By air
Puerto Montt (PMC), ~25 km
South America · Chile
Puerto Varas, Chile
Lakes and volcanoes in the south
Getting there
Best time to visit
December to March — summer
Don't miss
Lake Llanquihue
Osorno volcano
The Petrohué Falls
Puerto Varas's waterfront
Things to do
Kayaking Lake Llanquihue
Hiking on Osorno volcano
The Petrohué rapids
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Draceane · CC BY-SA 4.0
What to pack
Layers, a rain jacket
A quieter corner
Frutillar, a lakeside town of German-era houses
Questions travellers ask
What's the best season for Puerto Varas?
December to March, in summer. Layers and a rain jacket are still worth packing.
Which airport serves Puerto Varas?
Puerto Montt (PMC), about 25 km away.
What can I do around Puerto Varas?
Kayak Lake Llanquihue, hike on Osorno volcano and see the Petrohué Falls and rapids. Then stroll Puerto Varas's waterfront.
Is there a hidden gem near Puerto Varas?
Frutillar, a lakeside town of German-era houses. Treat yourself to kuchen cakes and salmon while you're in the area.
About Puerto Varas
- Lakeside
- Mountains
Where it is
Puerto Varas is a small town in the Los Lagos region of southern Chile, on the shore of Lake Llanquihue, the country's second-largest lake, about 20 km north of Puerto Montt, facing the Osorno and Calbuco volcanoes.
History
The Huilliche lived around the lake before German immigrants, brought by the Chilean government in the 1850s to settle the south, cleared the forests and founded farms and towns along its shores. Puerto Varas dates from 1853 and is named after Antonio Varas, the interior minister of the time; its wooden Sacred Heart church, built in 1918, is a town landmark.
People
Many families around Lake Llanquihue descend from 19th-century German settlers, whose kuchen and wooden houses of alerce timber remain part of local life, and Spanish is spoken. Huilliche and Chilote traditions show in the region's seafood and curanto, and Frutillar's summer music festival draws classical musicians.
Known for
- Views of the Osorno volcano across the lake
- German-style wooden houses and kuchen
- The Petrohué Falls
- Kayaking and rafting
- The lakeside town of Frutillar
Did you know?
The near-perfect cone of the Osorno volcano, 2,652 m high and often compared with Japan's Mount Fuji, rises across the lake from the town, while neighbouring Calbuco erupted with little warning in 2015.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.