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For those wanting to visit Argentina and experience the rugged outdoors, the beautiful Patagonia scenery, and enjoy some great skiing, a Bariloche tour is a great way to get all that in and more.
Bariloche, in northern Patagonia, is a Mecca for those heading for a Patagonia destination. The town is most famous as a ski resort due to its proximity to the ski slopes of Cerro Catedral.
Perched on the side of a huge lake and surrounded by snow-capped mountains, Bariloche seems more like a Swiss Alpine resort.
Golf and snow capped mountains in Bariloche
Its residents seem European too, as many of Argentina’s citizens are immigrants, and the capital, Buenos Aires, is often nicknamed the Paris of South America.
The local pubs have the feel of an Alpine bar, serving a variety of European and local beers.
Famous Fondue
Just like in many Alpine ski resorts, there is a range of fondue restaurants around Bariloche. You can gather around a pot of bubbling cheese and cook various meats and vegetables, perfect for warming up after a long day of hitting the slopes.
Chocolate & Bariloche
What many visitors to Bariloche are unaware of is that Bariloche is the chocolate capital of Argentina and possibly South America.
Even though the cocoa bean was first discovered in Mexico, it was the Europeans and then later Americans that perfected the process to make it into the chocolate that we know today.
It was also the Swiss and Germans that engineered the technique of mixing fresh milk with the bitter cocoa bean to make the sweet milk chocolate that we know of today.
This made Swiss chocolate some of the most famous and well-known chocolates in the early chocolate market development.
Bariloche, keeping in line with the Alpine feel, developed its own chocolate industry, using fresh sheep as well as cow milk to make the sweet chocolate.
As you walk down the main shopping street of Calle Mitre you are struck by the sweet smells and colorful stores that line the sides of the street.
Feel free to enter the shops and indulge your senses. Ask for some free samples!
Many of the stores feature displays that allow you to see how they hand-craft their luxury chocolates.
Many of the stores also have special chocolate features, such as giant chocolate rabbits during Easter.
Don’t forget to take some time between your Bariloche tours to visit the Bariloche Chocolate Museum!
Category: Argentina
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