Experience the best of Temuco

Temuco was founded in 1881 on the plain of the Cautín River and grew as the commercial centre of La Araucanía, the traditional homeland of the Mapuche people. The Mercado Municipal sells produce, meat and smoked chilli, Mapuche weavers and silversmiths sell their work at stalls nearby, and the Museo Regional de La Araucanía traces Mapuche culture and the settlement of the region. Pablo Neruda grew up in Temuco, and Gabriela Mistral ran its girls' school.

Cerro Ñielol, a wooded hill park at the edge of the centre, protects native forest and the copihue, Chile's national flower. Conguillío National Park, with the snow-capped Llaima volcano and its ancient monkey-puzzle forests, lies to the north-east, and the lake-and-volcano country around Villarrica and Pucón begins to the south-east.

Mapuche cooking has shaped local tables: merkén, a smoked chilli and coriander seasoning, piñones, the large seeds of the araucaria, boiled or roasted, and sopaipillas, fried dough, are all found in the market. Rain falls through much of the year, especially in winter, and summer is warm and dry.