Osorno is a city of about 150,000 people in the Los Lagos region of southern Chile, roughly halfway between Puerto Montt and the Los Ríos region. The surrounding countryside is dairy and cattle country — lush, rainy, and green, draped across rolling hills with the cone of the Osorno volcano (2,660 metres) dominating the eastern horizon. The city itself is a practical regional centre, with German-influenced architecture reflecting the heavy 19th-century immigration from Germany, Switzerland, and Austria that shaped the whole region.
The main traveler draw is not the city but its position as a base for the surrounding lakes and volcanoes. Puyehue National Park is about 80 km east — good thermal springs, trekking, and skiing in winter at the Antillanca Ski Resort. Lago Rupanco to the south is one of the less-visited lakes in the region, quieter and more pristine than the tourist-heavy Lago Llanquihue near Puerto Montt.
In the city itself, Fort Reina Luisa overlooks the Rahue River with a colonial fortification and regional history museum. The Plaza de Armas is the civic center, surrounded by the Cathedral of San Mateo and 19th-century commercial buildings. The Mercado Municipal is the best place to eat lunch and buy local dairy and produce.
Osorno is also the jumping-off point for the crossing to Argentina via the Puyehue-Cardenal Samoré pass — a spectacular route through beech and araucaria forests to reach Bariloche on the Argentine side.