Villa La Angostura

Once a lakeside hamlet on a narrow angostura (isthmus) on the northern shore of Lake Nahuel Huapi, this small resort town has benefited from thoughtful planning and strict adherence to business codes, making it the second-most popular tourist area in the Lake District. Its first hotel was built in 1923, 10 years before the town was founded, and today some of the most luxurious hotels and resorts in Patagonia look out on the lake from discreet hiding places along its wooded shores. Shops and restaurants line the Avenida Arrayanes, where you can stop for homemade ice cream or cakes while window-shopping in the three-block-long commercial area. The tourist office and municipal buildings are at El Cruce (the Crossroads), where R231 from Bariloche to the Chilean border intersects with the road to the port and the Seven Lakes Route, R234, to San Martín de los Andes.