SURROUNDINGS

CERRO OTTO
Taking De Los Pioneros Av and Sara María Furman Av, only 5 kms away from Bariloche you get to the base of Cerro Otto. At this point there is a cable car, which takes tourists to the revolving tearoom.

The spot offers various activities: guided walks through the woods, cycling excursions on mountain bikes, rock climbing, sled trips and Nordic skiing in winter time.

Along the road you can contemplate thick lenga woods and many chalets built with the German typical architecture. You will also find Piedras Blancas Center, with cafe and skiing slopes, among other typical local activities that take place all year round.

The winding road continues to the top, from where a view of Nahuel Huapi and Gutierrez Lakes and the Tronador and Catedral Mounts can be appreciated, as well as the San Pedro and Llao Llao Peninsulas.

The ascent can also be done on foot or by bike, in which case it will take at least 2 hours. You will get back to the town if you take the same road.

Cerro Otto Cable Car
The cable car transports 500 people an hour and travels from "Estación Superior" at a regular speed of 3 ms/second, both in descent and ascent.

The guest enjoys the trip absolutely protected against weather conditions, as the 42 compartments are closed and built on a steel frame, covered with polyester fiber and glazed with Plexiglas.

Revolving Tearoom/Cafe
After a 12 minute ascent you get to Estación Superior, at 1,405 m a s l. After walking a few ms along the large gallery, you access the top of Cerro Otto, where there is a nice chapel: El Jardin de la Oración (Garden of Prayer). This panoramic spot exhibits artistic images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

You can also get to the large balconies which offer views of the surrounding setting. If the weather is nice, from the revolving tearoom you can see these majestic views. The floating stage revolves effortlessly and with clockwork synchronization. The rotating speed of the café may be set between 20 and 40 revolution per minutes.

The Perfect End
As close to heaven as the superb inspiration of their Italian creator Michelangelo are his three masterworks exhibited here: David, The Pietá and Moses.

They are 3 life-size copies, made of marble powder and acrylic resin according to exact duplicates and moulds taken from the original sculptures. They were bought in Florence, Italy, and the work was supervised by the Italian State.

It is worth mentioning that 100 per cent of profits of this company is distributed among the regional hospitals of Bariloche and Israeli Ez Rah in Buenos Aires.

VICTORIA ISLAND AND ARRAYANES FOREST
With a surface of 3,700 hectares and 20 kms length, this island is the largest in the Lake. You get here embarking at Puerto San Carlos or Puerto Pañuelo, at Llao Llao. From San Carlos you need to travel 11 kms (30 minutes by boat), and from Puerto Pañuelo, at km 225 in Ezequiel Bustillo avenue, it takes 1 hour 40 minutes.

In both cases you get to Puerto Anchorena, sited in Isla Victoria, where you may visit the ex-pine nursery. You can also embark in the chairlift that will take you to the top of Bella Vista hill, at 900 ms, along a narrow lane of hundred year-old coíhues and native cypresses, returning from the hill along the "blue walkways" with a series of impressive natural vantage points.

With a first-class cooking center, the island represents an important natural reserve that also has cave paintings over 500 years old.

Once the excursion is over, the tourist boards the ship to sail to Puerto Quetrihue, in the Peninsula by the same name, where you can visit the internationally famed Arrayanes Forest. It is an area of woodland, unique in its kind in the whole world, with hundred year old trees. The bark of the Arrayanes tree forms thin cinnamon-colored fLakes with white spots. It has white flowers similar to orange blossom and purplish tasty fruit. The Arrayanes Forest has been declared an "untouchable" area and a natural monument.

SEVEN LAKES IN BARILOCHE
This excursion includes all the variety of landscapes that may be enjoyed in this privileged region. The trip to San Martín down a wooded road crosses Rivers and Streams and skirts several Lakes (Nahuel Huapi, Correntoso, Espejo, Escondido, Villarino, Falkner and Machónico) on whose beaches there are and several panoramic lookout points.

Going round Lacar Lake you access San Martín de los Andes to have lunch and make a short visit to the town. On your return through Cordoba Pass the landscape is altogether different after going round Meliquina Lake, the forest disappears and is replaced by strange but attractive rocky formations. When you arrive at Confluencia, the winding blue Limay River puts its particular touch to a magical view of the Valle Encantado and the "Anfiteatro" (Amphitheater). To get back to Bariloche, you just have to follow the Riverbank up to its beginning point at Nahuel Huapi Lake.

MANSO RIVER - BARILOCHE
It is fed by the Manso, Castaño, Overo and Los Alerces Glaciers, all of them sited on the eastern slope of Tronador Hill. For a total of 100 kms, this impressive River flows through the Nahuel Huapi, Correntoso, Espejo, Escondido, Villarino, Falkner and Machónico Lakes which form the Manso Basin, one of the five basins protected by the Nahuel Huapi National Park.

CERRO CAMPANARIO - BARILOCHE
The trip starts at Bustillo Av, skirting Nahuel Huapi Lake. At km 8 you will find Playa Bonita and after that there is a road known as "Cruce Catedral" leading to "Virgen de las Nieves", Cerro Catedral and Gutierrez Lake.

Remaining on NR Nº237, and bordering Nahuel Huapi Lake, you go past Puerto Moreno, Playa Serena, the Jockey Club racetrack and at km 17, you arrive to the Cerro Campanario chairlift. You can go up to the top of the hill, at 1,050 ms altitude. There is a cross in homage to the memory of the first mass celebrated by Msgr De Andrea on February 2, 1930.

The beautiful tearoom at the top offers a chance to admire one of the most captivating and electrifying views in the region: Nahuel Huapi and Perito Moreno Lakes, El Trebol lagoon, San Pedro and Llao Llao Peninsulas, Isla Victoria, Otto, López, Goye, Catedral and Capilla Mounts and the wonderful mountain range surrounding San Carlos de Bariloche.

In winter, the chairlift runs up to around 6 p.m. and in summer time, when nightfall is later, till 7:30 p.m.

Cerro Campanario Chairlift
The new chairlift made by Doppelmayer is absolutely high-tech. It is safer than previous dewigns and has a changeable speed. The climb trip takes 7 minutes at a speed of 1.5 ms per second. With its 8 towers and 40 chairs (maximum capacity 60 chairs), it is 640 ms long and can transport 450 people an hour.
The top station is at 1,050 ms and the bottom station at 770 ms. At the top of the hill there is a scenic tearoom that seats 80, with two balconies and a lookout point.