Punta Arenas

The main port along the Strait of Magellan, Punta Arenas is a booming little Patagonian metropolis at the bottom of the Americas, its ornate wool-boom mansions and colorful shacks presenting a mixed but picturesque backdrop to the snowcapped mountains beyond. Fed by both the petrochemical industry and tourism, it’s a friendly and relaxed hub at the end of the world with a frontierlike quality that endures, seemingly immune to nature’s inhospitality.