4 Best Sights in The Lake District, Chile

This imposing hillside site is where the 1881 treaty between the Mapuche and the Chilean army was signed, allowing the city of Temuco to be established. It's a great spot for a short day hike or picnic, with nice views of the city. Trails bloom with bright red copihues (a bell-like flower with lush green foliage), Chile's national flower, in autumn (March–May). The monument, not far from downtown, is part of Chile's national park system.

This museum is dedicated to the life and work of Rudolph Amandus Philippi, a 19th-century German-Chilean naturalist. The museum's collection explores the botanical studies of Philippi and is housed in the historic Schüller house, built in 1914. The exhibits include watercolors, drawings, photographs, and other objects that belonged to Philippi and tools, furniture, and other scientific objects from the 1800s.

Housed in a 1924 mansion, this small museum covers the history of the area. It has an eclectic collection of artifacts and relics, including musical instruments, utensils, and the country's best collection of indigenous jewelry. Upstairs, exhibits document the Mapuche people's three-century struggle to keep control of their land. The presentation could be more evenhanded: the rhetoric glorifies the Central European colonization of this area as the pacificación de la Araucanía (taming of the Araucanía territories). But the museum gives you a reasonably good Spanish-language introduction to Mapuche history, art, and culture.

Close to the city center, Cuarto Centenario Park was established in 1958 to celebrate the city's 400th anniversary. A popular picnic and recreation spot, the park is about 67,000 square meters in size and has bicycle paths, playgrounds, and lots of green space to escape the urban jungle. Among the more than 20 species in the small forest of the park are younger specimens of the ancient Sequoia trees native to California.