Hi there,
Initially my idea in Peru was to spend a month in Lima, a month in Arequipa and a month in Cusco. After searching for accommodations on Airbnb, Vrbo, and booking.com, I decided that it was better to leave the base in Lima since it was the only place with decent accommodations. We decided to spend only 4 days in Arequipa and after seeing the city, we realized that it was the right decision.
What we did:
- Full Day Colca Canyon
Since we like hiking, we wanted to tour the Colca Canyon independently without tours. After doing some research, we discovered that the logistics with public transport to get there were quite complicated. Also, you had to spend the night in a place called “the Oasis” where there were few hostels and with bad reviews. People complained that the food was not good (and forget about vegan options), that they arrived and there were no sheets or towels, etc. That’s why we decided to do the full day tour.
Just before arriving in Arequipa, we saw on the news that a girl from Belgium who had gone to do the Colca trek independently had disappeared.
The one-day tour departs at 3 AM from Arequipa and returns around 6:00 PM. First you make a stop at the Volcanoes viewpoint, then you go to have breakfast and around noon you arrive at the Colca Canyon. Admission is not included; it costs 70 soles for foreigners and 40 soles for South Americans.
At the viewpoint of the canyon, we did not see Condors, but when we started to get back in the car, we saw them through the window and stopped on the road to take photos. This was the adrenaline rush of the tour because everyone went crazy running down the road screaming after the condors.
Then we went to the thermal baths of Chacapi where you must pay 15 soles per person (not included in the tour). We didn’t go in because it was so full of people. Also, they are not natural thermal pools; They are cement pools into which they pour thermal water that comes from the mountain.
Then a stop is made for lunch at a restaurant in Chivay. If you do the trekking on your own, this is the other town where you spend the night. After seeing it, we thought again that it was the right decision to have only done the one-day tour.
On the way back we stopped at various places on the road to see alpacas and vicuñas.
The bad thing about this tour is that a lot of time is wasted having breakfast and lunch; in fact, more time than you spend in the Colca Canyon.
It is also true that, with the problem of public transport, without having a good offer of accommodation in the area and without the proper security to make the tour independently, the best option now is to do it with a tour.
- Salt Lake Tour
The second most touristic option in Arequipa is the Ruta del Sillar, but I discarded it because it seemed extremely touristy and because in the end, it was basically to go shopping for souvenirs.
The third option is the Laguna de Salinas (Salt lake). I decided to do this tour because it was a small group, it basically consisted of transportation and because we were returning to Arequipa early.
The driver/guide takes you to a viewpoint and then to two points in the reserve so you can see the most important things and have quiet time to walk around and take your photos. There are some hot springs, but we didn’t go in because it was cold outside.
This place is not managed by the Ministry of Tourism but by the community that lives there. The entrance costs 5 soles for everyone, whether foreign or national.
We liked the Laguna de Salinas even more than the Colca Canyon
- The city
Arequipa is a small city that you can easily explore in mid-morning.
The Yanahuara Viewpoint didn’t seem like anything special to me. If you do any of the tours, you will stop at places with better views of the volcanoes.
The Plaza de Armas is nice and clean. Also, it was always super lively: vendors, people singing, dancing, even people protesting.
The Santa Catalina Monastery costs 40 soles per person and it was the only thing we paid in the city. Despite being very large and well preserved, the entrance seemed expensive for Latin America.
The Andean Sanctuaries Museum is also recommended, but we did not enter. Admission costs 15 soles and the tour lasts 30 minutes, of which 15 minutes are to watch a video. In addition, it is mandatory to visit with a guide that you must pay separately.
One thing that pleasantly surprised us about Arequipa was the large number of vegan restaurants there are and all of them were very good. We even thought that there was more vegan offer than in Lima.
In short, Arequipa is a city that is good to spend a few days. We initially planned to spend a month and luckily, we didn’t because it’s more of a town than a city. To spend a long season there is a lack of good accommodation, leisure options and large supermarkets. Also, Arequipa is very dusty, even more so than Lima.
It also doesn’t have too many touristy things to make it worth spending a whole month there. Apart from what I told you, you can climb a couple of volcanoes, go rafting and visit a waterfall. I ruled out going up a volcano because more days were needed and because there were no good accommodations to spend the night there (hostels with shared rooms). I’ll climb a volcano somewhere else. I also ruled out rafting because it is an activity that you can do anywhere, as well as visiting the waterfall because there was nothing special about it.
Bellow you can find the links to my YouTube channel:
Links to the vegan restaurants I tried in Arequipa:
Ecané
Onphalos
Prana
Buda Profano
Now I will tell you a little about Le Foyer hotel where we stayed in Arequipa, which was right in the center.
Pros
- Good internet connection.
- Polite and professional staff.
Cons
- Extremely noisy. It doesn’t matter which room you’re in as the hotel is surrounded by bars, clubs, and heavy traffic.
- Breakfast is poor in general, and they don’t have vegan options, not even cereals.
- The rooms are not clean and there was even snot stuck to the walls and ceiling.
- The towels were torn and frayed.
- The shower curtain was disgusting, sticky and full of mold.
- The furniture was very old and worn.
- There is no heating.
Bellow you can find the link to my YouTube channel: