5 things to do in Arequipa: Peru's colonial-era capital

With its UNESCO World Heritage listed city centre, Arequipa is not to be missed on your Peruvian trip. What is astonishing about Arequipa is that the city is guarded by three volcanoes and you can see the famous Volcano El Misti in the backdrop of the city. It has also earned the nick name of 'white city' due to many buildings being carved from the local white volcanic rock. I recommend to spend at least two days in the city to have enough time to explore around.

TOP 5 THINGS TO DO

1. Visit the Monasterio de Santa Catalina

If you are a fan of architecture, beautiful colours, photography and History, you cannot miss this spot. The Monasterio, a an old private monastery of nuns is located right in the middle of the Historic centre (Centro Historico) of Arequipa. The nuns in the Monastery came from very wealthy families and typically had 4 to 5 servants for them. The place encompasses a beautiful colonial architecture and deep colours such as terracotta red and deep blues. The visit is well worth it, and some of the rooms are left intact, such as the old kitchen. Yes, the entry price is a little steep for Peru but the place was well worth a visit.

Where?
Santa Catalina 301 | Arequipa 0001, Peru
Open every day from 9am-5pm, except on Tuesdays and Wednesdays until 7.30pm

How much?
Entry is s/40 (A$17, 10 Eur)

2. Take on a culinary experience and join a cooking class 

We have opted for a local cooking class combined with a Pisco sour class! As you may know, Peru is famous for its gastronomy and food scene overall. It would be a waste not to try out the local delicacies by making them yourself. We decided to do the class with Peruvian Cooking Experience and opted for the Andean Menu, the traditional menu of Arequipa's cuisine. You will have a chance to make a stuffed rocoto (pepper), the Arequipan delicacy, which I highly suggest you try while you are here, as it is purely decadent with the local queso fresco (fresh cheese).

To be honest, the experience was fun and great but I would not call it a cooking class per se. The reason for this is because many ingredients are already prepared and you are adding and stacking things instead of actually cooking them from scratch. If you do not mind this, than you will enjoy it because at the end of the day, you also get to eat the food!

Where? 
Av. San Martin 116 | Vallecito, Arequipa 0001, Peru

How much? 
The cost of the whole experience, including the Pisco sour class was s/90 (A$38; 24 Eur)

3. Observe the volcanoes from Mirador de Yanahuara

You will soon realise that the city of Arequipa is well guarded with volcanoes: Mount Chachani, Pichu Pichu Peak and the famous Misti. If you feel adventurous, you can opt to trek a half-day or full-day the Misti. In our case, we preferred to look at it from the Mirador, as we were short on time. Near the mirador, a small market will open after 10am ish and locals will be selling some typical tourist goodies!

Where?
Miguel Grau | Yanahuara, Arequipa 0001, Peru

How much?
Free

4. Meet furry friends at Mundo Alpaca

If there is one thing you will notice about Peru is the abundance of alpacas! Just like kangaroos in Australia, you will not need to search for  them in order to find them. Mundo Alpaca offers a short free visit of the site, where you can learn about the different types of alpacas, vicuñas and other local animals from the Camelids family. They will also show you handmade products (artesanías) and explain the varieties of wool and the purpose for which it is used. Some vicuña wools can be sold for thousands of dollars due to its unique colour and softness! There is also a shop from where you can buy scarves, jumpers, etc, but the visit is friendly and they do not push you into buying.

Where?
Juan de la Torre 101 | San Lazaro, Arequipa 0001, Peru

How much?
Free

5. Drink a local Arequipeña beer at one of the rooftop cafe / bar / restaurant 

After a long day of walking around the city or just because it's always 5 o'clock somewhere, there is no excuse for refusing a beer! Near the Monastery, you will see that there are a lot of restaurants offering rooftop seatings. Most of them are very touristy, and I would not recommend them for food or to get your local foodie experience, but for a beer it is perfect and the view will leave you happy!

Where? 
Pasaje de la Catedral | Centro Historico, Arequipa 0001, Peru

How much? 
The cost of a local beer is usually around s/9 ($A3; 2,40 Eur)

GETTING TO AREQUIPA

There are many ways to get to Arequipa. If you are short on time, the fastest but most expensive way to get to Arequipa is by flight. There are regular domestic flights reaching to Arequipa International Airport (AQP). 

In order to same costs, we have decided to take a bus. I will share below how we reached Arequipa from Chile at the lowest possible cost, given that it was in the middle of the national holidays in Chile and prices were as high as four times more expensive for domestic flights (i.e. flights of normally US$50 were about US$200-US$400 for a low cost airline). 

We first flew from Santiago to Arica, in the very North of Chile, roughly a one hour flight. From Arica to Tacna, there is only one option to cross the border: a CLP40,000 taxi (price per car) - we managed to fit and share the car with 2 other people and split the cost. Before you get to Tacna, you will need to cross the Peruvian border - another very lengthy process that took over 2 hours, including the vehicle journey. 

Once you arrive into Tacna, you will be harassed by many bus companies that will try to explain that they are the best bus company ever. Beware and do your research beforehand. If you can, book your tickets in advance, preferably with a comfy bus as the journey lasts for 7 hours (370km). This was our first trip in South America and we had no idea and hopped on the first bus ('Flores') after the 'Sales' guy followed us everywhere and convinced us to ride with him (or he would not let us alone). Having said that, he was by no means of bad intention but we definitely felt overwhelmed. We soon regretted our choice, especially later in the trip when we found out that yes, for a small additional amount you can get comfier buses and most importantly... direct buses. The Flores bus was a classic bus, nothing too fancy, nothing to shabby; except it stopped every half an hour (slight exaggeration) with street vendors hopping on and off the bus trying to sell us things. Needless to say, it was impossible to sleep due to the chaos and it is no surprise that the 370km journey lasted 7 long hours. The good thing? We got to Arequipa safely for only s/20 (A$8; 5Eur).