Chile (Lakes Region)
Villarica
This small friendly town sits on the southwest corner of the heavily wooded shores of Lake Villarrica. In the winter fishing on the Tolten River is replaced by snow skiing as the favorite recreation. Its views of the Villarrica volcano are part of the inescapable charm of the city.

Climbing the Volcano

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Although the volcano has erupted repeatedly during the last century, most recently in 1971 and 1984, Villarrica is the scaled more than any other volcano in the south of Chile.
Without a doubt, her popularity is due to her grand views, both into the earth (one can peer deep inside her crater) and, of course, beyond (she offers a striking panorama of the entire Lake District). Technically, the ascent is easy, but it is imperative that one be in good physical condition. The entire roundtrip, which covers a distance of about six miles, will take between six and nine hours.

Towards the Coast
Starting from Villarrica, you go through Lican-Ray and then Lake Rinihue. It was formerly a main port and ship loading area but now the main port has moved leaving it to the vacationers. It is so close to Rininahue (they even share area codes) even the locals sometimes end up in the wrong place.