Punta Arenas

Punta Arenas - Photos: Jorge González

olorful and coquettish from all perspectives, Punta Arenas lies 3,090 kilometers South of Santiago de Chile. This is the most important city in the Magallanes Region.

The climate is temperate with substantial rainfalls year round and plentiful snowfalls in the winter, when temperatures drop below cero. In the summer, average temperatures range between 14 and 20º C and the daylight lasts longer inviting everyone to enjoy more activities.

Its commercial, cultural and social development has made Punta Arenas famous throughout the entire country, especially in the last few years, when it was established as tax-free zone. Thus, visitors to the city may acquire products from all over the world with the benefit of being exempted from taxes. Both visitors from Puerto Natales, lying 260-kilometers away, and Ushuaia (Argentina) seek to take advantage of these advantages.

Punta Arenas is the southernmost continental city in the world and it represents a port for the booming bioceanic traffic. This is evident in the streets, markets and squares of this neat city.

Its main attractions include the Mayorino Borgatello Salesian Museum, the Shepherds Monument (with its horse, its dog and sheep), the Patagonia Institute, the Municipal Theater, Muñoz Gamero Square with its sculpture commemorating the discovery of the Strait of Magellan by Ferdinand Magellan and other architectural works that preserve the local color, such as Gran Hotel Cabo de Hornos (Cape Horn Grand Hotel) and elegant public buildings.