Valdivia

Valdivia needs 2 days: touring the Mercado Fluvial, with sea lions living just meters from the fish stalls, on one, and sailing the Valdivia and Calle-Calle rivers to the 17th-century Spanish forts that defended the city from corsairs, on the other. December-February brings the best weather, though Valdivia is one of Chile's rainiest cities the rest of the year. It's mid-priced. Founded in 1552, it's home to the Universidad Austral de Chile and one of the country's most important craft beer scenes, a direct legacy of the German settlers who arrived in the region in the mid-19th century.