variety of northern Argentina with its ever-changing scenery and endlessly colourful mountainsides!