Chile
Chaitén
A rebuilt Patagonian town faces the volcano that buried its old routines in 2008.
Grey river deposits and young vegetation still mark the eruption's path near town. The new streets look towards a cone that reshaped both landscape and community.
The 2008 evacuation and rebuilding give Chaitén a rare story of return after volcanic disruption. Today it is also a useful ferry and road gateway for Pumalín and a managed volcano trail. Current transport and park notices turn the dramatic history into a practical stay.
Solo
Ferries, a managed volcano trail and gateway services make the rebuilt town easy to explore independently.
Couple
Walk the eruption landscape, then let an evening in town reveal the quieter story of rebuilding.
- Chaitén was evacuated during the 2008 eruption and has since been rebuilt beside a landscape visibly reshaped by the volcano.
- The town now works as a gateway to Pumalín, ferry connections and a managed volcano trail.
- Current road, ferry and park conditions are more useful to travellers than dramatic claims about buried streets.
Cocinería Altamar serves what one guidebook calls the best curanto on the whole Carretera Austral.
The town's kitchens are the fullest table on this stretch of the road.
Stewart Island / Rakiura
New Zealand
An island where kiwi vastly outnumber people beneath glowing southern skies.
Hermitage Castle
Scotland
The most sinister castle in Scotland squats alone on moorland that remembers its cruelty.
Maria Island
Australia
Wombats graze between convict buildings on a car-free island edged by painted cliffs.
Parque Nacional Lauca (Parinacota Village)
Chile
A white Andean church sits beneath volcanoes in Lauca's immense high-altitude light.
Laguna del Maule
Chile
Cobalt water fills a restless Andean volcanic complex monitored around the clock.
Parque Nacional Alberto de Agostini
Chile
Expedition boats navigate glaciers and black fjords beneath the Cordillera Darwin.
Parque Nacional Bernardo O'Higgins
Chile
Boats enter a roadless maze of fjords, rain and Patagonian ice.