Puerto Montt

Puerto Montt is the capital of the Los Lagos region, a working port on the Reloncaví sound where the Lakes District meets the sea. Its life is on the waterfront: the fishing boats, the market and the seafood kitchens of Angelmó, and the ferries that leave for Chiloé and the fjords of the south. Behind the city, the Parque Nacional Alerce Andino keeps forests of ancient alerces only an hour away.

Most journeys pass through: it is the airport for Puerto Varas, twenty minutes north, and the start of the Carretera Austral. A night here is worth it for the market and a seafood lunch at Angelmó, for a day on the island of Chiloé, with its wooden churches and penguin colonies, or for the forest of Alerce Andino.

December to March is the driest and warmest season. Rain is frequent the rest of the year, and part of the place.