Starry nights in El Bolsón
When we read in the Lonely Planet that El Bolsón had declared itself a ‘non-nuclear zone’ we were intrigued, when I heard about the selection of craft breweries in this little town curiosity took over and we added it as the first stop on our Patagonian roadtrip. We travelled to El Bolsón from Bariloche which is about a 2.5 hour drive.
El Bolsón is nestled in a valley at the foot of Piltriquitron Mountain. By happy accident we had booked a cabin at the Ailin-co Cabins, a 5 minutes drive outside of the town. Here in a picturesque setting there are 3 small cabins and a qunicha with a pool. It’s impossible not to feel the pull of the great outdoors when you open the door to a beautiful meadow and hear the constant babbling stream just outside the bedroom window. Our accomodation had no internet access or phone signal so starting off our holiday with a digital detox was very easy! The qunicha is a shared space in the main house with kitchen, cupboard full of games and outside seating area and a place to cook asado. We could walk to this from our little cabin through an amazing wood with so many treasures for little ones to find. Whilst pinecone hunting and playing pooh sticks we found a fun playhouse complete with slide. Closeby we found a cherry tree abundant with ripe cherries so we picked some and later made a cherry pie!
We spent two nights in El Bolsón and we were keen to really slow down. On our first afternoon we ventured into town (a 10 minute drive from our accommodation) to enjoy live music and dinner outside here. We ambled round the park and stocked up at the local supermarket for food. On our second day we headed to Pagona Square for a local market (which is open on Saturday, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays). Here you’ll find locally crafted products and fresh fruit and produce. We whiled away the afternoon here and the children enjoyed the nearby park where we found a face painter and my daughter enjoyed painting at row of easels.
The rest of the time we really enjoyed our rural surroundings of our accommodation and took advantage of the quincha by cooking an asado and kicking off our holiday in Argentinian style.
Did you know?
Food: Whilst there are lots of restaurants and cafes I’m glad we had accommodation with a kitchen since we were staying a few days it meant we could also prepare home cooked meals with more vegetables (and less chips) than we’d find when eating out.
Weather: We visited at the peak of summer but the nights were still cold. This meant we could make use of our wood fire which I loved.
Accommodation: I would recommend staying just outside the town if you can so you can enjoy the outdoors, especially the stars at night which are stunning thanks to minimal light pollution.
Getting around: Our tips from Patagonia are based on a roadtrip so of course we’re recommending hiring a car although there are good bus options from Bariloche.
