City of Neuquén - San Martin de los Andes Patagonia Travel San Martín de los Andes is the most important tourism center in Neuquén province. On the shores of Lake Lácar, the city is located in a natural basin, protecting it from the wind. Its geographical location is of singular beauty, almost hidden in a sumptuous amphitheater in the mountains that preserves the fertility of its lake and forest environment.

San Martín de los Andes is within a natural habitat that is characteristic of the humid Patagonian Andes, consisting of mountains blanketed with dense forests of colihue, pires, oaks and cypresses, crystalline streams and great biodiversity, constituting a high quality environment for its inhabitants that lead a privileged life, surrounded by forests.

In addition to the environmental beauty and peace and quiet of its great stretches of greenery and the Lanín National Park, the largest in the province of Neuquén (383,612 has), San Martín de los Andes is the "jewel" of the "Corredor de los Siete Lagos" (Seven Lakes Belt). Thanks to their natural beauty, the famous "belt" and the Lanín National Park are the main attractions in this region. This makes a visit to this city that offers the enchantment of snow in winter and adventure tourism in summer, together with an imposing contact with nature, a "must".

It is a picturesque, alpine-like city with wooden buildings and wide paved streets with a neat layout. It was founded on February 4, 1898, on the shores of Lake Lácar. Currently it houses a community of 23,354 inhabitants (according to the 2001 provisional census). It is possible that the "impossible" beauty of its scenery has been the determining factor of its explosive urban growth as well as of the growth of its tourism activity over the last decade.