Overview
Built from pale volcanic sillar stone and ringed by three volcanoes, Arequipa is Peru’s most handsome city. It’s warmer, lower and calmer than Cusco — a perfect place to acclimatise — and the launchpad for the Colca Canyon, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and home to soaring Andean condors.
Top things to do
Plaza de Armas
Arguably Peru’s grandest square, framed by sillar arcades and the twin-towered basilica beneath El Misti volcano.
Monasterio de Santa Catalina
A walled "city within a city" of ochre and cobalt lanes where cloistered nuns lived for centuries.
Colca Canyon
A vast canyon two hours away where Andean condors ride the morning thermals at the Cruz del Cóndor.
Colca Canyon overnight
A classic two-day trip to spot condors, soak in hot springs and stay in a canyon-floor oasis.
Sillar & food walking tour
Trace the white stone through the old town, ending with rocoto relleno in a traditional picantería.
Santa Catalina at dusk
Visit the monastery on a candlelit evening when the colours and shadows are at their most cinematic.
3-day sample itinerary
- 1
Old town
Plaza de Armas, Santa Catalina monastery and a picantería lunch.
- 2
Colca Canyon
Travel to the canyon rim and the colca villages.
- 3
Condors & return
Dawn at Cruz del Cóndor, hot springs, back to the city.