Curacautín is a small town in Araucanía, Southern Chile.
Understand
Get in
Buses from Temuco come in regularly (1½ hours) in the 1 bus terminal:
- Bio Bio runs services via Victoria (9 times a day, 09:00-21:30) or via Lautaro (twice a day) from their office in the center of Temuco. CLP$3,500 one-way or CLP$6,300 return;
- Curacautín Express runs minibuses every half-hour (06:30-21:00) or every hour on Sundays (07:30-21:00) from the Terminal de Buses Rurales in downtown Temuco. If you arrived in the Terminal Rodoviario by long-distance bus, exit the terminal by the main entrance, then turn left on Vincente Pérez Rosales and walk 300 m until you hit the Panamericana. Cross the street and you will see a bus stop in front of the shop named "Ruta 5". This is the minibus stop in direction Curacautín. CLP$1,500 one-way.
Get around
The town is entirely walkable, otherwise taxis are available.
See
Do
- Go to Parque Nacional Conguillío[dead link]. In winter, you can take a Captrén minibus from the bus terminal to the Guarderia Captrén (CLP$600, 45 min) or as far as the snow allows. From there you can do a magnificent hike with snowshoes to the Laguna Captrén, with views on the Volcán Llaima along the way. More options are available during summer as transportation can bring you deeper.
- Several hot springs are reachable from Curacautín, ranging from rustic pools to full resorts, such as Cañón del Blanco, Termas de Malalcahuello[dead link], Termas de Tolhuaca, Termas de Manzanar.
- Skiing is possible in the Corralco ski resort on the slopes of the Volcán Lonquimay.
Buy
Eat
Drink
Sleep
- 1 Hostal Epu Pewen, Manuel Rodríguez 705, esquina Miraflores (from the bus terminal, walk three blocks east (or left when exiting the terminal). The hotel is just on the corner of the Plaza de Armas, in front of the tourism office), ☏ 56 45 881793, ✉[email protected]. Check-out: noon. Nice, very clean, comfy hostel with charming decoration including Mapuche elements. Woodfires keep the main areas warm during winter. Very friendly managers, knowledgeable about all activities available around Curacautín, also propose tours of their own and can rent gear (skis, snowshoes, snow clothing, sledges). The hostel promotes sustainable tourism and ecological conduct: recycling bins, compost and solar hot water (during summer) are available. Wi-fi, hot water, big and nice kitchen, quincho (covered terrace for BBQs), cable TV in the communal room, parking. Breakfast is available for an additional CLP$2,000 or 3,000. dorm, double (for 1 person/additional bed), quad (additional bed) during low - high season: CLP$8000, 24,000 (15,000/6,000), 32,000 (5,000) - 9,000, 26,000 (not available/6,000), 35,000 (5,000).
- Cabañas Angostura Curacautín, Patricio Chavez 225. A fine pool here, and private cabins.
- 2 Hospedaje Curacautín, Manuel Rodriguez 320 (right in front of the bus terminal), ☏ 56 9 9515 3591. Double CLP$20,000 with breakfast, or 18,000 without breakfast (probably low season prices). Hot tub and hammock..