3 Must See Sites in Puerto Montt

Frutillar & German Settlers Museum

click images to enlarge

After a relaxing day at sea, we arrived in Puerto Montt.  This area is rich in German history which was the highlight of the tour we selected.  We boarded a bus for a tour through downtown Puerto Montt and points beyond.

Puerto Montt is your gateway to Chile's magnificent Lake District. Here, snow-capped volcanoes gaze down on alpine valleys nestled among low hills. Glaciers carved out this
terrain, leaving the jewel-like lakes in their wake. The Lake District was a magnet for
German immigrants, and their legacy can be seen today in the manicured rose
gardens of Puerto Varas, in Chile's "German Villages" like Frutillar and in Puerto Montt's
gabled homes with elaborate balconies.

Puerto Varas

Puerto Varas rests on the shores of shimmering Lake Llanquihue.  It is known as the "City of Roses" for its beautiful rose-encircled plaza.  We had some time to walk around the town before heading for our next stop.  Here we had magnificent view of Volcán Osorno.

Osorno Volcano is a 2,652-metre (8,701 ft) tall conical volcano which has become a symbol of the local landscape, and is noted for its similar appearance to Mount Fuji.

There are other tours which take you closer to the volcano.  Weather can be quite unpredictable near the volcano, and there is no guarantee that you'll see the peak.  You'll notice in these images that clouds obscured part of the volcano, but the peak was visible.  This reminded us of when we saw Mount McKinley in Alaska.

Frutillar

This small hamlet embraces its Germanic heritage.  After we arrived, we were given admission tickets for a tour of the German Colonial Museum, which resembles a small Swiss chalet.  
Here we walked among the gardens of roses and other flowers in bloom.  We strolled through the garden, mill, grain house, blacksmith shop and house.

We then went to a cafe across the street and had some cake before boarding the bus for the return to the ship. We drove past the lake one more time before heading to the ship.  We were on one of the final tender boats back to the ship.

Our recommendation for Puerto Montt is that you take an excursion, either organized by the ship or on your own, that includes a visit to one of the main lakes and if possible include a view of the volcano on that tour, regardless of how close you get to it.




Related Albums:

Puerto Montt
Puerto Varas
German Settlers Museum
Frutillar 

Note:  we will be adding to these albums as we continue our journey.

Click on the image to the right for more Blog posts about this trip.

Additional photos can be found on our South America Shutterfly page

View Our Other Shutterfly Share Pages

Follow us on Twitter: @ChrisPappinMCC  

Pinterest: CruiseWithChris Pappin 
and Facebook: CruiseWithChris Pappin Cruises Inc

Where have you explored? 

Gather your travel and food pics and join us Wednesday night for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat