At the heart of Puerto Varas, a city in the Lake District of Chile that’s surrounded by volcanoes and lakes, German kaffe und kuchen culture is observed. There’s no lack of cakes and coffee in this city known for its German traditions.
It is easy to find good coffee to accompany the cakes of Puerto Varas. It surprised us while we were there when we were served with kuchen (cake in German) every morning for breakfast. But who could complain when there was plenty of freshly brewed coffee to wash down the delicious cakes.
To beat the afternoon slump at around 2 pm, when the body needs a refill of caffeine – there was one place we visited. It was Cassis Cafe, located across the street from Hotel Licarayen, the hotel we stayed in.
We could see Cassis Cafe from the hotel’s lobby where we sat four afternoons during our one week stay, writing and serving our clients in the United States. When we needed the caffeine boost or a change of environment, we took our portable office and move on to Cafe Cassis.
Cassis Cafe has indoor and outdoor seats. The outdoor seats face Lake Llanquihue and the snow-capped volcanoes. It was a little cold in March to sit outside so most of the time we opted for indoor seats where Wi-Fi was a little stronger and coffee was made just right.
The cakes weren’t just served in tiny slices. They were enormous.
Most tourists stopped by for the ice cream. Cassis Cafe was often filled with locals and tourists from all over the world. Sitting in the cafe for four afternoons allowed us to get acquainted with the place and to enjoy people watching. We had lunch one afternoon and came out filled and satisfied.
They say coffee in Chile is just so-so, but we found plenty of great places for coffee and cakes in Puerto Varas. One of those was Cafe Cassis. Have you been to Puerto Varas?
Before you go check out Lonely Planet’s Guidebook on Chile. It was our go-to guide while traveling in Chile.
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