Puerto Montt Shore Excursion Reviews

  • Popular Things to Do in Puerto Montt

  • Food and Drink in Puerto Montt

  • Best Cocktail in Puerto Montt

Find Things to Do in Puerto Montt on Viator

Popular Things to Do in Puerto Montt

Food and Drink in Puerto Montt

Take your pick ... seafood or meats, upscale or diner, German or Chilean. Puerto Montt has variety aplenty, and all of it in this area is reasonably priced. You can dine at a swank "yacht club" (minus the yachts but overlooking the water), or you can join the working class as they break for delicious fish stew or a plate of mussels in the stalls near the artisan's market. The German and Austrian influence in the region also means you can choose schnitzel or wurst from any number of spots in Puerto Montt, Puerto Varas or Fruitillar. Here are our favorites:

Local Favorite: Club de Yates (Phone: 56-65-284000) This waterfront restaurant (not really a yacht club) is open for lunch between noon and 4 p.m. and features an extensive menu of meats, seafoods, salads and soups, plus a fabulous list of Chilean wines to sample. It's truly gourmet food and atmosphere at a very reasonable price. There's a second one located in Puerto Varas, too, for those who are spending the day there.

Luxe Lunch: Gran Hotel don Vicente. Located along the waterfront in the city, this newly renovated chalet-style hotel's restaurant offers an extensive seafood buffet lunch for around $12 U.S. Only the outside is Bavarian; inside it's pure Chilean hospitality.

At the Market: Feria Artesenal Angelmo. Mixed in among the artisan's stalls are "kitchens" serving crabs, mussels, clams and other fresh seafood plucked up from the central seafood market just across the road. This is where the dockworkers and other laborers stop for lunch, rubbing shoulders with the tourists who are enjoying a non-touristy, authentic and cheap meal. Hours vary.


Best Cocktail in Puerto Montt

Fine Chilean wines or the national alcoholic drink, the Pisco sour, which tastes like a cross between a daiquiri and a margarita (Pisco is a brandy made from the skin of white grapes).

Don't Miss in Puerto Montt

Puerto Varas: Located about 12 miles northeast of Puerto Montt, this "City of Roses" is quaint and charming, perfect for a nice walk along the shores of Lake Llanquihue with the reflection of the cone-shaped, snow-covered Osorno volcano always present. There's a great craft market and several cafes to enjoy a nice coffee and a raspberry kuchen.

Parque Nacional Alerce Andino: This national park celebrates -- and protects -- the endangered alerce tree, all but extinct except in this 153-square-mile national preserve. Similar to giant sequoias in California, with some as old as 4,000 years, alerce was used to build houses and other structures in the region, and the forests were seriously depleted. This is a lovely national park, complete with 40 small lakes, and a wonderful place to spend at least part of your day.

Frutillar: This small hamlet perfectly preserves the German and Austrian architecture from the immigrants in the late 1800's; talk about a picture-perfect postcard view! The town edges onto Lake Llanquihue, is filled with flowers and timbered chalets, and if you're lucky, you'll be there for the Semanas Musicales de Frutillar, a series of weekly outdoor concerts (mostly classical, some jazz) held during the months of January and February.

Feria Artesenal Angelmo: The artisan market stretches for blocks and blocks, and is reportedly the best place in all of Chile to purchase Chilotan products (woven items of wool and alpaca) from Chiloe, an island off the coast near Puerto Montt. You have to bargain, but even if you don't, the posted prices are low enough to make you want to empty your wallet. Those cruising in late November or early December should plan on getting the bulk of their Christmas gifts here.

Pelluco Beach Resort: Playa Pelluco (the name means "dripping water," which belies the charms of the place) is a lovely place to spend a sunny day. Filled with pubs, shops and lunching options, it's a Chilean vacation spot: Picture Martha's Vineyard or Newport Beach in the southern hemisphere.

Petrohue Falls and Vicente Perez Rosales National Park: The gorgeous route through this national park on the way to the foot of the Osorno Volcano takes you slightly off the main road to these falls. Created from an eruption of the Osorno several centuries ago, the large volcanic rocks form the basis of the multiple cascades. The falls aren't high or as impressive as Niagra, Victoria or Iguazu, but there are several pathways and bridges that traverse the river, offering incredible photo ops, especially with the ever-present Osorno in the distance (and the sound is nice too). It is for these views that people love visiting this region.

Osorno Canopy Zipline: These have become very popular in places that have rainforests, but is equally impressive here, in the forested land at the foot of Osorno. On the zipline located here, there are 14 platforms and 11 cable rides at an average of 125 feet above ground level. From here, you get spectacular views of not only the treetops but also of the Osorno and Calbuco volcanoes and of Lake Llanquihue. You must be fit to take this trip, and certainly not afraid of heights!

Editor's note: You can take many of these recreational activities as ship excursions, but if you want to go independently, there is a tourist office kiosk near the tender pier and another one at the main square in town. There, you can learn of what's available and contact tour operators. Or, you can book in advance through an online provider such as Viator, or check Cruise Critic's South America destination boards for operators other members have used. (There are also several independents who show up at the tender dock; they have signs.)


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