Highlights of Puerto Varas and Pucon
If I asked you about Chile what would be the first few thoughts about the place? Chilean wine? General Pinochet? This is what Navid’s impression was of Chile until we visited Puerto Varas and Pucon. Now we associate the country with natural beauty and warm people.
Chile is a place that Navid has kept close to his heart after reading a book called “Talking in Whispers” during his English GCSEs (about the Chilean dictatorship between 1974 to 1990). Whilst Pinochet still divides the people of Chile, today the country feels like a very different place.
Puerto Varas
Our first observation of Puerto Varas was that it looked like a town stuck in the 50s, but it’s so much more than this. The architecture is interesting, with most of the buildings made from wooden structure adding character to this little town (like our hostel, Margouya, pictured below).
Puerto Varas is steeped with German heritage and this is reflected not only in its architecture but it’s food and beer too! The large scale immigration of Germans to Chile started in circa 1850 during the German revolution.
Whilst an interesting town, we would say 1-2 days should be enough in this sleepy seaside town.
Highlights of Puerto Varas
Volcano Osorno: This is the town’s main attraction. Many people visit just to take on this hike but it is certainly not for the faint hearted, with a 60 degree ascent at times and crevices to navigate. You have to be accompanied by an experienced guide. There are alternative tours which take you up to the Refugio, and there are optional hike up to the snow section and cycle or walk back down.
The town itself: Walk around this small lakeside town to observe the architecture and its huge lake. You can hire a bike and cycle along the lake side to a next town Frutillar.
Beers! There are plenty of nice restaurants and quirky old fashioned places where they serve draught (“schop” or “chopp” in Argentina) beer. We found a quirky little bar and pizza place called Pims which we would recommend.
Pucon
We loved this town – a haven for adventurers with a host of activities from hiking to rafting, there is something for everyone. We spent four nights here and still had more we wanted to do!
Our highlights of Pucon
Volcano Villarrica: This is a snow covered active volcano, and is more accessible than Osorno, but still very challenging. The climb up takes about 5 hours (if the ski-lift is closed for the first section, otherwise it takes about four hours) and must be done with a guide. We used Summit Chile, and we found them to be really experienced and professional. Each of the guides were brillIant and we felt so safe the whole time. This is a very rewarding climb with a smoking lava lake at the top and spectacular views…not to mention the adrenaline pumping slide down to descend!
Parque NacionalHuerquehue: There are a number of walks you can do here depending on the time of year; the highlight being San Sebastián. We went in November and all but one of the trails was closed. You can pick up a park map and find out which trails are open in the local tourist office in town. To get there, you can get the local bus, but note there is a park entrance fee. This was disappointing because we didn’t pay anything in Bariloche to use the National Park and we felt that it was less well kept, even the route open had a lot of fallen trees and became inaccessible in sections. Nonetheless it’s still a good day if you enjoy hiking!
Mount El Cani: If you are not in Pucon to do the Volcano climb then this is the next best option. You can catch the local bus to the sanctuary. We didn’t do this hike because of climbing Villarrica, so we didn’t enquire about any park entrance fees. Once you get there you’ll be given a map. This is a recommended hike with amazing views across three volcanos.
Termas Spas: Try one of the many Termas spas in the area. There are a large number of these all with different price ranges. It is recommended that you do one of these the day after a big hike. We went to the more rustic “Loz Pozones” which was nice but if you have cash to splash try the more commercial “Geometricas” . We were advised that these are the only two natural thermal spas in the area. You can catch local buses, except Geometricas, to most of the spas and they have a return time three hours later which is the maximum time in the spas.
