Lago Llanquihue

What makes it special

Lago Llanquihue covers about 871 square kilometres, and its fan-like outline is the work of successive glaciers that spread out across the lowland. Across the water you see three volcanoes: Osorno, a snow-covered cone that dominates the postcards, with Calbuco and Puntiagudo along the same horizon.

The shore towns were settled by German families whom Chile invited to the Lakes District in the 1850s, and you still see it in their houses and museums.

On the northern shore, Puerto Octay has beaches for a lazy hour or for water sports, among them Maitén and Centinela, and a German Colonial Museum set in gardens. Further round the loop, Las Cascadas has a waterfall about 50 metres high on the Río Blanco.

At Ensenada, on the eastern end, the road leaves the lake for Vicente Pérez Rosales, Chile's oldest national park, where the turquoise Petrohué runs over dark volcanic rock.

Visiting

From Puerto Varas, head north first, so the towns come in order and the southern shore brings you home.

Stop at the town of Llanquihue to walk the shore at Playa Los Cisnes. In Frutillar, walk out along the pier the town grew up around, then along the waterfront.

Puerto Octay is the place to get onto the water, by kayak or on a catamaran. Come down the eastern side to Ensenada, then follow the southern shore back to Puerto Varas in time for a sunset walk along the costanera.

Guided or on your own

A guided day tour from Puerto Varas suits you if you would rather not drive. One route follows the southern shore, where the guide explains how glaciers shaped the lake, then stops for about an hour in Ensenada for lunch before the Petrohué falls.

Check whether park entry is included when you book, since the falls sit inside the national park. Drive yourself if you want the northern towns, since this route stays on the southern shore.

Tips

Pack waterproof and warm layers even in summer.

For a view over the whole lake before you start, climb Cerro Philippi above Puerto Varas. Time your trip for late January or early February and you catch Frutillar's annual music festival. The Teatro del Lago is closed when nothing is on, so a performance is the way inside.