Things to do in Puerto Montt
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Puerto Montt
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Summer is best, with longest days and driest trails, but February brings peak prices, crowds and ferry queues.
Semana Puertomontina fills Parque Costanera in mid February for the city anniversary festival.
Autumn shoulder brings lower prices, golden light and returning rain, with a brief Semana Santa travel spike.
Winter is cold, damp and very rainy, with short days, some trail closures and the lowest hotel prices.
Fiestas Patrias on 18 and 19 September brings fondas and a national travel spike, so book ferries early.
Spring is the second best window, with longer days, shoulder prices and the Carretera in good pre peak condition.
What's on
- Semana Puertomontina around 12 February
City anniversary week with free Festival Capital concerts in Parque Costanera, a float parade and the Festival de la Prieta.
- Fiestas Patrias 18-19 September
National holidays with fondas, cueca and empanadas, plus a domestic travel spike and closures around the 18th.
Best things to do in Puerto Montt
Mercado Angelmó
A working fish market and cocinerias where boats land the catch and seafood lunches are the best value in the region.
Costanera de Puerto Montt
The rebuilt waterfront promenade and Parque Costanera, best at sunset for bay and volcano views over the Reloncavi sound.
Sentados Frente al Mar
The colossal seated couple on the costanera, a city icon and photo stop to enjoy in passing on a waterfront walk.
Plaza de Armas de Puerto Montt
The founding square of 1853, the quickest way to read the German colonisation history that built this port city.
Catedral de Puerto Montt
The alerce wood cathedral on the Plaza, built in the 19th century and a landmark of the colonisation era port.
Museo Histórico Juan Pablo II
A small history museum whose Monte Verde room explains a settlement that rewrote the peopling of the Americas.
Mercado Presidente Ibáñez
The locals market for fish, smoked meats, cheese and produce, with simple food stalls at local prices.
Pueblito Melipulli
An artisan village beside the bus terminal with wool weaving, native wood work and small cocinerias in 64 stalls.
Where to stay in Puerto Montt
Centro and the Costanera
first trip, no car, transport and eating
Walk to the terminal, plaza, restaurants and evening waterfront, with Angelmo a short ride west.
Pelluco and the eastern Costanera
drivers, quiet and sea facing rooms
A beach suburb of newer waterfront hotels and steak and seafood restaurants, ten minutes by car from the centre.
Barrio Puerto
budget, food driven and Spanish speaking travellers
The old port quarter of wooden houses and historic bars near Angelmo, best in a small hosted guesthouse.
Think twice about
- Angelmó market perimeter and bus terminal streets
Visit and eat there by day, but at night it is a port service zone with touting, street drinking and few good beds. Sleep a few blocks east.
- Upper hillside poblaciones far above the centre
Steep, poorly lit walks back from dinner, no visitor services and long colectivo rides. A very cheap distant listing is a false economy.
- Carretera Austral and Chinquihue road without a car
Thin bus schedules strand you far from Angelmo and the terminal in the rain. Book these stays only as a deliberate car based stay.
Best restaurants in Puerto Montt
Pa' Mar Adentro
The city's most booked seafood table, a cantina style marisqueria for oysters, locos, fish soups and pisco sours.
Restaurant Kiel
A destination seafood lunch in Chinquihue fishing cove, famous for chupe de centolla and unhurried service.
Restaurante Nana Bahamonde
A retro local institution serving generous, exceptionally fresh seafood including a fish trilogy and conger eel.
Azzurro
Homemade pasta meets Los Lagos seafood in a cosy trattoria, with tortellini filled with centolla the signature.
Cotelé
Steak cut at tableside and cooked over coals in the centre of the room, facing the bay in Pelluco.
Club Alemán
German Chilean dining in a formal centre room, with bratwurst, roast boar and goulash alongside Chilean staples.
El Tablón del Ancla
The centre's all day Chilean workhorse for pastel de choclo, cazuela, salmon carpaccio and pisco sours.
Cirus Bar
A Barrio Puerto restaurant bar trading since 1962, serving criollo parrilladas, empanadas and sangria to locals.
Outdoor things to do in Puerto Montt
Parque Nacional Alerce Andino
Valdivian rainforest protecting alerce trees over 3000 years old, reached on the Chaicas trails an hour from the city.
Monumento Natural Lahuen Ñadi
A small remnant alerce forest 13 km from the centre, with an accessible 600 metre loop and trees up to 1800 years old.
Reserva Nacional Llanquihue
Trails across the lahar of Calbuco volcano's 2015 eruption to the Rio Blanco waterfall and lake viewpoints.
Isla Tenglo
A fishing island reached by wooden boat, climbed for the cross viewpoint and the definitive panorama over Puerto Montt.
Ko'KayaK
Guided sea kayaking on the Reloncavi Estuary, the first Patagonian fjord, with dolphins, sea lions and volcano views.
Termas del Sol
Graded outdoor hot spring pools in native forest near Puelo, the relaxing finish to a Cochamo valley day trip.
Hornopirén
The supply town at the end of the first Carretera Austral stretch, reached by road and the La Arena ferry crossing.
Ancud
Chiloe's northern city as an honest day trip via the Pargua to Chacao ferry, with a fort, museum and crafts market.
Best hotels in Puerto Montt
Hotel Gran Pacífico
The classic top address in the centre, with a tenth floor breakfast panorama over the whole bay.
abba Presidente Suites Puerto Montt
Spacious suite style rooms, some with kitchenettes, walking distance to the terminal and waterfront at fair prices.
ibis Puerto Montt
A modern economy chain hotel with small, clean, quiet rooms, the cheapest respectable private room in the centre.
Courtyard by Marriott Puerto Montt
The city's most polished international hotel, with large quiet rooms on the eastern waterfront in Pelluco.
Novotel Puerto Montt
A modern four star Accor hotel on the Pelluco waterfront, offering space and quiet in exchange for distance from the centre.
Hospedaje Vista al Mar
A small family guesthouse with sea views and home style breakfast, the hosted way to stay in Barrio Puerto.
Is Puerto Montt expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CLP 45,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CLP 100,000 a person |
| Splurge | CLP 190,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Parque Nacional Alerce Andino: a few days ahead
- Ko'KayaK: a few days ahead
- Termas del Sol: a few days ahead
- Hornopirén: a few days ahead
- Pa' Mar Adentro: a few days ahead
- Restaurant Kiel: a few days ahead
- Azzurro: a few days ahead
- Cotelé: a few days ahead
- Book the Hornopiren to Caleta Gonzalo bimodal ferry online in summer and arrive up to 2 hours early.
- Summer queues for the Pargua to Chacao Chiloe ferry can add up to two hours, so start a day trip early.
- Book Navimag and Chaiten fjord ferries and El Tepual flights weeks ahead in peak season.
- Buy Alerce Andino park entry online in summer and reserve Kiel, Pa Mar Adentro, Cotele and Azzurro.
Is Puerto Montt safe?
- Walk the lit costanera and main avenues at night, as the centre empties quickly after shops close.
- Keep busy hub discipline around the terminal and markets, with bag zipped and phone put away unless needed.
- Heed CONAF closures and volcanic alerts, as Calbuco erupted without meaningful warning in 2015.
- Emergency numbers in Chile are 131 for ambulance, 132 for fire and 133 for police.
Puerto Montt travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- In Angelmo, ignore touts steering you to a table, choose a busy local cocineria and check written menu prices.
- Do not make Castro your only Chiloe day trip, twelve hours for about two hours there. Do Ancud by day, Castro by overnight.
- Sentados Frente al Mar is a photo on a walk, not a destination to build a morning around.
- Buy smoked or packaged fish only from labelled, refrigerated stalls and eat the rest cooked on site.
Getting around Puerto Montt: public transport and more
- Walk the centre and costanera, and take buses or colectivos signed Anahuac or Chinquihue for Angelmo.
- Buses run every few minutes to Puerto Varas and serve Pargua for Chiloe, Ancud in about 3 hours and Castro in about 4.
- Renting a car at El Tepual airport makes Alerce Andino, Lahuen Nadi, Lago Chapo and Hornopiren easy.
- El Tepual airport is about 17 km west, roughly 25 minutes, so book dawn transfers the night before.
Who Puerto Montt suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Puerto Montt your trip
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