Cycling and drinking craft beers around the Chico Circuit in Bariloche

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
10
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
3
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
10
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
8
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
3
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
7
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
87 *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
10th/454
Top 5%
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
$30 (typically $30 - $40)
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 lakes and mountains around Bariloche are some of the most picture-perfect spots you can imagine.  The 25km hilly cycling loop of the Chico Circuit offers the perfect way to experience the area whilst sampling the beers from what also must be the most picture-perfect settings for a brewery in the world.  A must do experience if you’re staying in or around Bariloche and I would go as far as to suggest one of the highlights of all of Latin America.

 

Beer and lake views from the Patagonia Brewery on the Chico Circuit near Bariloche, Argentina

 

Highlights

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#1 Cycling around the stunning lakes and mountains of the Argentinian Lake District

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#2 Hiking to hidden viewpoints with breathtaking views of he mountains

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#3 Sampling craft beers at what must be the world's most beautiful brewery

Itinerary

 

 

  • From central Bariloche, get a taxi (or bus) to Km 18.6 (this is just how they do their road signs around there and everyone will know what you mean) and rent a bike there from Bike Cordillera (reserve ahead if you’re super keen)
  • Head off around the loop (doesn’t really matter which way, but we went clockwise)
  • Finish back at the bike rental and make your way back to Bariolche

Travel tips

  • MUST visit the Cerveceria Patagonia (the Patagonia brewery). Its less learning how they make the beer and factory, and more sitting around gobbling up the views and tasting the various beers. Must be the world’s most beautiful brewery. Get there just before it opens, typically at midday, to have the place to yourselves
  • Take the 2 hour Cerro Llao Llao hike for magnificent views of Lake Nahuel Haupi. Start from the eastern start of the hike and return to where you started (because you’ll need to pick up the bikes)
  • Photos – I’d give tips on where to stop for photos but it is fairly obvious as you cycle along
  • Difficulty – although its only 25kms, it can be quite hilly at times so be prepared for some decent exercise
  • Drink! You’ll burn it off as you cycle around
  • Google maps link – for the link to the route on google maps, see Chico Circuit in Bariloche Google Maps

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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