Where is Cerro Bayo?

Cerro Bayo is located only 9km/5.6 miles (15 minutes) from the town of La Angostura which is one hour north (70km/43 miles) of San Carlos de Bariloche, and 1.5 to 2 hours south of San Martin de los Andes. Cerro Bayo is located in the Neuquén Province of Argentine Patagonia.

Getting to Villa la Angostura

The Bariloche airport is commonly used as the gateway for Villa La Angostura. Flights from Buenos Aires to Bariloche take a couple of hours. From the airport either rent a car or take a bus to Villa Angostura, or your hotel may organise airport transfers. See the Villa la Angostura travel page for more information on getting to Villa la Angostura.

Getting from Villa la Angostura to Cerro Bayo

There are occasional buses between downtown Villa la Angostura and Cerro Bayo that run during the peak holiday period. And even if you can figure out a bus timetable, chances are that you’re not staying in downtown La Angostura anyhow.

Some hotels provide shuttles. Otherwise if you’re not on a multi-day ski/snowboard tour of Patagonia or don’t have a rental car, a good option is to catch a taxi or remise between your Villa la Angostura hotel and the Cerro Bayo Ski Resort. Particularly if you’re staying at the south end of town, the cost of the taxis will be less than car rental.

Driving to Cerro Bayo
Having a car will give you lots of flexibility to get to and from the ski resort and to travel around town to restaurants and activities.

Driving from Villa la Angostura to Cerro Bayo is pretty easy. The turn off to Mount Bayo is located only 3km (1.9 miles) out of the town centre (on the Bariloche side) and the access road is only 6km long because the base of the ski resort is only 260 metres higher than Villa la Angostura. The road is unpaved and has lots of pot holes but it’s not very steep and it doesn’t have any scary drop-offs. Take care though because the views from the road are beautiful and it’s easy to get distracted! It’s best to stop at one of the various miradors to take in the views.

Snow chains would probably never be required because of the width and pitch of the road. This is sort of lucky considering that there’s nowhere to rent them! The mostly unpaved car park may be a different matter if they haven’t cleared it.

A gold pass will get you access to one of the 8 VIP parks, but if you can get a park at all anywhere near the resort, treat it like gold! During peak periods, overflow parking occurs along the side of the access road, and free vans provide shuttles up to the ticket office.

A fee is charged for parking which used to be donated to a charity, but hopefully now they are now using the money to invest in a parking lot upgrade so that it's not a boggy mess.

The road between Cerro Bayo and VLA can get quite congested, especially between the access road and town.

Other Ski Resorts Nearby

Cerro Catedral is located near Bariloche and 103km/64miles from Cerro Bayo (about 1:25 hours). Cerro Catedral has huge terrain and well developed infrastructure. It’s also crazy busy so freshies won’t be as readily available as they are at Cerro Bayo.

Cerro Chapelco is also close to Cerro Bayo, and is located near the town of San Martin de los Andes. The Cerro Chapelco slopes are much busier than Cerro Bayo. It provides better terrain for beginners and intermediates, but advanced to expert riders might find in-bounds Chapelco a bit lame in comparison to Cerro Bayo, whilst the backcountry is superb. It takes only 1.5 to 2 hours to get to San Martin. See the Villa la Angostura travel page for more information on getting between Villa la Angostura and San Martin de los Andes.