Santiago to Puerto Montt
 

Hi,

We are planning a trip to Santiago, renting a car, driving to Puerto Montt and just driving around for a few days. The other alternative is to fly to Puerto Montt , rent a car there and just sightsee for several days.

If anyone has had experience renting a car in P.M. and/or accomodation in that area, would you give me some names.

Thanks,

gerry

Puerto Montt lies almost exactly at the 1,000 km. post on the highway south from Santiago, putting it at about 600 miles. It's a four-lane toll highway the entire way and an easy drive, but a long one. Flying is much quicker, about 90 minutes, and there are car rental places at El Tepual Airport in PM, or in town itself. Most of the major North American companies are there if you do a web search.

Nothing wrong with Puerto Montt, but it's a small city. Puerto Varas and Frutillar, about 30 minutes north, are far more interesting towns to base yourself, or you can continue east from Puerto Varas along the southern shore of Lake Llanquihue on the road to Ensenada. All have nice selections of accommodation and restaurants and give you a lot more scenery for your peso than you get in PM.

A lot depends on when you are going to be there. January, and more so February, can get quite full in the area. PM is great for eating seafood, go 2kms out to the fishing village of Angelmo. It is also a good spot to set off for the islands of Chiloe.

Driving to PM from Santiago will take a good 12-13 hours. You don't have to do it in one though. Or you can take the excellent sleeper bus, leave in the evening and wake up in the south.

I would not choose one place as a base but move around a bit if you have a car so you aren't always returning to the same place. You could do a loop from PM, visiting Puerto Varas, Frutillar, Puerto Octay or Llanquihue, Valdivia, Villarica or Pucon. I don't know how many days you have. Basically, look at the 10th region (X Region).

http://www.turistel.cl/v2/secciones/...cion/index.htm

Sorry, meant IX and X regions. 9th and 10th.

We are arriving from Bariloche, AR and flying from Puerto Montt-SCL to get a rental car back to the Colchogua Valley.
M

Thanks for the replies. After checking prices etc from LAN, I am trying to find prices from TURBUS but can't seem to get info from their website. Does anyone know how to contact them or any bus company that has ama service from Santiago to Puerto Montt possibly with a stop in the middle.

Thanks again

Go to www.turbus.cl, on the left click "venta de pasajes", enter Santiago and PM as start and destination, you will get a list of buses with the type of service, leaving and arrival times and the cost. You cannot access dates very far ahead, so just pick next month to get the details. You cannot book online from outside Chile unless your CC is issued here.The cama buses leave in the evening and are overnight buses. You could get a cama to somewhere before PM and then a semi-cama to continue your journey later.

gerrmark:

For what it's worth...we rented a car in Santiago a few years ago, and took three days to drive to PM, but first driving to the coast to spend a day and a night in Vina del Mar.

..we then drove about three hours to Chile's famous horse ranch, Hacienda Los Lingues, for lunch..beautiful place with the Andes looming in the background...and a wonderful afternoon "cowboy/guasti" horse show. We then continued on to Chillan for an overnight because the ranch was full.

From Chillan we leisurely drove south stopping in several small towns and the city of Temuca, and then overnighting in beautful Frutillar on Lake Llanquihue. We stayed in a little b and b across from the much-photo'ed pier. The b and b is Kleine Salzburg.
We went on to PM, turned in the car and stayed at the Vicente Rosales before embarking on the world-renowned Andes Lakes trip to Bariloche...amazing scenery of snow-capped volcanos and five lakes...it combined bus and boat and an overnight in the mountain/forest village of Puella.

Highly recommend this trip for fantastic scenery, light traffic, easy driving and friendly Chileans. Do it, you'll be happy that you did.

Stu T.

Gerr:

Can also second the motin on Angelmo fish markets/cafes walking distance from PM...

I can also recommend a hotel that's been on our Top Ten list since we stayed there a few years back...The Antumulal in Pucon on the shores of Lake VillRica...ultra beautiful location and lodgings...Chile remains one of the Best Kept Secrets of the continent!(I have photos, pre-digital--if you wish, get me an e-mail address and I'll send)

Stu T. [email protected]



Stu T.

Thanks again for the replies. Re the buses, I was finally able to get a schedule and price list from Turbus. I can't get it from Pullman.
Another strange thing re Turbus. I was thinking of doing what was suggested: take a bus from Santiago to Pucon staying a day or so and then taking another bus from Pucon to P.M. I could find all the infor for Santiago to Pucon but nothing came up for Pucon to PM.
If anyone has an idea on either o these issues, it would be appreciated.

gerry

Pucon is a small town and served by long distance buses because it's a tourist destination. All you need to do is go from Pucon to the city of Temuco which has buses to just about everywhere. TurBus should be able to sell you a Pucon to Temuco and Temuco to Puerto Montt with no problem.

You will also find smaller buses going from Pucon to Temuco.

Puerto Montt is a port town and is quite run down.

Puerto Varas is great. We stopped there and found it to be very pleasant.

Pucon was a very nice place to visit as well.

Woodie

Woodie:
>>>Puerto Montt is a port town and is quite run down.<<<

This is a bad rap for PM ... IMO. It is quite colorful, some very decent restaurants and lodgings, and a fine waterfront walk. The nearby fishing village of Angelmo is as picturesque as one would find anywhere...I agree, PV is much smaller and quite appealing, also, as is Frutillar...

Stu T.

Puerto Montt has excellent fish and shellfish and is a good place to start for the islands of Chiloe.

While there is not a lot to do in Puerto Montt, the fish market is quite interesting. Many of the stalls have adjacent small restaurants. I was on a package tour with elderhostel and wanted to try one of these places but we did not have time. Looks like it would have been a lot of fun.

I would not say that Puerto Mott is run down at all. Many of the big cruise ships stop there. There is a nice waterfront to walk along and--would you believe this?--two small shopping malls. In fact, there are shopping malls, I am told, in all of Chile's major cities now. The only problem is that people are not earning enough to generate enough purchases to make many of the stores viable.

I would only use Puerto Montt as a base for exploring the lakes and the Orsono volcano or as a stop on the way to Chiloe.

germack:

If you stay in Pucon..there is the Black Sand beach Grand Hotel..but as I suggested above, I would strongly consider The Antumalal, about half-mile out of town on the lake. It is something very special indeed. Here's the link:
http://chile-hotels.com/antumala.htm

Stu T.

I'm wondering if there is a flight from Chiloe to Santiago. Also, I will be traveling from Santiago to Puerto Varas, and wondering if there is a scenic place somewhere in between the two cities that anyone can recommend. I'm shooting a documentary film and looking for material on the rural beauty and culture of Chile.
best,
kerry

Kerry:

The entire Lake Distrcit is beautiful, raw and exciting travel. Starting in Temuco and going inland toward the Andes...you'll go through one scenic area after another. Lake VillaRica, Pucon and LLanquihue offer great views (Osorno Volcano is beautifully visible from the latter), and the lakeside town of Frutillar as I've stated above several times.

For a visit to the Los Lingues famous horse ranch, stay for lunch pr dinner and overnight...gorgeous place framed by the Andes...it's halfway between Santiago and Chillan off the Pan American Hwy.
Any relation to Casey Candaele, former Major League ballplayer?

Stu T.

There is no nonmilitary airport on Chiloe.