Experience the best of Valdivia

Valdivia was founded by the Spanish in the sixteenth century. In the nineteenth century German settlers arrived and left their mark on the city's houses, schools and beer. The great earthquake of 1960, which struck southern Chile, badly damaged the city. It stands a short way inland from the Pacific, on wide rivers that flow to the coast.

The Spanish fort of Niebla guards the river mouth, a short drive from the city, and sea lions loaf beside the fish stalls of the river market on the waterfront. The Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary, a wetland near town, is home to black-necked swans and many other waterbirds. Beyond the city, temperate rainforest covers the hills, and the lakes and volcanoes of the Lake District rise to the east.

The food has a German side: kuchen, fruit-topped sponge cakes, sit alongside empanadas and fresh fish and shellfish from the Pacific, including congrio, a conger eel. The winters from June to August are rainy and cool, and the summers from December to February are the warmest and driest months for walking.