Tipiliuke Lodge

a very wide range of excellent outdoor activities

Set in the Bariloche region of Argentina, Tipiliuke Lodge is an extremely intimate and polished rural property.

The lodge sits on the Estancia Cerro de los Pinos, which was founded by the Larminat family in 1909. It extends over 200 square kilometres (50,000 acres) of undulating steppe, bisected by the Chimehuin and Quilquihue rivers and with the snow-capped Andes Mountains off to the west.

The property is still very much a working farm, with over 4000 head of cattle being maintained by gauchos on horseback, in the traditional manner.

It lies 35 km east of the pretty lakeside town of San Martin de los Andes, at the northern end of the Seven Lakes Highway up from Bariloche.

The lodge itself is tucked away in a small forest and surrounded by an extensive patchwork of kitchen gardens.

It’s centred on a traditional farmstead-style building, of stone and timber on two floors, under a red tin roof. Comfortable and stylish lounge and dining areas, lead out to campfire and dining areas in the garden.

There’s also an elegant little spa and yoga facility, with professional practitioners coming out from San Martin on request to offer various treatments.

The place is personally hosted by Kevin and Mary Jo Tiemersma, who’ve been here since 2001, along with their excellent team. The place very much feels like you are visiting wealthy friends in the country, it’s elegant and well considered, but also intimate and homely.

Rooms

Guest accommodation is in 9 rooms, all of which are pleasantly understated and beautifully presented and with private bathrooms.

Activities

Tipiliuke Lodge offers a very wide range of outdoor activities, notably including hiking, horse-riding and fly-fishing.

Tipiliuke Lodge is usually combined by road with a lodge in the pretty lakelands of the San Carlos de Bariloche area to the south.

The usual stay duration in each area is 3-4 nights, adding up to around a week in the area.

Seasonality

The best time to visit Bariloche is very much dependent on whether you are looking to do summer or winter activities.

The vast majority of overseas travellers visit during the Oct-Apr warm dry summer season, since this is the best time to visit most other parts of the country.

During the Oct-Apr summer season the conditions are usually relatively warm. Average daytime temperatures usually reach around 20C/68F, with nighttime temperatures holding up around 5C/41F. Rainfall is relatively low, at around 25 mm (1”) per month. Sunshine is up around 10 hours per day, peaking in Dec-Feb (around 75% of daylight hours).

Those travellers who want to go skiing, snowboarding and other such activities tend to visit during the May-Sep winter season. Since the skiing here is not generally considered to be good enough to attract people from around the world, most visitors at this time are from Argentina and other neighbouring countries.

During the May-Sep winter season the weather is usually cold and wet or snowy. Average daytime temperatures usually manage to reach around 7C/65F, with nighttime lows dropping to around 0C/41F. Rainfall is up around 125 mm (5”) per month, with heavy snow cover, especially at higher altitudes. Sunshine drops dramatically to around 4 hours per day (around 40% of daylight hours).

Getting there

If you are heading to the main San Carlos de Bariloche or Villa La Angostura areas then you can fly into the larger San Carlos de Bariloche Airport (BRC).

If you are heading for the more northerly San Martin de los Andes area, then you can fly into the smaller Aviador Carlos Campos Airport (CPC).

If you want to connect southwards into Patagonia then there are two options …

The first is to fly from Bariloche (BRC) to El Calafate (FTE) in the Los Glaciares area, from where it’s possible to cross the border by road into Torres del Paine National Park in Chile.

The second is to use the famous Lake Crossing to reach Puerto Montt (PMC) in Chile, from where you can fly on down to Punta Arenas (PUQ), in order to access Torres del Paine. From there you can cross back into the Los Glaciares area of Argentina and fly back from El Calafate (FTE) to Buenos Aires.

usually visited during the Oct-Apr summer season