A Patagonian destination that is famous in October and has a final surprise

You see the photos and you already want to be there, right? Spring landscapes are always attractive and bright, with green shoots, flowers and their colors, and a temperature that encourages you to enjoy the outdoors.

But there is one destination in particular that stands out for the magical postcard that it offers every year with the arrival of the season: an incredible and ephemeral landscape at the same time.

This is Trevelin, in the province of Chubut, next to the mountain rangewhere there is a field of tulips -considered the great of Argentina- who in October transforms into an incredible oasis of color.

There is the production of Patagonia Tulipsthe place in question, 13 kilometers from the center of Trevelin – and about 40 from Esquel– along route 259, in the area of ​​the Nant and Fall Waterfalls Protected Natural Area.

Patagonia tulips concentrate these beautiful flowers of multiple colors: red, pink, white, violet, maroon, yellow or orange, in addition to two-color ones. AND every year they change the arrangement of sowing, to create new landscapes and that the image of the previous season is not repeated.

Although the central business of entrepreneurship is bulbs sale for the domestic market and also for export, during the flowering period the place opens the doors of the field to visitors. This year, the visiting season will be from October 7 to November 7, every day, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Since the appearance of flowers is not a mathematical question, the dates always estimated the flowering time based on previous seasons. The recommendation is to try to travel on the days with the most flowers, which this year is estimated to be between October 12 and 30.

One could imagine that at this time in the countryside everything is pure hustle and bustle, thinking that the visiting season is approaching.

But Juan Carlos Ledesmaon the other end of the phone, sounds calm and says that the work actually began in the summer, when they prepared the land, and in April, with the first rains, when they planted. And now it’s just a matter of waiting for the flowers to appear.

John is fourth generation on this earth of great landscapes, of rivers and mountains, of Tehuelche and Welsh stories.

“My great-grandfather bought this field in 1915, when there were rumors of a project of a large flour industry and he, like many farmers, did not want to be left out. So he began to grow wheat to be able to supply that industry that was so prosperous in those years, which he ended up giving its name to the town of Trevelin (a word that means ‘Mill Town‘ in Welsh)”, says Juan.

Then her grandmother followed up with a small dairy -the Welsh community consumes a lot of butter- and when it was Juan’s turn, who had the idea of ​​working with some intensive cultivation, he decided to venture into floriculture.

Why tulips? “It was my favorite flower since I was very young. It is a plant native to Türkiye, although the Dutch were the creators of the new varieties. But the tulip is also very Patagonian, because for decades tulip plants have always been seen. tulips in our gardens”.

With that project in mind, Juan traveled to the Netherlands and hired Dutch technicians to start his particular project: having a tulip field. The first plantation was in 1996.

Hoy grows more than 30 varieties of multiple colors -“from black to white”-, and what is sold are the bulbs: everyone can buy them through the web.

In the company they always had the idea of invite people to see the place.

They gained momentum about eight years ago, but they grew especially in pandemic when, in an attempt to “accompany the people who were in their apartment with their sadness, we made live broadcasts of the sunrise with the tulips, the sunset, when the first flower came out… We had about 1,200 followers and we ended up with more than 30,000” , says Juan.

Reservations are not necessary, but It is advisable to anticipate and plan the tripsince the hotel capacity in the area is limited. There are a few options in Trevelin – especially cabins; some more, which include several hotels in Esquel, and also in El Bolsón. Bariloche is much further away and you can go there for the day with excursions, but you have to know that the trip is long.

Admission is $20,000 (children under 12 years old do not pay).

Upon arriving at the field, the first suggestion is go through the interpretation centerto better understand what you are going to see.

“An 8-minute video is projected where we put visitors’ feet on the tulip field; It is not Disney, it is a field in production, where there is prior and subsequent work. We show the work of the entire year, how we harvest, what happens with the flowers, how they are cut,” says Juan.

Then there is a self-guided tour with posters, and you can stay as long as you want. You can even go with the mate and have a snack on the side enjoying the viewthe pleasure of feeling surrounded by flowers and at the foot of the mountains. In fact, it is as it is: here each visitor is surrounded by no less than three million flowers!

The field also has a confectionery where you can have a drink or lunch. And, of course, they have available Welsh teaso that whoever wants to try – it is the local tradition – but also other drinks and foods.

Furthermore, the confectionery is elevated five meters above ground level, so from there you can enjoy a great view of the multicolored field.

Hay souvenir shop where you can buy different souvenirs and, of course, also seedlings.

“We were not the first to have tulips in Argentina, but we are the largest field, and the only one with this cultivation system with Dutch technology,” explains Juan.

And he summarizes the proposal in this way: “An encounter with a palette of colors in the heart of the 16 de Octubre Valley, at the foot of the Andes Mountains”.

The flower show lasts a short period of timeuntil the tulip leaves are dried and the flowers are cut to obtain a good quality bulb, which is what is marketed.

Las flowers are left on the roadsbut not all because to celebrate the end of the season, Tulipanes Patagonia takes large bags of petals onto a plane and organizes a final surprise; an emotional “rain of petals” over Trevelin Squarewhich this year will be November 3. A glorious, romantic and colorful closing.