Bariloche

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Bariloche (officially San Carlos de Bariloche) is a city in Rio Negro, Argentina.

Hitchhiking out

North towards San Martin de los Andes/Villa La Angostura/Chile

You can take the 71/81 bus to Dina Huapi (about 15km north of Bariloche), but you'll need to ask if they're going there. Some do and some don't. Alternately, you can take the 33 bus to Dina huapi with las grutas- if you don't have a las grutas card, just ask some other passenger to use theirs, and give them cash. Cost was 190 pesos ($0.50 USD) in March 2023. Stay on the bus until it turns off the main road. You can ask the driver, but it's pretty obvious, and there's a stop as soon as it turns. Walk along the road to a police checkpoint along a curve where traffic slows considerably and people can pick you up. Another way is a traffic light right next to the bus terminal within walking distance of the town center (3 km). You can also always start hitching on the main road inside the city which seems to have a lot of tradition. Chances are good you will be picked up before the bus even arrives. To continue on RN40, you need to take the turnoff at Villa La Angostura. If you want to get to Chile, continue with traffic on RN231; check details in the Villa La Angostura article. An alternative route to San Martin de los Andes could be via Villa Traful on RP65. Herefore, continue on RN237 instead of hopping off at Dina Huapi and take the turnoff at the ACA petrol station when Rio Traful hits in Rio Limay.

South towards El Bolson/El Calafate

The way out of Bariloche towards El Bolsón is through the barrio 2 de abril, which is rather universally described as a dangerous place and lots of people recommend avoiding it for your own safety and because drivers are also less likely to stop there, due to its reputation. Hostel owners speak of a few cases per year where people get a ride but are then immediately forced to get out of the car and eave all their stuff with a gun held to their face.

Looking for public transport to get out of town can go a long way. There is usually a fair amount of hitchhikers on some spots on the stretch of RN40 by Villa Lago Gutiérrez, trying to hitch a ride to El Bolsón. Christianmn had to wait for a few hours until finally getting picked up, together with a young french couple also hitchhiking in the same place, by a truck driver who was heading to Esquel. However, despite that spot being not highly trafficked (actually, most of the cars were turning at the nearest crossing on the way to Villa Lago Gutierrez), he saw that other hitchhiking groups and couples had better luck and found a driver in approximately less than an hour or even half an hour.

Notes from EoinSheahan : Getting yourself to Ruta 40 on the south of the city is a good first stop before hitching. As mentioned by a separate contributor above, there is a barrio in the south of the city that locals advise against moving through on foot. My hostel advised me to avoid this barrio. A "50" bus from the town centre should be able to drop you on the side of Lago Guttierrez that is a short walk from Ruta 40. However, you should check with the bus driver to confirm this. I took a "50" bus which turned the "wrong" way along the lake, and left me with over 1 hour to walk to get to R40. I eventually had to hitchhike to even get to R40. I presume this could have been avoided had I pre-checked with driver and hopped on a "50" bus at a different time. Google Maps led me astray here. With regards to hitching, I had to wait two hours before a car eventually stopped for me on R40 and a solo male in a car was driving to El Bolson on vacation. It was a surprisingly annoying wait, especially because there was plenty of passing traffic. Maybe I was unlucky. As ever, it's Ruta 40 so you need to be ready to be totally exposed to the weather, whether it's sun or other factors. I did this in early March 2023 and the wind wasn't a factor until a couple hundred kilometres further south.

West towards Llao Llao/Col. Suiza

RP77/RP79 can take you on a round trip to beautiful Llao Llao and Col. Suiza. There are suburbs for miles leaving this direction, so it might be more reasonable to take a bus to exit the city. Cerveceria Patagonia offers you incredible views over the entire National Park at expensive food and drink prices. Part of the northern circuito chico can be walked within beautiful forests.