Puerto Montt in Southern Chile – a perfect volcano!

Puerto Montt, located in southern Chile, is a bustling port city surrounded by stunning natural landscapes. From towering volcanoes to serene lakes, the region offers a wealth of outdoor activities and cultural experiences. Whether you’re looking for adventure or relaxation, there’s something for everyone around Puerto Montt. We arrived on the Viking Chilean Fjords and South America cruise in late January to some lovely blue skies, but clouds in the distance hid the volcano from sight. However, we were on the tour to Petrohue and Lake Todos Los Santos and so we did manage to see it “up close”!

Like a lot of the smaller ports on this cruise, the access from the ship is by tender and we saw very little of the city itself.

One of the most iconic landmarks in the region, the Osorno Volcano towers over the lake at a height of over 8,000 feet. We first boarded a boat for a tour around the lake at Petrohue (where the road ends) and although we kept thinking that the clouds were blowing away from the summit, they never actually did and so we missed seeing that perfect conical shape that the volcano is famous for.

If I’m honest, the boat tour didn’t really go anywhere – just out into the lake, did a circular tour and then came back! We were probably on the ship for 45 minutes to an hour. Larger ferry boats take passengers across to Argentina although I understand it takes most of a day to get to that distant shore.

I think this was about as close as we came to seeing the summit – just one more breath of wind!

The unusual red building in the small village is actually a hotel:

The next stop on the tour was the equally famous Petrohue falls – more of a cascade perhaps than a fully blown waterfall, but interesting nonetheless. As you can imagine, with coach tours arriving steadily through the day, it could be pretty busy, but a long duration exposure makes the people a little less noticeable!

And for a more moody shot of the water and volcano in the distance, here is a black and white version:

We did see some foxes running around after each other on the lava like rocks – but the photo I managed to take was not that great!

On the way back, we stopped in a lovely little lakeside town of Puerto Varas, also known as the City of Roses. On a clear day, you can easily see the volcano dominating the landscape around the lake, but, as you can see above, the clouds were already starting to roll in. The weather either works or it doesn’t! We did have a very nice lunch in an old hotel in the town, but the railway station – closed now, but being renovated as an art center.

On arrival back at the ship, there was relatively little time before we were due to depart. The city has little in the way of a “skyline”, but you can get a little idea of Puerto Montt from this photo of the town and the Volendam ship of the Holland America line.

I know I complain about the weather sometimes, but that evening, the cloudy sky made for a gorgeous sunset as the sun, still some way above the horizon, cast a lovely golden glow across the Pacific Ocean that was almost completely still and calm. A lovely end to the day!

Incidentally, we spent several years missing out on a discount on Viking Cruises which can give you extra credits on your next cruise. If you want to learn more, check out this page.

The next post in this series about the Viking Chilean Fjords and South American Cruise, can be found here – Glacier Alley.