route of the seven lakes

best trip in the San Martin area. Amazing and unforgettable views of the lakes. A full day trip to drive and see all the lakes and end in bariloche or return. A great way to transfers between the two great towns. About a $55 ticket per person through LS travel or another agency.

The Lake district is lovely. Beautiful lakes, mountain views, desert microclimates, interesting rock formations. Instead of taking the day tours, I took public buses because I had over a week and wanted to plan my own schedule. Suggest buy tickets to and from a few days in advance or at least a day before to make sure get on. There is an info desk at main bus terminal in Bariloche. If time, do a day trip to Lake Traful (48 pesos) (8.7p/US$1 official; blue rate offered at 11 to 13p/US$1). Spent about 4 hours walking the lovely trail next to the lake and eating a wonderful trout lunch. Great ice-cream too.Get off at 1st vs 2nd stop in Villa Traful to buy your ticket to Villa Angostura asap if going on from there as can't buy a ticket to Villa La Angostura from Bariloche and bus to Villa is small.Can go from Bariloche to Villa La Angustura too. Only 1 hr and 15 min. & about 56pesos (ARS). Best to sit on side facing river or lake. Best to get a window seat as locals might close the curtain blocking your view especially if sun streaming in. Front seat up top is roomy with great view. Front seat by driver might have good view though might have people sitting on front step and driver might have radio on. buses usually have a bathroom or make a stop if long ride and dvd videos. Worthwhile to spend a night in Villa La Angostura to take the boat to Bosque Los Arrayanes. Or take the Boat from Puerto Panuelo in Bariloche. Worthwhile to spend a night in San Martin de Los Andes too and at least two nights (preferably more) in Bariloche area to go up Cerro Capinario and the other cable car mountains and to LLao LLao area.In February they were completing paving the entire route. I give credit to those who bike the route but it looks too dangerous to me given the amount of traffic during the time I was there. In my opinion, best would be to take a car, a few days, and picnic. El Bolson was nice for a couple of nights to. Go rafting on Rio Manso and to the Lake. Enjoy

When traveling from Villa Agostura to San Martin de los Andes, you will witness some of the most beautiful places and scenery i have ever seen in my life.

Incredible drive. we had a 4 WD, though not necessary. Absolulutely, breathtaking scenery.Plenty of spots to stop, always clean loos etc!!Wonderful experience

Lots of the literature we saw online said that the 7 lakes route drive had unpaved sections, so rather than rent a car we opted to go with a local guided tour. Having taken the tour and seen the unpaved section, however, I would definitely recommend renting a car and doing the drive yourself. Much of the road has been paved over now, with only about 10km that's unpaved; the road conditions might change if there are any natural disaster events such as earthquakes or landslides, but that shouldn't be likely. Also, if you follow a tour, you're more likely only to be taken to the lakes along the national route, and if you drive yourself you can go off the path and truely see all 7 lakes. That said we did this in summer, so I'm not sure what the road conditions are like in winter.These 7 lakes are gorgeous. From Bariloche (where Nahuel Huapi doesn't count!) the 7 lakes route truly starts from Villa Angostura, and winds until the village of San Martin de los Andes. Some people might feel a little "been there done that" after the 5th lake or so, but you can't get tired of this. Pristine, sharp blue lakes contrasted with the dark greens of the forests. It's interesting to observe the natural scenery progress along the route. Make sure to keep an eye out for the flowers along the route.

Great views when you are not hugging the steering wheel to avoid potholes, mini fissures and gullies on unmarked sides of road (50kms). Exciting stuff but hire a sturdy car.

Snow, vistas when not whited out, semi off road skills required for 50kms. Worth it when you get there but choose a sturdy car.

We found the drive took us 3 1/2 hours from Bariloche to San Martin de los Andes. Not counting stops of course. There's only about 15 kilometers still unpaved. And with the beautiful overlooks and hikes along the way, you'll do a lot of stopping. We found Villa la Angostura nice, but if you're tight on time skip it and eat a picnic lunch at the side of one of the lakes.

Don't miss the Camino de los 7 Lagos... just get lost and you won't regret it !!! One of the most beautiful region in South America (specially if you love to fly fishing !)

We were in doing this route. It was a amazing , i just can recommended. We started in San Martin de los andes. We stayed in Lago Hermoso for 5 Days, because it was beautiful. We found a mountain hostel called Winkamawida. No Electricity just nature. If you have time stay there , you can do some fisching, walk, camp, etc.After this we wetn to villa la Angostura. Nice townWe just Loved it.....

Best doing it with a rental car, even though you take chances driving on gravel road some of the way.There were crews paving the road in different areas, so I assume nexy year (if they don't run out of money - as is the norm in Argentina) it will be all paved.It is a beautiful ride where you can stop and admire the different lakes and waterfall.Worth going.

Beautiful scenic drive but much of it is on a dusty dirt road winding through the mountains. Taking a tour bus may be preferable because the drive will beat up your car. If you are in San Martin de Los Andes for several days, take this drive but count on it taking an hour longer than what anybody tells you.

This is one of those drives that makes it worthwhile renting a car and doing it at your own pace. We planned this ahead of arriving in Argentina, and were not disappointed. Being Canadian, we have seen lots of lakes & mountains, but we stopped many times on this route just to drink in the beautiful scenery. We did make one false turn (too busy looking at the scenery), and almost ended up crossing back into Chile! Later, however, as we continued on Route 40, we discovered about a 100 km. stretch that was simply gone, torn up, leaving us to drive on sand & gravel in a dust storm of our own creation. Neither the rental car agency or checking the internet prepared us for this! It took us 3 1/2 days to drive from Bariloche to Mendoza, that was the only challenging part.

If u r going to cartera austral and u don't have enough time u can skip, if going back to Bariloche use the other road as it is also beautiful

One takes this trip by bus. It's full of beautiful scenery and beautiful lakes. It's a most unforgettable and magical ride.