28 Aug 2025
The worst tour ever! I booked the Bariloche Small Circuit: Mt Campanario and Llao Llao Peninsula with an English Guide. The tour operator was Gray Line Argentina. I booked the tour through Viator in advance. The afternoon before the tour, I was told there was no English Guide. I could either get a full refund or partial refund and join the tour in Spanish. Why tell me the afternoon before? It was my last day in Bariloche. I had no choice but to do it. I booked the tour over a week ago. They had more than enough time to allocate an English Guide or give me more notice so I could book an alternative option. I was fuming. The guide was not at fault. He was very sweet and tried his best. I blame the tour operator. My second issue was weather. We cannot control weather; I totally get this. However, why do they run the tour in winter in the morning when it is often misty? All we did was drive around and see mist. We came back early. They should just schedule the tour in the afternoon during the winter months. The first stop was at Capilla San Eduardo. The church opened at 11:00. Why take us there before it opened? All we could do was admire the outside architecture. None of the tour group decided to take the chairlift to the top of Cerro Campanario as the guide had told us there was no visibility due to the mist. A wasted half a day driving around in a small bus looking at mist. As I said, I understand we cannot control weather and this bad review is not aimed at the guide. He was really sweet in trying to make the experience better for us. I blame the tour operator as all they are interested in is money. If there is generally a lot of mist in the morning, then operate the tour in the afternoon or give us more notice so we can look for alternative options. I was going to give this a 1 rating. I am giving it a 2, purely because of the guide.