La Trochita Patagonia Train Tour

A guide meets you at Bariloche airport and takes you to the hotel. The half-day circuit starts on the shore of Nahuel Huapi Lake, a name that means Island of the Tiger in Mapudungun, and runs west through the Llao Llao area: the San Eduardo Chapel, Llao Llao Municipal Park with its signposted walking paths, Tacul Village, then an outlook over Moreno Lake and the Llao Llao region below.

The last stop is Campanario Hill, reached along Bustillo Avenue. A chairlift takes you to the summit, where lakes and rolling hills fill the view. You come back down slowly and return to the hotel in the evening.

The Seven Lakes Route takes the whole day, and the lakes are the point. Clear blue water arrives in a run: Machónico, Escondido, Correntoso, Espejo, Lacar, Falkner and Villarino. Seven lakes in one day is a lot of blue.

The road is quiet Lake District country, and the stops are at the outlooks along the way, where the views open up. In the late afternoon you transfer back to the hotel in Bariloche.

The morning stays around San Carlos de Bariloche. After that comes the transfer to Esquel, 285 km to the south. It is mostly a moving day.

On arrival you go to the hotel, and the rest of the day is yours: walk around the town, or stay in the room. Tomorrow is the train, so an easy evening is the right plan.

Today is what the other five days are for. La Trochita, the Old Patagonian Express, is one of the few narrow-gauge steam trains in the world, and the ride is included. The run goes out of Esquel and back, at steam speed, which is to say slowly. The window frames mountains, lakes, forests and rivers, and on the hillsides, with luck, sheep, guanacos and ñandus.

Your guide meets you at the Esquel station and takes you to the hotel. One thing to settle early: La Trochita does not run every day, so confirm the schedule with your Destination Consultant before anything else is fixed.

A full day in Los Alerces National Park. Futalaufquen Lake comes first, then the Arrayanes River and Verde Lake. A walk along the Menéndez River leads to Chucao Pier on Menéndez Lake.

The main stop is the alerce forest. Alerces are Patagonian cypress, and these trees are more than 3,000 years old, up to 60 meters tall and almost 3 meters across. The rest of the park fills in the day: giant coihue trees, lakes, waterfalls, the Cisne River and the Torrecillas Glacier. Then back to Esquel for the night.

The last day is short on plans. You transfer to the Esquel airport and fly out, either to another city in Argentina or onward through the rest of South America. Airfare is not included, so the flight is arranged separately.

The flight out of Esquel is the link to whatever comes next, and your Destination Consultant can fit it to the rest of the trip.