Chiloé Island is altogether different to Chile's high-perched escapes and snow-topped ridges. This is a land of salt-washed marshes, rickety fishing villages, lonely beaches and people forged by the ocean. It's the largest island within the Chilean territory, where the towns are laced with palafitos (cottages on timber stilts) and local eateries dishing delicious servings of curanto (seafood and potato stew), and the backcountry is swamped with rainforests and mist-gathering cypress woods. 

The upshot is a place that's perfect for intrepid travelers and those who like to stray from the beaten path. They can wander the untrodden cliffs of the Chiloé National Park, which spill into pockets of primeval Valdivian forest and belching bogs. On the isle's eastern side, one can gaze out to the Gulf of Corcovado and its resident pods of pygmy whales. On its southern end at the Tantauco Park, Chiloé Island tour guides can showcase a patchwork of glacier-carved coves, peat swamps and sweeping bays where the Pacific swells roll in. 

There's also unique history and culture in these parts. A collection of 70 magnificent Jesuit churches cover the archipelago, of which 16 are tagged by UNESCO. They reveal a striking mix of Spanish Christian architecture and earthy Chilean coastal traditions, telling tales of the unique and mystical religious practices adopted by the islanders over centuries.