San Carlos de Bariloche Introduction Walking Tour (Self Guided), San Carlos de Bariloche

Through Calle Independencia, you will get to the Plaza Principal de la Ciudad, which is the square of the Centro Civico. It is called Plaza Expedicienarios del Desierto. Due to its historical meaning and importance, it has become the top destination in the city. The main buildings of Bariloche are situated here: Policia de la Provincia, Municipalidad, Secretaria de Turismo, Biblioteca Sarmiento, Museo de la Patagonia and Sala de exposiciones Emilio Frey. There are also a couple of interesting wooden sculptures and the monument of the Julio Argentino Roca. The Civic Center is a National Historical Monument which faces the breathtaking Lake Nahuel Huapi.

The Francisco P. Moreno Museum of Patagonia is a natural history and cultural anthropology museum located in the Civic Center of Bariloche. It was inaugurated on March 17, 1940, as part of the unveiling of the Bariloche Civic Center, which was commissioned by the national government as part of an effort to promote the then-remote Río Negro Province ski resort town. The museum, and its accompanying Domingo Sarmiento Public Library and Bariloche City Hall, were designed by Ernesto de Estrada. Built from polished green tuff, cypress and fitzroya, with slate roofing, the buildings are centered by a plaza put down entirely in flagstone pavers.

The majority of its collections were requisitioned from the National Parks Adeministration by the museum's first director, Enrique Artayeta. Named in honor of Argentine surveyor and academic Francisco Moreno, the institution was organized in the tradition of the La Plata Museum, whose 1888 establishment was owed in large measure to the renowned explorer.

Expanded and modernized during a 1992 restoration, the museum's collections are divided by a number of categorized halls: Natural, Sciences, Prehistory, Aboriginal History, Regional History, The Conquest of the Desert, etc. The museum also includes a hall for temporary exhibits, an auditorium, workshop, library and archives, as well as facilities for curators and researchers.

The Bariloche Civic Center, including the museum, was declared a National Historic Monument in 1987.

At the corner of Avenida San Martin and Calle Independencia is the beautiful Plaza Ciudades Hermanas. The place is also known as Sister Cities Square, the sister being Aspen, Colorado. It is located right behind the Secretaria Municipal de Turismo and the Post Office. There are many trees and flowers planted there. It is a romantic municipal park where lots of inhabitants and residents come to relax and chat.

Salon Cultural de Usos Multiples y Paseo de los Artesanos- Spanish for Multi-use Cultural Hall And Crafts Display Center is an open public space. The building has an interesting shape and was designed by a team of renowned architects, among them Diego Iraola, lbandoz Alicia, Ivan Rivera Indarte and Alfredo Mulet. Here you can admire local arts and crafts. Lots of things are displayed on the walls and stands, some of them even for sale. What is also interesting is that a multitude of handmade items are also exhibited at the SCUM.

Galeria Premier, situated in the Hotel Premier at Calle Rolando, is a contemporary art gallery. It displays all forms of visual art made by local artists. Among them you will discover Perla Leon, Maria Rosa Lo Schiavo, Marta Di Bitetti, Victoria de la Torre etc. They mostly exhibit paintings, such as oil on wood, acrylic on canvas, sculptures, portraits and unusual art objects.

Plaza de las Banderas is famous for the Paseo de las Colectividades (Walk of Nations) which is situated here. As you probably know, Patagonia and San Carlos de Bariloche are multinational and culturally diversified. They are two in one, namely a small grassy park with decorative stones and a square, where there are lots of flags, known as Flags square. It represents the nations that immigrated to the city, for example the Austrians. Plaza de las Banderas is often a place for art exhibitions and it is the starting point of the Fiesta de las Colectividades.

If you are in a search of local crafts, than La Candela is the place to be. There is a large diversity of wood carvings on Patagonian cypress or rauli, interesting gifts and souvenirs, ornaments, candles, photo albums and photo frames, dried flowers, embroidered paintings, handmade products and lots of other items. If you want to buy something special as a souvenir, you will surely find it at La Candela.

Plaza Espana is a nice square situated at the crossroads of Calle Ruiz Moreno and Calle Bartolome Mitre. It is mostly crowded with teenagers who ride their skateboards and chat. It is not big but very attractive. Charming benches, trees and flowerbeds, little children playing in the grass, what else do you need for a pleasant walk?

Museo Paleontologico was established by the Bariloche Paleontological Association. It is situated at the crossroads of 12 de Octubre and Sarmiento Streets. The aim of this institution is to preserve dinosaur fossils and to find new artifacts in the Bariloche area and the Northwestern Patagonia. A wide range of animal specimens is displayed at the museum, such as: Ichthyosaurus (Jurassic Period), dinosaur egg, the Archaeopterix, a shark (Tertiary), amphibians, flora and fauna from the Patagonian area, etc. Numerous exhibits are open to the public - don't miss them!

Located inside the Asociación Club de Caza y Pesca, Museo Icticola is a world-class museum that exhibits embalmed fish trophies. The pride of the museum is the big brown 16-pound trout; it is 99 cm long and 49 cm wide. The lakes of Bariloche offer a great variety of fish species and hence some interesting expositions.