Hiking Cerro Campanario (Bariloche)

There are so many hiking opportunities in Bariloche, you need a week or more to hike all the trails. We were there at the beginning of spring, so the peaks were still full of snow. In the city centre on F.P. Moreno street is the office of “Parques Nationales”, where you can get all information you want about trekking the nearby mountains, get maps and if you’re going on dangerous treks, that’s the place where you get registered just in case. After talking with the friendly and helpful guys in the office, we decided not to go on Frey Mountain, but to do an easy trek like Cerro Campanario, because we didn’t have any gear nor real experience.

We took a local bus to kilometre 17,5 (the centre of Bariloche is kilometre 0), crossed the street and we immediately saw a chair lift (140 ARP). This is it. We hiked for about 30 minutes through the woods, when we came to the top. What a view! In all directions were mountains with snow peaks, numerous lakes and even Bariloche could be seen. On the viewing platform were big information boards, which help identify different mountains and lakes. And look what we found again – Slovenia. There is a Slovenians valley in the middle of the Andes. As real hikers we had lunch from the backpack on a wooden bench, where Simona took a nap in the warm sun.

We hiked down, caught the bus to Playa Bonita and we enjoyed the sun on the lake beach. In warmer months there are kayaks for rent and probably also some drink or food stalls, but at the time of our visit just sun hungry people were on the beach. Jure manned up and got into the cold water to his ankles. But not for long, it was too cold.

We wanted to end our day at the adventure park right before the town starts, but unfortunately for tourists it’s open only in the morning. Because we were so disappointed, we even forgot to go to the Chocolate museum right next to. What a shame L

With heavy feet, red cheeks and cold hands we returned to our warm cosy room and enjoyed some warm tea.