Petrohue: Our experiences at the Saltos de Petrohue and Lago Todos los Santos
The region around Petrohue with the famous Saltos de Petrohue and the picturesque Lago Todos los Santos not only impressed us with its nature, but also surprised us with its peculiarities.
On the road early with Mambo
We set off early in the morning to make sure we could find a large enough parking space for our Unimog Mambo. That worked really well: For a parking fee of around 3 euros, we were able to park Mambo without any problems.
A surprise: before you get to nature, you have to go through a building with various stores and past vendors offering tours. We hadn’t expected that – somehow it didn’t quite feel like a trip into nature at first.
The Saltos de Petrohue: beautiful, but not an insider tip
After passing through the entrance, where we paid an entrance fee per person, we were at the falls within ten minutes. The footbridges offer really beautiful views of the falls, which make an impressive sight with their turquoise water and volcanic landscape. The falls are a real tourist magnet and it can be a bit of a challenge to get a front row seat at the railings.
After the tour, we treated ourselves to a break in a restaurant with a large terrace right in front of the falls. Here we were able to enjoy the atmosphere in peace and quiet before continuing our journey.
On to Petrohue and the Lago Todos los Santos
After our visit to the waterfalls, we drove on to Petrohue itself, where we treated ourselves to a half-hour boat trip on Lago Todos los Santos. The lake, framed by mountains and the Osorno volcano, was a highlight of our day. We loved the tranquillity on the water and the beautiful landscape.
The landscape around Petrohue is undoubtedly beautiful and a must-see for anyone traveling in the region. Nevertheless, we noticed that many things here are associated with costs that you might not be used to in Europe. While parking lots or large national parks often cost fees in Europe, here you pay extra for smaller attractions, such as visiting the waterfalls. You can see that it is not the large tourism associations that pay, but that the attractions have to finance themselves.
