Experience Argentinian Culture

We started our trip in Argentina in Barlioche, a region in north Patagonia. There were no direct flights from San Francisco, so instead we flew into Buenos Aires and caught a connecting flight to Bariloche. Beware, you will need to change from the international airport to the regional airport in Bariloche!

Unlike Southern Patagonia, which is more rugged and mountainous, Barlioche has the feel of a Swiss ski resort town. It is super popular in the winter (which is the opposite of the northern hemisphere’s winter!), but still a lovely town to visit in the summer.

While we were there, we stayed at a hostel with a great view of the lake, but also took a bus to get closer to the lake and take a funicular to see the views. We also did a hike to Refugio Frey, which we had to take a bus to get there. This wasn’t too hard of a hike, but prepared for the cold winds!

Mendoza, at the base of the Andes and just across the border from Chile’s Santiago, is a beautiful place to visit with many things to do. We flew there from Barlioche pretty easily, and from there, embraced the authentic Argentinian culture.

The wine in Argentina, the Malbec, is famous here. There are a few regions you can visit, from fancy to not as fancy, but we decided to go with a guided tour to hear more about the wine production. Highly recommended!

We also took the opportunity to go flying in the Andes…via paragliding! Here, you basically run off the mountain and hope that your parachute catches the wind properly. But don’t worry, you typically do it in tandem so there is someone helping you along the way.

And finally, we went to a soccer game, or football as most of the world calls it, in Mendoza. During the game, they flew a flag over our heads with pictures of the pope, Messi, and Maradona! 

And finally, we took the bus back to where it all started - Buenos Aries. Buenos Aries, or BA, is the capital of Argentina and quite a vibrant city. Argentina itself has a history of European immigrants, from Italians to Germans and more, and you can definitely see that in the characteristics of this city.

Because the city center is hustling and bustling, there is plenty of places to explore and things to do! We went to a delicious traditional Argentinian grill to try some world famous steak. We went to a tango show and then tried to dance some tango of our own (although quite unsuccessfully). On Sunday, one of the main streets were closed to open up to a market, so we shopped for a lot of our souvenirs there as well. There was something for everyone!

And of course, we did a walking tour of the city in order to understand the history and the context of our location. Highly recommended!