We begin about 700 km south of Santiago with the region "Araucania". It encompasses some of the finest scenery in the Americas, with forest-encircled lakes presided over by the perfect cones of snowy volcanoes, crystal-clear rivers and lively towns.

The region "Los Lagos", located some 1,000km south of Santiago, is about as large as Ireland and is home to a million people. Here is where the German immigrants who arrived late last century left their clearest mark, evident in the architecture, cuisine and in the names of many people. Interesting cities like Valdivia, Osorno, Frutillar, Puerto Varas and Puerto Montt, large national parks, beautiful lakes, picturesque villages, forests and volcanoes, plus the world apart that is the Chiloé island make up the array of attractions awaiting the visitor.

Inland is Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park, Chile's oldest, and lake Todos los Santos, a green jewel lying at the foot of the pointed Puntiagudo volcano. You can sail across this lake and continue hopping from lake to lake across the Andes all the way to Bariloche, Argentina's biggest lake resort.

Some 20km (12mi) south of lake Llanquihue the 1,000-km long Central Valley finally dips under the ocean. This is where Puerto Montt is located. This is the starting point for cruises along the Patagonian channels to the southern reaches of the country.

The Pan-American highway continues on to Chiloé, South America's second largest island after Tierra del Fuego. It is the main island of an archipelago that harbors a very distinct culture, expressed in an astoundingly rich mythology, its unique shingled churches, its palafito houses (houses on stilts), its music and its food. The island was isolated from the rest of colonial Chile for some three centuries, devoid of any further contact with the rest of the world. It thus developed its unique culture centered on religion and the sea.

Text taken from the homepage of SERNATUR. We highly recommend to visit this homepage for more detailled information.