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 wilder-beast 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 food 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 Score
The highest score of nature or culture, + fun factor, + avoid the crowds, + the highest score of world famous or unique. Then turned into a score out of 100. More details at the bottom of the page
87 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
continent
South America
country
Argentina
Length of time
1 day or less
Rough cost
Obviously people have different tastes, so this will depend on those tastes, but this is a rough idea of price of the whole experience based on 2 people able to split the accommodation costs and excluding travel there and back
$ 20
Time of year visited
January
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site
6th/372 This travel experience's ranking compared to all the other experiences on this site
Top 5% SUMMARY RATING: Unmissable

Summary

The lakes and mountains around Bariloche are some of the most picture-perfect spots you can imagine, and 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

highlights

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

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

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

The route. For the link to see the route in google maps, see the link below in the Rough Itinerary

Rough 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
  • For the link to the route on google maps, see Chico Circuit in Bariloche Google Maps

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

Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"?  That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others.  That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score

This overall experience score is calculated by:  take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10).  Then convert into a score out of 100

Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique".  Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides.  So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique".  But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience).  So, both of these scores are standalone