The Punilla Valley

The brash resort of VILLA CARLOS PAZ lies at the southern end of the Punilla Valley, on the southwestern banks of a large, dirty reservoir, the Lago San Roque. It sits at a major junction, that of the RP-34, which heads south to Mina Clavero, and the RN-38 toll-road, which goes north through the valley towards Cruz del Eje and La Rioja. Nationally famous, but now spoilt by chaotic construction, pollution and overcrowding, the resort is frequently compared with Mar del Plata, only without the ocean. It started out in the 1930s as a holiday centre for well-off Cordobeses, with sandy beaches created along the lakeside. Nowadays people whiz around the lake in catamarans and motorboats, or on water skis. In the town centre, dozens of amusement arcades and entertainment theme parks blare music, while most of the bars and confiterías show video clips or offer karaoke. The town sprawls in a disorderly way around the lake – the western districts are generally greener, airier and more attractive. The local population of 72,000 more than doubles at the height of summer, when accommodation gets booked up well in advance.

Some 25km north of Villa Carlos Paz, and barely more appealing, the small but bustling town of COSQUÍN nestles in a sweep of the river of the same name and in the lee of the 1260m Pan de Azúcar. It’s one of the region’s oldest settlements – dating from colonial times – and has been a holiday resort since the end of the nineteenth century. The summit of the sugar-loaf mountain, which affords panoramic views of the valley and mountains beyond, can be reached by a chairlift, or aerosilla (daily 10am–7pm; $18 return), from the well-signposted Complejo Aerosilla, which sits about 8km north of town and also houses a bronze monument to Carlos Gardel, the legendary tango singer, as well as the inevitable confitería. Alternatively, you can skip the chairlift and use your legs – from the Complejo Aerosilla it’s about half an hour up a steep path. Cosquín has always been associated nationwide with the Festival Nacional de Folklore (wwww.aquicosquin.org), held every year in the second half of January and attended by folk artists, ballet troupes and classical musicians from across the country, although it has declined in quality in recent years. The festival takes place in the so-called Plaza Nacional del Folklore (actually the Plaza Próspero Molina) just off RN-38, which threads through the centre of town.

Twenty kilometres north of Cosquín and a little more peaceful still, LA FALDA serves as a base from which to explore the nearby mountains – a taste of the far finer scenery to come some way up the valley. Today the town is best known for its annual three-day tango festival (wwww.festivaldetangolafalda.com) in July, but in the early twentieth century, La Falda was an exclusive resort, served by the newly built railway and luring the great and the good from as far afield as Europe. A major advertising campaign was conducted here by a German-run luxury hotel, Hotel Edén, a magnificent holiday palace built in the 1890s, now a dilapidated and unusual tourist attraction (wwww.hoteledenlafalda.com). Nearly all of Argentine high society stayed here in the 1920s and 1930s, as well as such famous international guests as the Prince of Wales and Albert Einstein, and some say even Adolf Hitler. The state confiscated it from its German owners in the 1940s, after which it fell into decline, but its grandiose design and opulent decor are still discernible, especially in the newly renovated lobby, wine cellar and confitería. The guided tours take you around the faded rooms; night tours, which are good, creepy fun, are also run during the summer and Easter (Jan, Feb & Holy Week 10pm & 11pm), though you’ll need decent Spanish if you want to understand the ghost stories.

The RN-38 winds through the western side of the town as Avenida Presidente Kennedy; from it, Avenida Edén heads straight towards the mountainside to the east. For exhilarating views of the valley, head for nearby Cerro Banderita; go to the far end of Avenida Edén and take Calle Austria as far as El Chorrito, a small waterfall among lush vegetation. This is the starting-point of the steep one-hour climb to the peak, which many people do on horseback, before riding along the mountaintop. Of the longer routes, one of the most impressive takes you east over the Sierra Chica towards Río Ceballos; the views into the Punilla Valley from the peak at Cerro Cuadrado, 2km from La Falda, are stunning.

Lively CAPILLA DEL MONTE sits at the confluence of the rivers Calabalumba and Dolores against the bare-sloped Cerro Uritorco, at 1979m the highest peak of the Sierra Chica. It was a resort for Argentina’s bourgeoisie at the end of the nineteenth century, as testified by the many luxurious villas, some of them slightly or very dilapidated. These days it attracts more alternative vacationers, as you can tell from the number of hotels and restaurants calling themselves naturista, or back to nature. The town has little to offer in the way of sights, but it serves as an appealing base along the valley for treks into the mountains or for trying out hang-gliding and other pursuits. Central Plaza San Martín lies only a couple of blocks east of the RN-38, which runs through the west of the town, parallel to the Río de Dolores. From the plaza, Diagonal Buenos Aires, the busy commercial pedestrian mall, runs southeast to the quaint former train station on Calle Pueyrredón; it’s claimed to be South America’s only roofed street, an assertion nowhere else has rushed to contend. A number of safe bathing areas, or balnearios, can be found along the Río Calabalumba, including Balneario Calabalumba, at the northern end of General Paz, and Balneario La Toma, at the eastern end of Avenida Sabattini.

In addition to the fresh air, unspoilt countryside and splendid opportunities for sports pursuits, such as trekking and fishing, many visitors are also drawn to the area by claims of UFO sightings, “energy centres” and numerous local legends. One such legend asserts that when Calabalumba, the young daughter of a witch-doctor, eloped with Uritorco, the latter was turned into a mountain while she was condemned to eternal sorrow, her tears forming the river that flows from the mountainside. Incidentally, the Cerro Uritorco, the focus for Capillo del Monte’s supposed paranormal activity, is well worth the climb for the grandiose views across the valley to the Sierra de Cuniputo to the west. The steep clamber up a well-trodden path starts 3km from the Balneario Calabalumba, northeast of Plaza San Martín, and cuts through private property. Only part of the climb is shaded, so take water with you. You must set off between 8am and noon and start your return by 3pm in winter and 5pm in summer, which rather rules out opportunities for UFO-hunting.

ONGAMIRA, some 25km northeast of Capilla del Monte and 1400m above sea level, is a remote hamlet. It famed for its Grutas, strange caves amid rock formations sculpted by wind and rain in the reddish sandstone, and painted with black, yellow and white pigments by indigenous tribes some six hundred years ago. The drawings depict animals, human figures and abstract geometric patterns, and must be surveyed from a special viewpoint, as the extremely fragile stone is gradually crumbling away and many of the paintings have already been lost. Nearby is the Parque Natural Ongamira (daily 9am–8pm, weekends only in winter; $8), a private park affording breathtaking views of the cerros Pajarillo, Áspero and Colchiquí; you can see condors and go on horseback rides. The road, with magnificent panoramas all the way, eventually leads on to Santa Catalina and Cerro Colorado.

A dirt road immediately west of Ongamira snakes through mesmerizing rocky landscapes and past an unexpected polo ground to the once-abandoned village of ISCHILÍN, some 20km further north. A couple of kilometres before you reach the village is the signposted Casa Museo Fernando Fader (Thurs–Sun noon–5pm; free), a brick house built by the painter Fernando Fader, an adoptive Argentine born of German parents who settled here in the vain hope of curing his chronic tuberculosis. His paintings, well executed if strongly influenced by Van Gogh and at times Monet, are best seen at the provincial fine-arts museum near Mendoza. Only one is on show at this museum, alongside various personal effects and furniture, but the mock-Italianate garden is worth a visit. In the village itself, the charming Hostería La Rosada (03521/423057, www.ischilinposada.com.ar; $601 and over) is run by the artist’s grandson and family; you can stay the night or just enjoy the fine food and swimming pool. Don’t miss the chance of being taken around the village, devotedly renovated by Carlos Fader himself, including the ancient school, now in use once more, the recreation of a traditional pulpería and the old police station. Ischilín’s spectacular Plaza de Armas, not unlike an English village green, is dominated by a venerable algarrobo tree, its gigantic gnarled trunk host to epiphytic cacti and skeins of moss, and by the early eighteenth-century Jesuit church, Nuestra Señora del Rosario, its facade painted mustard yellow. Ask around for the key to visit the delightfully primitive interior, with its rickety choir balcony made of algarrobo wood, bearing a pithy Latin inscription.