Chiloé Island

1-3 days as part of a tailor-made holiday

This island of rolling fields and heathland has a tortured coast of creeks and cliffs, traditional villages with unique wooden churches, and age-old craft-work to buy and customs to observe

Daily from Puerto Montt / Puerto Varas

Although just offshore from the lake district and Patagonia, the emerald island of Chiloé is a world unto itself. 

Colonised 300 years prior to the nearby mainland, Chiloé is a mix of small farms, fishing villages, dense forests, indented coastline and a proud, conservative local population.

Over 150 centuries-old wooden churches (14 UNESCO sites) attest to its missionary past, while brightly coloured fishing boats at anchor are evidence of a continued reliance on the fruits of the sea for survival.

Using private transport, visit an island penguin colony (Humboldt and Magellanic - between December and mid-March), the waterside town of Ancud and tranquil bays teeming with birdlife.

You can visit Chiloe on a day trip, albeit a long one; private excursions take you off the beaten track while the shared tours tend to visit the principal highlights off the main road including Castro, the capital.