City Rating: Arequipa
Population: 850’000
Date of visit: May 2018
Attractions & sights: 2/5
Nightlife: ?/5
Safety: 4/5
Infrastructure: 3/5
Low budget factor: 4/5
Total: 👍👍👍/5
The city in a nutshell:
Arequipa is Peru’s second largest city located on the gringo trail between Lima and Cusco. It’s a beautiful city with some good sights, bars and restaurants. All in all, it’s a nice stopover between Lima and Cusco but not a must see-city if time is limited.
Where to stay:
All the action takes place in the historical centre. Therefore, the hotel/hostel shouldn’t be too far away from Plaza de Armas.
The Good:
Most travellers use Arequipa either as a short stop on the gringo trail or as a base for the Colca Canyon trek. However, the city itself has a few good things to offer. The historical centre of Arequipa is pretty and the colourful Santa Catalina Monastery should be on every visitor’s list.
Arequipa has a good range of high quality restaurants and bars. Of course, food and drinks are very cheap here. A big plus is that most of the restaurants have beautiful courtyards, which you cannot see from the streets. That makes the lunch or dining experience even better.
Infrastructure is like in many touristy cities in Peru not bad at all, at least in the historical centre. Hotel quality seems to be quite good and not as expensive as in Cusco or Lima (although you can find some bargains in these cities too).
The Bad & The Ugly:
There are not many bad things to say about Arequipa. Perhaps, the only real negative thing to say is that it doesn’t take too long to explore all of the city. If time in Peru is limited, I suggest not to spend too much time in Arequipa but more in Cusco.
Moreover, if you plan to visit the Colca Canyon, prepare to get up very early. Most of the tours start at 3.30 AM.
The altitude of the city is 2’330 metres, which makes Arequipa rather chilly in the evenings.
And obviously, Arequipa is way more touristy than Lima, although not that bad as Cusco. That means that touts try to sell you useless stuff such as selfie sticks every few metres.
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