2 days Arequipa — Tips for the white city & surroundings
Peru Round Trip*With a good 840,000 inhabitants, Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru. However, that alone is not the reason for a visit. What makes the “white city” and what you can experience here in three days, I tell you in my Arequipa Guide.
Travel information about Arequipa:
Getting there:
Arequipa is usually part of a Peru round trip*, so you’ll probably head there from Lima or Cuzco. From Lima you can fly for 60 Euros and from Cuzco for 97 Euros. Instead of the plane you can take the bus. From Lima it takes about 13 hours and costs about 13 Euros, from Cuzco it takes about 11 hours and 9 Euros. You can find the best prices via Tierras Vivas.
Travel Guide:
For the preparation of my Peru trip or Peru Treks, I used the travel guide from Travel Blog, it is very informative.
From the airport to the city:
The easiest way to get to the city is by cab. Probably your accommodation is centrally located near the old town, then you pay 30 soles to get there by cab from the airport (as of 2018). This takes about 30 minutes, depending on traffic. For the public bus you pay about two euros.
Hotels & Hostels in Arequipa:
There are plenty of accommodations, booking.com offers 180* really good ones. So don’t worry, you will find a bed. Since Peru is also quite cheap, you can also “treat yourself” to something here. For example, I took a single room at Hostel Foyer. This is super central, but has a big disadvantage: the advertised balconies go out to a busy street and from 22 clock is opposite every night party. So, this is only something for people who want to party themselves, have a solid night’s sleep or can manage well with earplugs. For everyone else, the 179 other accommodations are certainly a better choice.
If you’d rather have your own apartment for your time in Arequipa, AirBnB has over 300 accommodations.
Beware of the traffic:
Prior notice: Arequipa’s traffic is terrible; there is simply no other way to phrase it. Where you are not just times in a traffic jam, is driven very quickly and basically is permanently honking. Countless cabs mix with soot snorting minibuses, which rarely stop for pedestrians. So always pay attention.
In Arequipa there are basically two main attractions: the city itself and the nearby Colca Valley. I suggest you to organize one day for the city including museums and if you are fascinated a second day, you would visit to the Colca Valley.
Tips for your first 24 hours in Arequipa
Explore The Sillar Route
Sillar is the magic word. These light-colored volcanic stones make up the cityscape in the old town core. Whether it’s the white basilica or the many small houses, everything has this chalky white look. This seems dreamy and tidy and gives Arequipa the name “the white city”. At least that’s what they say today. Another theory says that in Spanish colonial times only white people were allowed to enter the old town and that’s how the name originated. Today, it would only be chicer to attribute it to the architecture. Either way, the old town is worth seeing. Here you can stroll through the streets and visit the Santuarios Andinos Museum, where you can learn about the Inca period in the region.
Colorful in Santa Catalina Monastery
The Santa Catalina Monastery, built in 1579, can be visited today as a museum. Apart from its history and the representation of the way of life at that time, this place is worth seeing mainly because of its architecture. From the outside kept in sillar white, like just about everything in the old town, but from the inside surprisingly colorful. “Rusty red meets bright azure blue,” could be the motto. And so, you can’t get enough of the colorful walls and the planted courtyards.
Cheese ice cream with view
Just a kilometer and a half from the old town is the district of Yanahuara. What is there to see here? A viewpoint is advertised. I’ll be honest, it’s amazing, but it’s the only one you’ll find this close. You’ll be here within 20 minutes on foot. Also, there’s cheese ice cream here. Ha, that’s right: Cheese ice cream. The yellow ice cream that ladies serve in cups at little stands is just called “Helado Queso” but tastes like vanilla with a hint of cinnamon. You should definitely treat yourself.
