Chiloé Island

Located 660 miles south of Santiago, the island of Chiloé has a landscape of rolling sheep pastures punctuated by copses of eucalyptus and graceful lines of poplars. Between the island and the mainland, the coastline fragments into picturesque archipelagos. Where it meets the Pacific Ocean, Chiloé terminates in a series of surf-pounded sea cliffs. The island offers innumerable cultural riches: Many towns have preserved their palafitos (colorful stilt houses built over the water), and 16 elegant wooden churches scattered around the archipelago have been designated UNESCO World Heritage sites. Markets contain tempting traditional handicrafts, as well as stalls piled with fresh seafood and produce, including some of the hundreds of varieties of potatoes indigenous to the island.

Don’t miss the chance to hike along the astonishingly scenic coastal path to the Muelle de las Almas. Legend says that this place, between cliffs plunging into the Pacific, is where souls of the dead come to meet the local equivalent of Charon, the boatman to the afterlife. The hike is steep at times, but it more than repays the effort.