Puerto Varas

Puerto Varas was settled from the 1850s under the Chilean government's programme of bringing German families to colonise the lake district, and the timber houses with their shingled walls and steep roofs date from that period and after. The Sacred Heart church of 1915 was built to a plan taken from the Marienkirche at Bad Sackingen in the Black Forest, and the resemblance is deliberate. The town sits on the southern shore of Lake Llanquihue looking across at Osorno and Calbuco, and it functions as the base for the whole area - Petrohue, the volcanoes, rafting on the Petrohue river and the Cruce Andino all leave from here.

What you actually see

• German colonist timber houses - shingled, from the 1850s onward.
• A church copied from the Black Forest - the Sacred Heart of 1915.
• Osorno and Calbuco across the lake - the town's outlook.
• The base for the lake district - most trips leave from here.

When to go

December to March; the town is quiet and wet in winter. A full day.

Honest expectations

Rain is frequent and the volcanoes are often invisible. The town is expensive by Chilean standards and busy in January and February. The colonisation history is presented positively; its effect on Mapuche and Huilliche land is a separate and harder subject.

Nearby

Frutillar is round the lake north; Puerto Montt is south.