Puerto Varas travel guide

Situated on the southwestern corner of the lake, Puerto Varas, with a population of 25,000, is the commercial and tourist centre of Lago Llanquihue. It also serves as a residential centre for Puerto Montt, 20 km to the south. The self-styled “city of the roses” was recently voted the best place to live in Chile. In the 19th century, Puerto Chico (on the eastern outskirts) was the southern port for shipping on the lake. With the arrival of the railway the settlement moved to its current location and is now a resort, popular with Chilean as well as foreign tourists; in February especially, the town clogs up with oversized jeeps from Santiago. Despite the numbers of visitors, though, it has a friendly, compact feel, and is one of the best bases for exploring the southern Lake District, near centres for trekking, rafting, canyoning and fly-fishing.