Although it's only a 30-minute ferry crossing away from mainland Chile across the Chacao Channel, verdant Isla Chiloe – the largest in the Chiloe archipelago – is another world. Sixteen wooden churches clustered around Castro on the island's east coast have UNESCO World Heritage status, and traditional palafitos (houses on stilts) dot its shores. To the west, Chiloe National Park shelters foxes, sea lions and otters and provides unspoiled terrain for horseback riding, sea kayaking and fishing.