San Carlos de Bariloche, in Argentina, is very well known for its skiing resorts and beautiful landscapes, but also extraordinary chocolate! What could be better then coming back from a long day of skiing and being able to savor one of the most delicious chocolates you have ever tasted? So what are you waiting for? Come visit Bariloche this winter to enjoy the best winter holiday ever!

The Bariloche's Chocolate industry

The chocolate industry in Bariloche started 50 years ago, when a handful of European immigrants brought their own recipes from the continent to Argentina to produce the first chocolate in the region. These immigrants found in the lands of Argentina a similarity to Europe that favored production and consumption of chocolate, which was then passed on to younger generations to continue the making of this delicious treat. As Bariloche’s tourism industry grew, so did its chocolate industry, and many a mountaineer asked for bars of chocolate as basic food for his expeditions.

[caption id="attachment_905" align="aligncenter" width="540"]Fiesta de Chocolate Bariloche - Chocolate Festival in Bariloche Fiesta de Chocolate Bariloche - Chocolate Festival in Bariloche / Source[/caption]

Nowadays, these same companies that started the industry still produce chocolate, making it as a typical product of Bariloche. A lot of the region’s foreign visitors come to Bariloche especially for the chocolate, bringing back many boxes, usually covered with pictures of the town and its touristic activities. Chocolate makers in Bariloche add to the original product other ingredients such as dulce de leche, raisins, almonds, nuts, and other dry fruit, praline, or even cognac and whiskey. There is such a wide variety of chocolate shops in Bariloche where you will be able to buy so many different assortments of milk, white and black chocolate; and you will also be able to find a Museum of Chocolate, where you will be able to go down a 2,000-year-old road through a very amusing and educational history of chocolate in Argentina!

[caption id="attachment_909" align="aligncenter" width="540"]Bariloche hot spots Bariloche chocolate hot spots[/caption]

The annual Chocolate Festival in Bariloche

Bariloche is also very well renowned for it annual Chocolate Festival, held every year during the high season. The event integrates many fun activities, all revolving around chocolate! The first Chocolate Festival in Bariloche took place on July, 20th, 1969, on the same day men landed on the Moon onboard Apollo 11, an event recalled by the first crowned queen of the festival, Ailín Benroth, who said that "I was leaving to go to the festival and did not want to miss the broadcast but could not watch it". The celebration gathered, as does now, the main chocolate manufacturers in the city, who supplied kilos of the delicious treat that made up the Queen’s trophy, in addition to other surprises. This year, Bariloche’s chocolate makers dedicated their efforts to making the world’s biggest chocolate egg, which ended up being 8.5 meters high and 5 meters wide. The egg even won a place in the Guinness Book of World Records! [caption id="attachment_906" align="aligncenter" width="540"]The world’s biggest-chocolate egg The world’s biggest-chocolate egg / Source[/caption] So if you want to enjoy an amazing winter vacation, come visit Bariloche in Argentina! Don't worry if the Chocolate Festival in Bariloche doesn't fall in your dates - there is such a diversity of activities to do in Bariloche, you will surely not be disappointed!  

To book tours and activities in Bariloche during the Winter, visit our official website.