Boutique Hotels in Neuquén

The set-piece is the Seven Lakes Route, the Ruta de los Siete Lagos: 107 spectacular kilometres of Route 40 running between San Martín de los Andes and Villa La Angostura, past a chain of glacial lakes — Lácar, Machónico, Falkner, Villarino, Espejo, Correntoso — through two national parks. It can be driven in a day, but repays far longer. At its northern end, San Martín de los Andes is the lake district's loveliest town: an alpine-style resort of chocolate shops and timber houses on the shore of Lake Lácar, and the gateway to the Lanín National Park, where the perfect cone of the Lanín volcano rises over araucaria forest and the great fishing rivers run.

At the southern end sits Villa La Angostura, the "Garden of Patagonia", a smart little town on Nahuel Huapi with the rare myrtle woods of Los Arrayanes National Park on its peninsula. Between and beyond lie the rewards of the region: fly-fishing on the Chimehuín and Aluminé rivers, kayaking and boating on the lakes, hiking and horse riding in summer, and skiing in winter at Chapelco — voted Argentina's best resort — or the quieter slopes of Lago Hermoso. Further afield, the province's high east holds the dinosaur country around Neuquén city and the surprising vineyards of San Patricio del Chañar.

Patagonian cooking is the draw at the table, and Neuquén does it beautifully: spit-roasted lamb, river trout, wild boar and venison, smoked meats and cheeses, and the sweet local staples of the south — chocolate, raspberries, and craft beer brewed in the mountain towns. Increasingly there is wine, too, from the high-desert vineyards of the Alto Valle and San Patricio del Chañar, whose cool-climate Malbec and Pinot Noir are quietly making a name. Eat by a fire with a lake view, and the region's flavours need little embellishment.

For where to stay, the club's choice sits at the heart of it all: Río Hermoso, a tiny seven-room lodge of timber and stone on its own stretch of river, deep in the Lanín National Park on the Seven Lakes Route between San Martín de los Andes and the lakes. With fly-fishing at the door, the Seven Lakes drive on the doorstep and Chapelco within reach, it makes a quiet, beautiful base for the southern lake district in any season.

Neuquén's lake district is a year-round destination, but it is really two seasons. The Patagonian summer, December to March, is the prime time: warm, long days for the Seven Lakes drive, swimming, kayaking, hiking and horse riding, with everything open and the landscape at its greenest; it is busiest in January. Autumn, April and May, turns the lenga forests gold and is quieter and lovely. Winter, June to September, brings the snow and the ski season at Chapelco and Lago Hermoso, with the towns at their cosiest. Spring, October and November, is the time for fly-fishers, as the rivers open and the wildflowers return. For the lakes and the drive, come in summer; for the slopes, in winter; for fishing and calm, the shoulder seasons.