Concepción Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Train

For trains north, EFE has a bus transfer service leaving from Plaza España in Barrio Estación. Buy your tickets at the EFE (2226-925; Barros Arana 164) office. Travelers to Santiago or Temuco suffer the inconvenience of transferring to Chillán first via bus.

Bus

The bus terminal is eight blocks north of the lone stoplight, which is as close to the center as Colectivo Linéa 1 (US35¢) will take you. Car or motorcycle taxis cost about US$2.70; karumbes (horse-carts) are twice as much fun and cost less (US$1.80) – confirm your price before you are ‘taken for a ride’!

Several buses pass through Pozo Color-ado (US$3.50, 1½ hours) en route to Filadelfia (US$10.60, five to six hours) and Asunción (US$10.60, five to six hours). Several services head to Pedro Juan Caballero (US$4.40, four hours). There’s a daily departure at 12:30pm to Ciudad del Este (US$13, nine hours).

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Boat

The most traditional (but not the most comfortable) way to get to or from Concepción is by riverboat. Cacique (42621) boats to Asunción leave Sunday at 6am (US$9, 30 hours). Boats heading upriver to Puerto Vallemí (US$10.60, 24 hours) or as far as Bahia Negra (US$15, 2½ to three days) include the Aquidabán (Tuesday at 11am), Cacique (Thursday) and Guaraní (every second Monday). Check schedules and boats – both change. Ask around the old port about heading as far north as Isla Margarita (aka Puerto Esperanza) on the Brazilian border. Be careful in the blocks near the port; muggings have occurred.

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Air

Aeropuerto Carriel Sur lies just outside Concepción. Lan (600-526-2000; Barros Arana 600) flies from there to Santiago (US$160), and also has a downtown office.

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