Aye, the Chilean Lake District. Did this in January 2023 with Davey — we'd been talking about it since the Patagonia trip in 2018 and finally got around to it. Two weeks. Pucón as the base for the northern lakes, then south to Puerto Varas and Lake Llanquihue, then a ferry across to the island of Chiloé for the last three days. Hard to describe how good a region this is, to be fair. Like Scotland but with active volcanoes. Tell ye what.
[IMAGE: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1568797629192-908ad8ed5e8a?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop | The conical Villarrica volcano rising over Lake Villarrica with the small town of Pucón on the lake shore at sunset]
Quick orientation
The Chilean Lake District (Región de Los Lagos and southern Araucanía) runs from Temuco in the north down to Puerto Montt in the south. About 500 km of mostly-flat farmland punctuated by enormous glacial lakes (Villarrica, Calafquén, Panguipulli, Ranco, Puyehue, Rupanco, Llanquihue, Todos los Santos) and the snow-capped volcanic peaks that surround them (Villarrica, Llaima, Lanín, Choshuenco, Osorno, Calbuco, Tronador). South of Puerto Montt the Chiloé archipelago juts out — 41 islands in total, the main one of Isla Grande de Chiloé being a separate world entirely.
The whole region is the Chilean equivalent of the New Zealand south island — adventure tourism, alpine lodges, hot springs, glacier viewpoints, and a quietly excellent food and craft beer scene. The architecture is a hodgepodge of German colonial (heavy mid-19th-century German immigration to the region), Mapuche indigenous, and Chilote (Chiloé) styles.
We made Pucón our first base. Bad call honestly — should have started in Puerto Varas where things are quieter. Pucón in January is a Chilean summer party town. By the time we got to Chiloé I'd forgotten what silence sounded like.
Pucón and northern lakes
Pucón sits on the eastern shore of Lake Villarrica with the active Villarrica volcano (2,847m, still smoking) right there. The town itself is touristy as hell — adventure-sports shops, ice cream parlours, gringo bars. Not really our thing. But it's the launching point for the genuinely brilliant stuff in the area.
Climbing Villarrica volcano. Day trip, guided, about 120 USD per person. Crampons, ice axe, helmet provided. Six-hour return. The crater at the top has actual molten lava visible some days. No joke. We saw it. The descent involves bum-sliding down the snow chutes with butt-pads which is genuinely fun even for two old shipyard fitters in their 50s.
Termas Geometricas. Possibly the most beautiful hot springs I've ever been in. A series of 17 wooden pools stacked along a forest gorge, connected by an elevated walkway, surrounded by old-growth temperate rainforest. About 90 minutes' drive from Pucón. About 50 USD entry. Go for the late afternoon and stay until the rangers turn you out at 7pm.
Conguillío National Park. A bit further north, about 3 hours from Pucón. Ancient monkey puzzle (araucaria) forests, the Llaima volcano, the so-called Sierra Nevada trail which is one of the best alpine day hikes in Chile. Allow a full day there and back. Bring a packed lunch.
Caburgua Lake. Quieter alternative to Lake Villarrica for swimming. Hot springs at Termas Los Pozones nearby (cheaper than Geometricas but less spectacular).
Puerto Varas and central lakes
Down the road two hours, in a different world. Puerto Varas is on the northern shore of Lake Llanquihue (Chile's biggest lake, 870 km²). Two volcanoes (Osorno and Calbuco) frame the view across the water. The town centre is mid-19th-century German colonial — beer halls, kuchen bakeries, half-timbered houses. Quiet, civilised, walkable.
Petrohué falls and Lake Todos los Santos. Half-hour drive from Puerto Varas to the falls (more rapids than falls), then a boat ride across the emerald Lake Todos los Santos. Genuinely one of the most beautiful boat rides anywhere. The boat continues to a remote ferry connection if you want to keep heading east, but the day trip is fine.
Osorno volcano. Drive up the eastern slope to the ski resort base (closed in summer but the road is open). The view from there is the headline. There's a small chairlift in summer that runs hikers up another 500 metres — worth it.
Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park. Surrounds Lake Todos los Santos. Day hikes to small waterfalls and viewpoints.
Frutillar. Small German-Chilean town 30 minutes from Puerto Varas, on Lake Llanquihue. Famous for its lake-side wooden concert hall (Teatro del Lago) where there's a classical music festival every January. We caught a quartet performance for 40 USD a ticket. Aye.
Chiloé
Ferry from Pargua (45 minutes south of Puerto Montt) to Chiloé island — a 30-minute crossing. The ferry goes every 30 minutes in summer.
Chiloé is a different island. Different weather (cool and damp year-round, even in summer). Different culture. Different food. Different architecture — the famous palafitos (stilt houses) on the water at Castro, and the 16 UNESCO-listed wooden churches scattered across the island, all built between the 17th and 19th centuries in a unique Chilote style by indigenous Huilliche-Spanish carpentry traditions.
Three days minimum here. Five would be better. We did three. Davey reckons we should have done five.
Castro — the capital. Stay in a palafito hotel on the water. Walk the colourful market by day. Walk the seafront at sunset.
Dalcahue — small town with the most photographed of the UNESCO-listed wooden churches, plus a craft market. Twenty minutes from Castro.
Quinchao Island — ferry across the channel from Dalcahue. Quieter still. Two more UNESCO churches.
Cucao and Chiloé National Park — west coast, raw weather, beaches of black volcanic sand, penguin colonies in the right season. The wildest part of the island.
Curanto. Chiloé's signature dish. A pit dug in the ground, stones heated in a fire, layered with shellfish, sausage, pork, potatoes, dumplings, all wrapped in giant nalca leaves. Communal eating. Worth catching at a proper restaurant in Castro (Mar y Canela is the safe bet) or, better, going to a country home that serves it once a week with the family.
When to go
December-March is the Chilean summer. Best weather. Most crowded. We went mid-January and Pucón was packed.
April-May and September-November are shoulder seasons. Quieter, cooler, often rainy. Some hotels close in low season.
June-August is winter — ski conditions on the volcanoes, cold rain on the lakes, mostly closed for tourism except the ski-base towns. Skip unless you specifically want the snow.
How to get around
A car is the right answer for two weeks. Rent at Temuco airport (LATAM has direct flights from Santiago) or Puerto Montt airport. About 50-70 USD per day. Roads are paved and well-marked through the main regions.
Bus connections are good between the major towns (Pucón, Valdivia, Puerto Varas, Castro) if you don't want to drive. Less flexible but cheaper.
Food and drink
Beyond curanto.
Asado. Whole-lamb roast over a wood fire, common in Patagonian Lake District. Order a day in advance if possible.
Pisco sour. Chilean national cocktail. Get it right at any decent bar — pisco, lime juice, sugar, egg white, ice, shake.
Craft beer. The region has a small but excellent craft beer scene. Look for Kross (from Curacaví), Cervecería Austral (Punta Arenas), and smaller local breweries in Pucón and Puerto Varas. Davey ranked Kross higher than most Edinburgh pints. Pints? Half-litres? Wheesht.
Combining the trip
The natural northward extension is Santiago and the Central Valley wine regions (Maipo, Colchagua). The southward extension is the Carretera Austral and deep Patagonia — three more weeks at least, but the Lake District is the obvious gateway. The Chile country guide covers the route from north to south. For tours in Chile, most options pair Lake District + Patagonia.
Official sources
Sernatur, the Chilean national tourism service, has practical info. CONAF runs the national parks — Vicente Pérez Rosales, Conguillío, and the Chiloé NP pages all have trail info and current entry fees. UNESCO's Chiloé churches inscription covers the architectural history.
Last word
Aye, what a region. The combination of those active volcanoes, the cold lakes, the German colonial bakeries, the Chilote wooden churches, the hot springs in the forest, the curanto pits and the pisco sours — it's a serious destination and it's still underrated by international travellers. Two weeks felt about right. Three would have been better. Davey and I have been talking about going back to do Chiloé properly. We'll see. Tell ye what though, if ye're flying all the way to Chile for Patagonia, you'd be daft not to spend a week here on the way.
A note on the Mapuche
I should mention this. The Chilean Lake District is the traditional territory of the Mapuche people — the largest indigenous nation in Chile, who held off Spanish colonisation longer than almost any other group in the Americas (the Spanish gave up trying to conquer southern Chile in the 1640s; the area was only "pacified" by the Chilean state in the 1880s). The region still has substantial Mapuche communities and there is ongoing tension over land rights, particularly around the Conguillío forests.
If you visit, this is worth knowing. The Mapuche are not historical — they are present. Mapudungun (the language) is still spoken. Mapuche food, art, music, and traditional medicine are part of the living culture of the region. The Chol-Chol cooperative near Temuco runs visits to Mapuche communities that are genuinely well-organised and respectful. Worth a day if you have the time.
Aye, tell ye what. Going back to that next time.