4 minCoyhaique
Coyhaique on foot, in six stops
A five-sided plaza, a shepherd pushing into the blizzard and a giant hand offering a mate. A half-day loop that tells how the capital of Aysén came to be.
Travel blogStories, routes and things worth knowing
Everything a destination page can't hold: when to come, what's on the plate, why the wind runs the show, and where to watch wildlife without disturbing it.
Photo: Mayita42 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Mayita42 · CC BY-SA 4.0
3 minCoyhaique
The forest planted to hold a hill in place
Coyhaique National Reserve lies five kilometers from the plaza and exists for a reason almost no one mentions: the fires of the settlement era left the slopes at the mercy of erosion. Four lagoons, trails named after trades, and the whole city in view.
3 minPuerto Aysén
Puerto Aysén, the port town that lost its port
It was the region’s gateway and its first capital, until the river silted up and ships could no longer get in. The bridge, the old Land Office and the fifteen kilometers out to the fjord tell that story.
3 minPuerto Natales
Puerto Natales before the park
Almost everyone uses it as a base camp for Torres del Paine, but the town has a history of its own: a fjord named like a farewell, a meatpacking plant that once processed thousands of sheep a day, and a waterfront where the wind has its own monument.