The Lakes Region

This area represents the perfect example of unspoilt nature, with incredible views and sights of historic interest.
Temuco is the cultural centre of the Araucano people, who managed to resist the Spanish colonisers for more than 100 years. The Araucano are famous for their woodwork. The Spanish fortresses near to Valdivia are worth a visit, and there are many beautiful Jesuit Churches on Chiloè Island.
The tour of the Lakes Region is truly amazing. You can visit the characteristic towns of Pucón, Frutillar e Puerto Varas. You can also see the spectacular waterfalls near Pucon, go on excursions, go skiing or go trekking on the Villarrica Volcano; from which you can take in a truly breathtaking landscape, a sea of lakes and forest. This areas also contains the country’s most popular national parks: Conguillio; Villarrica; Nahuelbuta and Vicente Perez Rosales.
Emerald coloured lakes such as Caburga and Todos los Santos are perfect for water sports, especially fly-fishing.
Aisen is the district which the magical “Austral Route” or Carretera Austral passes through. This will take you to glaciers, evergreen forests, rivers, waterfalls and fiords. There are so many places and so much to do: rafting and speed-boating on the Trancura River, trekking in the Huerquehue National Park, water-skiing on Lake Villarrica. And if after all this activity you need a bit of relaxation, there is no where better than the luxurious thermal baths of which there are many in this area.

Chiloe Island

From curanto, a typical chilote dish of meat and seafood, to Trauco, an old legend that was told on the island when young girls got pregnant, to the original palafitos, traditional fisherman houses built on stilts along the shore.

Chiloe Island has a unique atmosphere. It is 180km long and only 50km wide. It has luxurious vegetation, rolling hills, the north is a patchwork of fields whereas the south is covered in forest. It is reached from the mainland by ferry which crosses the Chacao Canal. Luis Sepulveda , wrote in his marvellous book Patagonia Express :
" As soon as I boarded the boat that would take me to Chiloè, at the edge of the Austral, I began to discover a universe to which I felt bound by a sense of belonging. As I delighted in the rough crossing over the Corcovado Gulf, sailing east through the Chiloè Archipelago, the Guaitecas, the Chonos, and the dozens of uninhabited islands, all an incredible green, beaten by the wind, that however could not dull the colour of the teaks, I began to feel as though I was returning to a world where adventure was not only possible, but the only way to live."

Our programmes: the marvels of Chiloe, Patagonia Express. Come and discover this magical island with us.