Punta Arenas

Punta Arenas sits on the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of mainland Chile, exposed to the wind that blows more or less constantly. The city grew wealthy on sheep ranching in the late 1800s, and the mansions around the central plaza date from that period, with their tin roofs painted in greens and yellows. The port is near the centre, either at a tender pier or directly alongside for smaller ships. The Museo Nao Victoria has full-scale replicas of the ships that sailed through the strait, including Magellan's Victoria. The Cementerio Municipal, with its ornate cypress-lined avenues and mausoleums, is worth a walk even if graveyards are not usually your thing. Magellanic penguin colonies at Seno Otway are about an hour's drive away. Restaurants near the port serve centolla (king crab) and Patagonian lamb, and the wind is cold enough year-round to justify a hot chocolate.