Chiloe Island, Chile
 

Anyone familiar with this area, done any travel here or in Puerto Montt or Los Muermos? If so, would appreciate your observations, comments and suggestions.

Hi H:

We were last down that way in '94...we had just driven two weeks from Santiago, through the lake district and on into PM. The plan was to get to Chiloe but we were discouraged by local folks in PM who told us that the weather was predicted to be foggy and rainy for ten days....a common ccurence, evidently.

Instead, we dropped the car in PM and booked the bus-boat-bus-boat-bus-boat ride into Bariloche (Arg), Truly an unforgettable trip of the most dramatically gorgeous scenery imaginable....deep greeen and deep bkue lakes, snow-topped volcanos, lush rain forests...etc. We stayed overnight in the little mountain village of Puella...then finished the trip the next day. The Hotel Vicente Rosales in PM can book the trip for you...I highly recommend the experience.

While in PM take in the picturesque Angelmo fish market..and have lunch in any one of the tiny cafes...usually accompanied by singing guitarist...the sea food stew with a glass of Chilean merlot is superb.

stu t.

Some pics (pre-digital, scanned, from Chile)

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuartto...esOfChile1994#
(Can be enlarged by clicking on the magnifying glass icon)

I've been to Chiloe a couple of times in the past few years. It's better if you can go in the summer (Dec., Jan., Feb.). The sun does not set until about 10 p.m. and the weather is much better. Any other time of year, you risk overcast, foggy days. There's some risk of that in the summer too, but not nearly as much.

Chiloe is interesting for its wooden Jesuit churches, good seafood and woolens.

Rather than Puerto Montt, I'd base myself in Puerto Varas nearby. It's far more interesting.

Yes, Puerto Varas....infinitely more appealing than PM...we had stopped there for two nights before going on to drop the car and spend two nghts in PM...
Right on, Jeff..
stu

We loved the fish market/restaurant kiosk market in Puerto Montt.....in fact we could have spent another day there but then we love markets. I was very much looking forward to Chiloe and had booked 4 nights there, but we were done after 3 - here is a link to our blog (scroll down for Puerto Montt/Chiloe/Puerto Varas info

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/l..._south_/chile/

Liz could you please email me at [email protected]

Thanks in advance

Stu and Jeff, thanks for the great info.

We finally decided to crack open the piggy bank and stay at The Cliff Preserve:

http://www.cliffspreserve.cl/

This proved to be a somewhat expensive, but wothwhile travel investment. We were treated like royalty and loved every minute of the experience.

Hi, Not to subject jump but I would welcome any cost saving ideas you may have to get my family of five to Machu Pichu and the Galapagos. I am interested in using frequent flyer miles and wondered if we could do better arranging our own hotels and tours in country. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

DG