Puerto Natales Ferry to Puerto Varas, 14 miles

We arrived at the Puerto Montt port in the middle of the night, but the announcer didn’t blare her usual loud message across the entire ferry’s loudspeaker at that moment, she waited until about 7:30AM in which to announce that breakfast was ready and we had landed in Puerto Montt. I already knew we were there as I remember hearing the loud grumbling sounds of the ferry stop during my sleep.

I was anxious to place my feet on land, so as soon as the announcement was broadcasted I got up and encouraged Mike to do the same. After a quick packing, we were able to sneak the bike off on the elevator with another car and bicyclists while most of the other passengers had just started to enjoy breakfast.

The town resembled Puerto Natales a bit as it looked like a old fishing town which recently done some expansion due to the tourist industry. The old wood shingled buildings, having their once bright colors fading from years in the sun all lined the waterway. As Puerto Montt doesn’t have too much to offer other than it’s location for the Navimag ferry to us, we decided to press on the entire 12 miles to the next town Puerto Vares which was supposed to be quite pleasant.

Puerto Vares, set along a lake, is on the common touristy route to Bariloch. It again has several old wood shingled houses lining the streets. Each house has so much character, and it looks like either they have been built centuries ago, or the ground has moved from underneath them a bit as most of them are a bit crooked in one place versus the other. I think you could make a great haunted house movie with just about any of these old buildings!

There is also a strong German vibe to the entire town, shown through it in much of the architecture. We ended up finding a really nice little hostel which happens to be German owned and full of Germans. Practically everyone here is speaking German to each other, at times I feel I missed the memo on the front of the door. The hostel is one of the nicest we’ve stayed on our trip. There is a really nice garden out front with a fountain that sings a relaxing tune of trickling water, a great kitchen facility, internet (supposedly wifi, but we couldn’t get the darn thing to work) and a nice cozy and clean room. Since we are not in too much of a rush I am considering staying two nights here! I wouldn’t mind looking into the horseback riding they offer around here???

Our first look at Puerto Montt

Somewhat scenic

Amie thought every house looked haunted

German influence?
I'm a land lover