9 Best Sights in El Bolson, The Lake District

In February, the Bolsón International Jazz Festival brings music to streets and restaurants around town. The Fiesta Nacional de Lúpolo (National Hop Festival) is celebrated the same month.

About 1 km (½ mile) from the base of Cerro Piltriquitrón, you'll find fire-damaged beech trees that have been carved over the years by 13 notable Argentine artists. Thirty-one monumental sculptures transform the dead forest into a living gallery. Tours can be arranged through local agencies.

This thriving family farm not only makes scrumptious jams, juices, and sweets, it also gives free tours of the grounds where its organic fruits are cultivated. At the tour's end, there's a long table lined with little jam pots, so you can sample the 40 different flavors before making your purchase.

Head 20 km (12 miles) north of El Bolsón to see the Cascada de la Virgen, one of the area's loveliest waterfalls. It's most impressive in spring, when the runoff from the mountain descends in a series of three cascades visible from the road from Bariloche.

Ten km (6 miles) north of El Bolsón, this 20-meter (66-foot) waterfall—its Mapuche name means "flooded meadow"—is surrounded by woods and makes a nice picnic spot. It's close to El Quincho de Danilo restaurant, so if you go around lunchtime, you can feast on cordero patagónico (roast lamb) after your visit.

The Mapuche name of this 2,260-meter (7,415-foot) granite ridge means "mountain hung with clouds," which is a fair description of the peak itself. What it leaves out, however, is the array of sights and activities to be enjoyed on the way up: miradores, a paragliding pad, the Bosque Tallado, and a homey refugio (cabin) run by Club Andino Piltriquitrón where you can rest at the halfway mark. In summer, the lodge is surrounded by wildflowers, but in every season, the views extend all the way to Lago Puelo and the Chilean border.

This is the brewery that started the Patagonian cerveza artesanal craze, and even if it's now the least artesanal of the bunch, it's still a local landmark. Every night from December through March, and Thursdays through Sundays the rest of the year, the brewery's tasting room turns into a hopping bar and restaurant, where picadas (tapas-like plates of appetizers), pizzas, sausages with sauerkraut, and hearty goulash are served alongside a variety of custom brews running from blonde to black. The lush grounds have a campsite out back.

In the market for a troll marionette? Or a braided bracelet? How about a tree-trunk pyrography map of Patagonia, or fresh raspberry marmalade? If such whimsies tickle your fancy, El Bolsón's artisans' fair is the place for you. Dating from the 70s and held every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday in Plaza Pagano, it's a place to stroll, sip a local craft beer, and dig the mellowness that someone put into the town's water. The food stands (and trucks) alone are reason enough to drop in.

Squirreled away beside the Cajón del Azul reserve, at the confluence of the Ríos Sur and Blanco, this brewery is famous for both its craft beer and its spectacular location. It was founded by Shea Jordan in 2015, and since then has become one of El Bolsón’s most popular spots. Hikers stop by after a long day in the mountains to enjoy blends such as coconut stout, as well as for the brewery’s hearty cheddar-and-bondiola fries. There's even a hops plantation on site. Getting there is difficult—only four-wheel vehicles can access the road—but you can stop at the campsite Chacra Wharton and walk the rest of the 2-km (1-mile) path on foot. Be warned: the return journey is uphill.