A couple of days in Arequipa
Summary
I think the city centre of Arequipa must be my favourite old town in Latin America (or at least joint with Havana!). The Unesco world heritage site is a series of beautifully maintained streets with white stone Baroque buildings all with facades of intricate carvings that give you the feeling of being in a different time and world. The low rise nature of the buildings (almost all are only 2 stories tall to protect from earthquakes) add to this vibe, and so do the three majestic, dramatic, perfectly coned volcanoes that surround the city off in the distance
On top of that, the food is superb and its a great starting point for a 3/4 day adventure for Hiking and zip-lining in the Colca Canyon
A must visit for Peru, along with the adventures near Cusco area (see entries for more details on these – Machu Picchu, Hiking the 4 day / 3 night Inca Trail, Driving through the Sacred Valley, A walk around some of the key Inca sites near Cusco)
highlights
#1 Wandering the white stone streets, finding hidden courtyards and catching occasional glimpses of the towering volcanoes in the distance
#2 Checking out the eerily quiet Santa Catalina Monastery right in the heart of town
#3 Grabbing a rooftop, looking over the low level city with volcanoes in the background and having a drink as the stars creep in
#4 Working your way through some of the seriously high quality restaurants on offer
#5 Heading into the various pretty, secluded courtyards that are dotted all around the hidden spots of the historic centre
Travel Tips
- The highlight for me of Arequipa was wandering through the Unesco World Heritage city centre, but make sure you also check out:
- The Santa Catalina Monastery – the high walls around the monastery make this place feel so separate to the rest of the city and worth a visit
- Santuarios Museum – to learn the story of the Juanita, aka the ice mummy, a 12 year old girl sacrificed on one of the volcanoes in the 1400s, yet preserved in the cold temperatures. The story of how she would have came to be there and how she was found is fascinating
- Rooftop drinks – make sure you find a spot to have drinks or food on one of the rooftops (there are many to chose from) where you can look over the low rise white city and see the 3 volcanoes looming in the background
- The food is amazing in Arequipa. We had dinner at Chicha por Gaston Acurio, which more than lived up to the hype
- We stayed in the centre in a hotel called Palla Boutique Hotel. Lovely inner courtyard, nice rooms. Highlight is the roof which gives a stunning view of the city and volcanoes – a fitting place to celebrate your day exploring . . . or a return from an adventure to the Cola Canyon!
- For tips on other great experiences in Peru and for an itinerary for a trip there, see 2/3 weeks for the highlights of Peru
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Similar Old Town Experiences around the World
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone