Los Lagos

Puerto Varas sits on the shore of Lake Llanquihue, Chile's second-largest lake, with the near-perfect cone of the Osorno volcano rising directly across the water — one of the most photographed views in the Chilean Lake District. The town itself, founded by 19th-century German settlers, retains their legacy in gabled wooden houses, rose-filled gardens and two striking churches modelled on European originals, alongside a modern scene of lakeside cafés, craft breweries and chocolate shops. It makes an excellent, relaxed base: boat trips and kayaking on the lake, cycling the shoreline, and day trips to the volcano itself, whose lower slopes offer hiking trails, a ski centre in winter and, for the fit, a demanding summit climb across ice with a guide. The town's calm, orderly charm and easy access to the surrounding parks and lakes make it the natural hub for exploring the region.

A short drive from Puerto Varas, the Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park — Chile's oldest, established in 1926 — protects the slopes of the Osorno volcano and the neighbouring Puntiagudo and Cerro Tronador peaks, along with dense temperate rainforest and the milky-turquoise Petrohué River. Its centrepiece, the Petrohué Falls, is a set of dramatic rapids where the glacial-fed river churns over black volcanic rock in a startling blue-green, framed by the volcano behind — a short, easy walk from the car park along raised boardwalks. Beyond the falls, Lake Todos los Santos, ringed by forest and volcanoes, is one of the most beautiful lakes in Chile, crossed by the historic Andean lake-and-bus crossing to Bariloche in Argentina, a scenic multi-day route through the cordillera. Hiking trails, hot springs and viewpoints throughout the park reward a day or more spent among the volcanoes.

Further around Lake Llanquihue from Puerto Varas, Frutillar is the Lake District's most evocative showcase of its German settlement — a lakeside village of immaculate half-timbered houses and gardens, with the volcano views to match. Its Museo Colono Alemán, an open-air museum village of reconstructed pioneer buildings, recreates the daily life, tools and crafts of the 19th-century settlers who cleared the surrounding forest. The town is renowned across Chile for its annual Semanas Musicales (Musical Weeks) festival each summer, held in a striking lakeside concert hall, drawing classical musicians from around the world. German-style bakeries selling kuchen (fruit cake) and strudel line the main street, and the calm lakefront promenade, with the volcano framed across the water, is one of the region's most photographed spots. Frutillar pairs easily with Puerto Varas as a relaxed lakeside day or overnight.

Reached by ferry or bridge from Puerto Montt, the island of Chiloé is culturally distinct from the mainland — an archipelago of rolling green hills, wooden architecture and a deep-rooted folklore found nowhere else in Chile. Its UNESCO World Heritage churches, built by Jesuit missionaries and local shipwrights entirely of wood and without nails, dot the island in extraordinary variety, from the grand towers of Castro's cathedral to remote rural chapels. In Castro, the island's capital, colourful palafitos — stilt houses built out over the water — line the waterfront and now house cafés and craft shops. Chiloé's mythology is famously rich, with sea spirits, witches and the ghost ship Caleuche still woven into local storytelling, and its cuisine centres on curanto, a hearty mix of shellfish, meat, potatoes and dumplings traditionally cooked in a pit oven over hot stones. Slower-paced and often rainy, Chiloé rewards those who linger with a genuinely unique corner of Chile.