Termas Geometricas

Termas Geometricas was designed by the Chilean architect German del Sol and opened in 2004 in a narrow canyon on the flank of Villarrica volcano, where hot water comes out of the rock at a number of points. Rather than build a spa, the scheme laid a red-painted timber walkway some 450 metres up the canyon floor and placed seventeen slate-lined pools along it, each fed by its own spring at a different temperature, with changing huts beside them and nothing else - no restaurant complex, no hotel. The forest closes over the top and cold water runs down the middle of the gorge for cooling off.

What you actually see

• A red walkway up a canyon - about 450 metres of it.
• Seventeen slate pools - each fed by its own spring.
• Rainforest closing overhead - the gorge is narrow and green.
• A designed scheme from 2004 - by the architect German del Sol.

When to go

Year round; rain and steam in winter suit it particularly. Half a day.

Honest expectations

It is expensive by Chilean standards and booking is advisable. The access road is gravel and slow. It rains here a great deal, which is part of the experience but soaks everything. Facilities are deliberately minimal.

Nearby

Conaripe and Lake Calafquen are north; Pucon is beyond them.