VILLA LA ANGOSTURA

For all those that have ever enjoyed a magical and agreeable dream, make it come true by visiting Villa La Angostura, located at the south-western tip of the Province of Neuquén.

Here in Villa La Angostura you pamper yourself walking through leafy carpets and clean snow, among the amancay and the mutisia, under the eternally watchful eye of the coihues and the ñires, to the sweet warble of the diuca-finches and the ibises.

At every corner of Villa La Angostura you will notice the sheer delight of living and partaking your joy with others. The astonishing power of this musical influence is so strong that it can "wipe away the cares of a lifetime".

Your trip to this fantasy spot starts at Bariloche's Civic Center, heading along 12 de Octubre Av, which connects with NR Nº 237. At 21 km you take the left fork down NR Nº 231. When you get to km 81 you will have arrived at this major tourism site.

The "Villa" is at 870 m above sea level, on the northeast coast of Lago Nahuel Huapi, framed by tall snowcapped peaks and bordered by thick woodland. It is a wonderful spot in every time of the year.

It got its name from the Isthmus or "Angostura" ("narrowing") of the Quetrihué Peninsula, near the slopes of mounts Bayo (1,782 m), Incayal (1,849 m) and Belvedere (1,992 m).

Founded officially in 1932 in a mountain and Lake area, La Angostura has incorporated to its urban layout a golf course, a "country" (gated residential compound), a ski center in Mt Bayo and an first class hotel infrastructure facing Lakes Nahuel Huapi and Correntoso.

The latter makes it specially suitable to the practice of nautical activities, especially fishing, all kinds of navigation (windsurf, sailboats and cruise ships) and, obviously, trekking, horse riding, mountain biking, hang-gliding and delta wing gliding.

The sport fishing here has achieved great renown due to the size of specimens caught at the mouth of the Correntoso River (this River, which connects Lakes Correntoso and Nahuel Huapi, is considered to be the world's shortest River), and in the Ragintuco and La Estacada Streams.

The northern sector of Lake Nahuel Huapi is the venue for boat fishing enthusiasts.

Interesting Walks
One of the first strolls one should take through the city is the sightseeing tour of local architecture, which is well reflected in the Asunción Chapel and the Messidor Castle.

One and a half kms from the small town stands the Asunción Chapel, built in the 1940s by Alejandro Bustillo, one of the four religious buildings specially designed for Nahuel Huapi National Park (including Llao Llao, Villa Catedral and San Carlos de Bariloche). It is a stone and log construction with larch wood roof tiles in a natural araucaria forest woodland setting.

Another imposing edifice created by Alejandro Bustillo is the Messidor residence, a replica of a mountain-style French chateau that lies a few ms away from the chapel. In 1964 it was ceded to the Neuquén provincial government to become the official residence of the province's governor and to be sporadically used as a guest house for distinguished visitors.

From Villa La Angostura along pathways of great natural beauty you get to San Martín de los Andes, some 110 kms away along the Seven Lakes Route; you also get to the Chilean border, with the Argentine Customs 23 kms away at El Rincón and the Chilean one 42 kms away at Pajarito.

Its beauty and peacefulness offer you a different kind of winter holiday in the surroundings of two magnificent national parks, Los Arrayanes and Nahuel Huapi.