Follow a ribbon of road through forests and impossible blue lakes
When to go
November-March
Trip length
12 days / 11 nights
Typical investmentPrice
from $6,875 pp
This 11-night route covers the softer landscapes of Argentina’s Lake District. Begin in Buenos Aires, then travel from Bariloche to Villa La Angostura and San Martín de los Andes along forested roads, clear lakes and volcanic viewpoints. The trip is built around scenic drives, short walks, local food and time in small mountain towns.
Along the way
The snaking scenic Seven Lakes Road
Lakeside bliss at Nahuel Huapi in Bariloche
The cinnamon-barked arrayán forest near Villa La Angostura
A boat crossing to Quila Quina and Lanín National Park
Your route
City streets before the mountains
Arrive in Buenos Aires and settle into your hotel. The evening is free, a first taste of a city that hums late into the night no matter the day of the week.
Explore one or two neighborhoods with a private guide, then keep the rest of the day open. Cobblestone streets, grand old cafés, and tango played in the open air give a sense of the city before you head south into the mountains.
Forest, chocolate & Nahuel Huapi
Fly to Bariloche and settle near Lake Nahuel Huapi, surrounded by forested hills and distant Andean peaks. The water here shifts color through the day, deep blue at midday and silver toward evening, with the mountains rising sharp on every side.
Spend the day with a private guide on the classic Circuito Chico, stopping at viewpoints, forest trails, and lakeside corners away from the busiest pullouts. Lenga and coihue forest lines much of the route, opening now and then to views across the lake toward snow still clinging to the highest peaks.
Choose a boat excursion, a short guided forest walk, or a slower day around Bariloche's chocolate shops and cafés. This Swiss-inflected mountain town has been perfecting its chocolate for generations, and an afternoon spent tasting your way down its main street is a pleasure entirely its own.
Quiet coves & mountain forest
Travel north along Nahuel Huapi to Villa La Angostura, a smaller mountain town with direct access to forest and sheltered coves. The pace here drops instantly, a lakeside village built for long walks and quiet water rather than crowds.
Explore Los Arrayanes National Park's namesake cinnamon-barked trees with a guide, by boat and on foot depending on conditions. These twisting, copper-colored trunks grow nowhere else in such concentration, and the grove is said to have inspired the enchanted forest in Disney's Bambi.
Keep the day open for a lakefront walk, spa time, or a scenic outing into the surrounding national park. Villa La Angostura rewards unhurried time, whether that means a book by the water or one more trail through native forest.
The Seven Lakes Road
Drive the Seven Lakes Road with a private guide, stopping at clear lakes, forest viewpoints, and picnic spots before reaching San Martín de los Andes. Each lake along the route holds its own shade of blue and green, framed by dense forest and the Andes rising just beyond.
Take a boat across Lake Lácar to Quila Quina, then continue toward Lanín National Park for a walk beneath the volcano with views over the surrounding lakes. Quila Quina's beach sits below cliffs and waterfalls, a hidden corner reachable only by water or a mountain trail, while Lanín's perfect snow-capped cone anchors the horizon for miles.
Spend the day around San Martín and Lake Lácar, combining a short walk or boat ride with time in town. Chocolate shops, lakeside cafés, and views down the length of the lake give this Andean town its easy, unhurried charm.
Transfer to the airport for onward travel, the lakes and forests of Patagonia's north now part of the trip's story.
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Our top picks
Algodon Mansion places 10 individually designed suites inside a 1912 Belle Époque residence on a quiet Recoleta street. Large marble bathrooms, a rooftop pool, wine from the owners’ Mendoza estate, and highly personal service create the city’s strongest residential luxury stay.
Be Jardín Escondido by Coppola places seven rooms around the garden and small pool of Francis Ford Coppola’s former Palermo Soho home. Cooked-to-order breakfast, shared living rooms, books, art, and neighborhood restaurants create a hosted-house stay rather than a conventional hotel.
Río Hermoso Hotel places seven rooms and suites on a private riverbank inside Lanín National Park. Native forest, private terraces, a riverside beach, fly-fishing, kayaking, hiking, and a small restaurant create an intimate Lake District lodge with no need for resort scale.
Las Balsas places 18 rooms, suites, and villas on the shore of Lake Nahuel Huapi near Villa La Angostura. Its vivid blue façade, indoor-outdoor pool, spa, private beach, restaurant, and lake-facing rooms create the Lake District’s most intimate full-service hotel.
Llao Llao Resort places 205 rooms across the historic Bustillo Wing and modern Lago Moreno Wing on a peninsula outside Bariloche. An 18-hole golf course, indoor-outdoor pools, spa, five restaurants, trails, winter sports, and extensive family programming make it Patagonia’s most complete resort.
Design Suites Bariloche is a larger, contemporary hotel on Nahuel Huapi Lake, about 2.5 km from the Civic Centre. Its 78 rooms and suites lean into floor-to-ceiling glass and wide lake-and-mountain views, with more on-site amenities than Bariloche’s smaller boutique lodges.
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