Arequipa: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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Arequipa, Peru’s second city, founded in 1540 at about two thousand three hundred metres, is called the white city because it is built of sillar, a pale volcanic stone cut from the flows of the three volcanoes that surround it. Its centre became a World Heritage site in 2000. The people of Arequipa are famously proud; some joke about their independent republic and even sell souvenir passports. Half a day on foot.

A short history of Arequipa

Arequipa was founded by the Spanish on 15 August 1540, in a valley at the foot of the Misti volcano. The city is built almost entirely of white volcanic stone, sillar, and is therefore called the "White City". In 1579 the Santa Catalina Monastery was founded there, a small city within the city where nuns lived cut off from the world for centuries. Earthquakes destroyed it again and again, the last severe one in 2001. The writer Mario Vargas Llosa, a Nobel Prize winner, was born in the city in 1936, and in 2000 its historic centre was declared a World Heritage Site.

The ten best sights in Arequipa

1
Plaza de Armas
The white square under the volcano
2
Arequipa Cathedral
A whole side of the square
3
La Compañía
A carved Jesuit facade and a jungle chapel
4
Museo Santuarios Andinos
Juanita, the Inca ice maiden
5
Santa Catalina Monastery
A walled city of nuns; go late afternoon
6
Puente Grau
A bridge over the Chili river
7
La Recoleta
A convent library of old books
8
Mirador de Yanahuara
Sillar arches framing El Misti
9
Molino de Sabandía
A stone mill of 1621
10
Mansión del Fundador
The founder’s country house

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Free walking tours in Arequipa

The white city

Plaza de Armas · One of the finest squares in South America, framed on three sides by white two-storey arcades and on the fourth by the cathedral, with the snow-capped cone of El Misti rising behind.
Arequipa Cathedral · A cathedral that fills a whole side of the square, rebuilt after fires and earthquakes; in the quake of 2001 one of its towers collapsed. Inside is a huge organ from Belgium, among the largest in South America.
La Compañía · A Jesuit church whose facade of 1698 is carved in the mestizo baroque, mixing angels and saints with local flowers, corn and faces. Its side chapel is painted all over with tropical plants and birds, like a jungle.
Museo Santuarios Andinos · The museum of Juanita, an Inca girl sacrificed on the summit of Ampato some five hundred years ago. Her frozen body was found in 1995, when ash from a nearby eruption melted the ice that had covered her.
Santa Catalina Monastery · A convent founded in 1579 that is a walled town of its own, with lanes, plazas and cells painted blue and red. Nuns from rich families lived here with their own servants; it was closed to the outside world until 1970.
Mercado San Camilo · The central market under an iron roof, said to be designed by Gustave Eiffel’s firm, with rows of juice stalls, cheese, and dozens of kinds of Andean potatoes.

Across the river

West of the centre, across the Chili river, are a Franciscan convent, the old village of Yanahuara and the country houses of the colonial families. Half a day.

Puente Grau · A bridge over the Chili river, whose waters, coming down from the volcanoes, irrigate the green valley that made a city possible in this desert.
La Recoleta · A Franciscan convent of 1648 whose library holds some twenty thousand old books, among them incunabula, and a museum of the Amazon collected by missionary friars.
Mirador de Yanahuara · A row of white sillar arches carved with the words of local poets, framing the view of El Misti, beside the church of Yanahuara of 1750.
Molino de Sabandía · A stone water mill of 1621 in the green farmland south-east of the city, restored in the 1970s and still able to grind wheat, with llamas grazing outside.
Mansión del Fundador · The country house built for the family of Garcí Manuel de Carbajal, the founder of Arequipa, on a cliff above the river, furnished with colonial pieces.
El Misti · The almost perfect cone of about five thousand eight hundred metres that watches over the city. It is an active volcano, and the city has an evacuation plan; climbers reach the summit in two days.

The Colca Canyon

About three hours north of Arequipa, the Colca Canyon cuts more than three thousand metres deep, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, between villages of ancient terraces. The road crosses passes near five thousand metres; take altitude seriously. Two days, or a long day from three in the morning.

Salinas y Aguada Blanca · A high reserve of grassland between the volcanoes where herds of wild vicuñas graze — the slender relative of the llama whose wool is among the finest and costliest in the world.
Chivay · The main town of the canyon, at about three thousand six hundred metres, with hot springs on the river and women in hats and dresses embroidered with flowers, the dress of the Collagua people.
Cruz del Cóndor · A viewpoint on the canyon rim where, on most mornings between about eight and ten, Andean condors — among the largest flying birds, with wings of over three metres — ride the warm air up from the depths, sometimes passing just overhead.
Chachani · On the way back, the highest of the three volcanoes of Arequipa, over six thousand metres, often climbed as a first six-thousander because a road reaches high up its flank.
Terminal Terrestre · From here buses climb to Puno and Lake Titicaca, about six hours away, and on to Cusco, on roads that cross the high plain above four thousand metres.
Arequipa Airport · From the air, arriving, you see the green valley of the Chili river cut through the brown desert at the foot of the three volcanoes, the reason the city stands where it does.

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Getting to Arequipa and getting around

Arequipa Airport · Flights from Lima and Cusco
Terminal Terrestre · Buses to Puno, Cusco and the Colca

Cheap eats in Arequipa

Arequipa has its own cuisine, served in picanterías: rocoto relleno, a fiery red pepper stuffed with meat and baked under cheese; chupe de camarones, a soup of river shrimp; adobo, a pork stew eaten on Sunday mornings; and queso helado, which despite its name is a cinnamon ice cream sold in the street. A dish in a picantería costs about five to ten dollars.

Mercado San Camilo · Juices and queso helado
Plaza de Armas · Picanterías nearby
Chivay · Alpaca and quinoa soup

Museums in Arequipa

Arequipa’s museums are its convents, its old books and the ice maiden.

Museo Santuarios Andinos · Juanita
Santa Catalina Monastery · The city of nuns
La Recoleta · The old library

Nature and day trips near Arequipa

Three volcanoes, a canyon twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and the high plain of the vicuñas.

Cruz del Cóndor · The condors
Salinas y Aguada Blanca · Vicuñas
El Misti · The volcano

Things to do in Arequipa with kids

With children: llamas at an old mill, condors, hot springs and a convent like a maze.

Molino de Sabandía · Llamas and the mill
Chivay · Hot springs
Santa Catalina Monastery · The coloured lanes

Holy places in Arequipa

A Catholic city of convents, where Inca mountain worship still echoes in the museums.

Arequipa Cathedral · The great organ
La Compañía · The jungle chapel

Nightlife in Arequipa

Arequipa’s nights are the bars of Calle San Francisco and the lit cathedral on the square.

Plaza de Armas · Balcony bars on the square
Santa Catalina Monastery · Evening visits by candlelight

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Frequently asked questions about Arequipa

What is there to see in Arequipa?

The top sights in Arequipa are Plaza de Armas, Arequipa Cathedral and La Compañía. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Arequipa?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Arequipa without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Arequipa?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Arequipa, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The white city.

How do you get to Arequipa and get around?

The main ways are Arequipa Airport and Terminal Terrestre. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Arequipa, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Arequipa that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

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