Coyhaique

Coyhaique was founded in 1929, late even by Patagonian standards, and its centre is built around a plaza laid out as a pentagon with ten streets radiating from it - a plan attributed to the Carabineros officer who set it out and unlike anything else in Chile. It is the only city of any size in Aysen and the base for the whole region: supplies, flights, hire cars and the Carretera Austral all run through it. It also has a serious air quality problem: almost every house heats with wet firewood, the city sits in a basin, and winter inversions have repeatedly given it some of the worst recorded particulate levels in the Americas.

What you actually see

• A pentagonal plaza - with ten streets radiating from it.
• Founded in 1929 - late even for Patagonia.
• The base for all of Aysen - supplies, transport and the Carretera.
• Severe winter smog - wood heating in a basin, with inversions.

When to go

December to March; the winter air quality is a genuine reason to avoid it then. A full day.

Honest expectations

The city itself is functional rather than attractive. In winter the smoke is bad enough to affect people with respiratory conditions. Hire cars book out months ahead in summer. Prices are high for Chile.

Nearby

Cerro Castillo is south; Puerto Aysen and the fjord are west.