The Avenida Costanera, the lakeside esplanade, is the spine of Puerto Varas. It runs for about two kilometres along the western shore of Lago Llanquihue, with rose gardens, benches, and a wide gravel path used for jogging at dawn and dog-walking at dusk. The view across the lake is the postcard: the symmetric cone of Volcán Osorno reflected in still water, with the lower, broken silhouette of Volcán Calbuco to the south.
The lake itself is huge — 870 square kilometres, the second-largest in Chile after Lago General Carrera — and cold even in summer. Few people swim. In December and January the lakeside fills up with kuchen vendors, ice-cream stalls, and street musicians. The best light for photography is around sunset, when Osorno sometimes catches a pink glow.