Arequipa is often named the White City because a lot of its buildings in the historic centre are made of a white volcanic rock called sillar. Not knowing what to expect, it ended up being one of our favourite cities in Peru. We stayed in Arequipa for 3 days during our 2-week trip to Peru. We spent 1 day doing a day-trip to Colca Canyon and 2 days exploring Arequipa city. We were about to spend an afternoon going on a river rafting, but we suffered quite bad altitude sickness on the day trip to Colca Canyon that we ended up having to spend an entire day recovering. The city is located at a strategic location on your way to Cusco or Lima. Arequipa is best reached by an overnight bus or via its international airport. If you’re coming from Lima, Huacachina or Nazca, i would recommend using the Peruhop overnight bus as it’s a great way of transport, super comfortable and also a great way of connecting with other travellers. In this guide, we’re going to cover top things to do in Arequipa and its surroundings. 

1.   Santa Catalina Monastery

Santa Catalina Monastery was founded in the late 16^th century by a wealthy widow named Maria de Guzman. For almost 400 years, very little people knew how the monastery looks like behind its wall as it was only opened to the public in 1970. We thought that nuns were humble women with no worldly possessions that needed nothing but love and basic food to live a happy life. This monastery was like the Monaco of monasteries as only wealthy women were accepted – their families paid a high dowry (the equivalence of $150k today) and they have to bring along a list of nice things with them – like paintings, lamps and statues, in order to erase their sins. The nuns also had slaves and servants – so basically living their extra life in style and comfort, just without men. It wasn’t until the 19^th century when the Pope decided that this monastery needed a serious reform and the riches were sent away and slaves were freed. The nuns had the option to either stay as a real nun or leave. Nowadays, only around 20 nuns live in the monastery but they live in an inaccessible part for privacy. We really enjoyed walking around the monastery as it was very peaceful and felt very isolated to the rest of the city. The blue and red colonial arches and narrow streets, mixed with flowers makes this place incredibly picturesque. You can walk inside the houses so you could get an idea of how nuns lived centuries ago.

2.   Free Walking Tour

We booked a free walking tour a few weeks in advance with Incan Milky Way and I couldn’t recommend it enough. It lasts around 3 hours and stopped off all over the city. Our guide gave us a ton of information about the history of Arequipa and was extremely passionate about the city. We visited the Plaza de Armas of Arequipa, Fundo el Fierro, Munde Alpaca, Plaza San Francisco and other beautiful sports throughout the city. He also mentioned about the ongoing political situation and how much it affected Arequipa.

3.   Mundo Alpaca

Mundo Alpaca is a museum where you can meet llamas and alpacas and learn about the differences between them. We took a free tour about how Alpaca fur is used for clothing, blankets and home décor.  There is also two Peruvians weaving alpaca textiles for you view in order to appreciate the complexity and craftsmanship that goes into creating the clothes. This museum is free to visit and the staff members can take you on a private tour as soon as you enter the museum, so there is no need to book in advance. 

4.   Plaza de Armas

Plaza de Armas is the highlight of the historical centre in Arequipa and is where the Basilica Cathedral is based. We loved how symmetrical and clean this plaza was. It was just so pretty! The huge symmetrical volcano in the background also makes it even more beautiful. The tour guide mentioned that the cathedral is very wide to make sure that the plaza remains symmetrical – but because its so wide, its not very deep as it would have been very expensive. We enjoyed appreciating the view of this plaza whilst sipping an amazing coffee at Waya on Plaza. We just chilled here for a few hours relaxing and people-watching. 

5.   Enjoy views from Plaza de Yanahuara

We walked about 20 minutes from the historic centre to reach the suburb of Yanahuara. The plaza has a beautiful church, a garden lined with palm trees and has the most beautiful views of the city wit hits volcanic backdrop. Try and get here for sunset! 

6.   Colca Canyon

Colca Canyon is a must see on any trip to Peru. Reaching depths of over 3000m along its 70km length, it is the second deepest canyon in the world. It is also renowned as a reliable place to spot majestic condor birds. The birds have a wingspan of over 3m and is one of the largest birds in the world. As we only had a day to spare, we opted for the day tour from Arequipa, and it is definitely worth it. Pickup is at 3am and is a 4-hour drive from Arequipa to the Canyon – you stop off at a few pointless stops before making your way to Mirador Cruz del Condor. Make sure you bring anti-nausea pills for motion sickness as the roads are in bad shape. We booked the tour the day before and paid 50 sols (£10) which include transport, English speaking guide and breakfast. You also have to pay 70 sols (£15) for the entrance fee to Colca and 15 sols (£3) to enter the hot springs. It is much cheaper booking these tours when you are there rather than online (which was double the price!). We suffered from altitude sickness really badly here as the road to Colca Canyon reaches a height of 4900m so small tip if you go, be sure to allow time for acclimatisation in the area before heading out!

7.   Stay at CIRQA

We had the best time staying at CIRQA hotel – you can read my full review here.

8.   Try the local cuisine

Arequipa is famous for its food and they can take real pride in the ingredients and recipe. The three things you need to try here are:

1)    Rocoto Relleno – This is an Arequipa favourite. It is chilli peppers grown in the Andes and is stuffed with meat. This can be quite spicy.
2)    Aji de gallina – Peruvian chicken stew compromising of chicken cooked with yellow chilli peppers (called aji Amarillo peppers), walnuts, spices, garlic and turmeric.
3)    Queso Helado – I originally thought this was cheese ice cream as its translated to “frozen cheese”, but its not. It’s a frozen ice cream made from sweetened condensed milk. Its sold on the streets for 3-4 sols. It was very delicious and refreshing!