Driving Argentina’s Seven Lakes drive from Villa la Angostura to San Martin de los Andes

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
7
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
1
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
3
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
6
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
4
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
5
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
52 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
355th/454
Top 80%
continent
South America
country
Argentina
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$60 (typically $40 - $80)
Time of year visited
January
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐

Summary

The Lake District area of Argentina really is beautiful.  Not quite as dramatic as down in Patagonia or as mind-blowing as that in Peru, but a for pure  picture-perfect countryside that you could imagine a couple of hobbits living out their days in its hard to beat.

I found in particular the Chico Circuit by Bariloche a fantastic experience (details – Cycling and drinking craft beers around the Chico Circuit in Bariloche), but for the famous Seven Lakes route from Villa la Angostura to San Martin de los Andes I was unfortunately a bit underwhelmed.  It’s probably because our expectations were so high after seeing the wonders in this part of the world, but either way we found ourselves less having an amazing experience and more just having a pleasant drive.

For sure this would be a great place to completely relax for a few days, enjoy the scenery by one of the lakes and go for some easy walks through the forest, and I would stress that Bariolche and its immediate surroundings are a highlight of this part of the world, but I wouldn’t go out of your way to make the drive from Villa la Angostura to San Martin de los Andes.

Highlights

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#1 Driving along the route and stopping for the beautiful vistas with waterfalls cascading into the lakes

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#2 Taking a dip in the oh so cold, but oh so refreshing, lakes

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#3 Heading off for an early morning walk to catch the sun appearing over Lake Lake Lacar

Itinerary

We went south to north, but doesn’t really matter whether you start from San Martin de los Andes or Villa la Angostura

  • Start off with a swim to wake yourself up in one of the bays near Villa la Angostura (Bahia Manzano is nice)
  • Make your way slowly along the Lake route through Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi
  • Choose any spot to stop for lunch
  • Finish up in San Martin de los Andes and, if still enough light, make your way up to the viewing point Mirador Bandurrias

Travel Tips

  • A day is easily enough to make the drive, which is around 100kms and takes about 2 hours.  Obviously you will want to stop off for taking photos, possibly swimming and for lunch
  • We spent the night at the end of the route in San Martin de los Andes at Hosteria La Posta del Cazador which was nice and family-run, and ate in the evening at Bamboo Brasas, which was also nice.  As with all things Argentina, you simply must make sure you eat at one of the parrillias (Argentinian grill)
  • From the hotel in San Martin de los Andes, there is a really nice walk up to Mirador Bandurrias which takes around 1.5-2 hours there and back and rewards you of some great views of Lake Lacar, especially in the early morning
  • The water for swimming is cold . . . but must be done!  We took a dip at Bahia Manzano near Puerto Manzano, which was super pretty with the boats nearby and the wooden chalets overlooking from the forest
  • Make sure you fill up on petrol beforehand as there were surprisingly few petrol stations on the way

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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