Argentina Guide
Neuquén and the Lake District
San Martín de los Andes
One of the most beautiful of all Patagonian towns, SAN MARTÍN DE LOS ANDES is a resort of chalets and generally low-key architecture set in a sheltered valley at the eastern end of Lago Lácar. There's a sandy, if often windy, beach here, and in spring, the introduced broom (retama) daubs the scenery on the approach roads a sunny yellow. Expansion has been rapid, but – with the exception of the hideous derelict Hotel Sol de Los Andes that overlooks town – by no means as uncontrolled as in its much larger rival resort, Bariloche, and, whereas Bariloche caters to the young party crowd, San Martín has deliberately set itself up for a more sedate type of small-town tourism, pitching for families rather than students. El Trabún (meaning the "Union of the Peoples") is the main annual festival, held in early December in the Plaza San Martín. Local and Chilean musicians hold concerts (predominantly folklore), and big bonfires are lit at the corners of the square to prepare asados of lamb and goat.
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