Arequipa, Historic and Colonial City and Santa Catalina Monastery
Description
Get to know Arequipa on this history-filled city sightseeing tour. With a professional guide, you’ll see the city’s top historical attractions, including the colonial districts of St Lazarus and Yanahuara, the Monastery of St Catherine and the Basilica Cathedral of Arequipa, as well as two locations that provide excellent views of the city and its surrounds – Carmen Alto and the Mirador de Yanahuara. Travel by air-conditioned coach and hop off at various sites to walk around and soak it all in.
Tour Options
Itinerary
The White City opens up its doors in a tour that begins in the Carmen Alto viewpoint from where we will be able to admire the beautiful landscape of farming terraces and the three guardian volcanoes that surround the city: Misti, Chachani and Picchu-Picchu.
We will then continue to the colonial district of Yanahuara, famous for its church built in Andalusia style, and its viewpoint with is gorgeous architecture surrounded by sillar stone arches. We will then visit the Monastery of Saint Catherine, an impressive religious monument that had been closed to the public for nearly 400 years; its narrow streets, plazas and gardens reminds us of the ancient districts of Seville or Granada.
Finally, we will head for the Main Square, where we will be able to see the Cathedral and the arches that surround the plaza, and then visit the Church of the Company of Jesus founded in the 17th century by the Jesuits, and which stands out for its cloisters and the famous Saint Ignacio Dome.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Note: Admission to religious places in shorts is not allowed; please wear long pants or a long skirt
Reviews(44)
We had an excellent private tour in Arequipa. Our guide John was knowledgeable, friendly, and passionate about sharing the city's history, culture, and architecture. We visited beautiful landmarks and enjoyed stunning views of the surrounding volcanoes. The tour was well-organized, informative, and enjoyable from start to finish. I especially appreciated how the guide answered all our questions and made everyone feel welcome. Arequipa is a beautiful city, and this tour made our visit even more memorable. The monastery part was seamlessly handed by John to another (in-house) guide, and this part was very good as well; the monastery inner "city" is amazing. I highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Arequipa!
On this tour, led by Maria Jesus, we were briefly told the history of the city showing us the three volcanoes that surround the city, then guided us to the neighborhood of Yanahuara. Much of the visit was to the monastery of Santa Catalina, despite the beauty of the cities and the monastery we were not satisfied by the explanations of the guide who was rather pedantic, hasty and anxious, often repeating the same things and not getting particularly involved.
Nice tour that gets one to the Yanahuara viewpoint without having to walk or take a taxi. The Iglesia de la Compania near the Plaza de Armas was beautiful and its San Ignacio Chapel decorated with birds from the jungle was amazing. Glad that admission was included, along with the even more expensive admission to the Monasterio de Santa Catalina. Although one can visit these sites on one’s own, this tour saves a lot of time. Jeymi was a good guide. Unfortunately February is not the best month for viewing the volcanoes though because it is the rainy season.
The city of Arequipa is beautiful with cobblestone streets and palaces from the time of the Spanish conquest that are beautiful and the monastery of Santa Catalina is a wonder I have never seen a monastery as big and beautiful as this.
Our guide, Charo, made this one of our best city tours in Peru. We would highly recommend it. We started out in the car seeing a few view points and she even made a few stops to accommodate some things we wanted to try but didn’t know how to find. We then did a walking tour of the Plaza de Armas area and Monastery of Santa Catalina and it was fantastic. All of the sites were not only beautiful but interesting. We especially loved the Monastery, which was not only beautiful but Charo also did a wonderful job of answering our questions and centering women’s history. As a historian, I can found her information far better and she centered women’s agency in ways others haven’t and she also addressed colonialism far better and in a more complex way. We cannot recommend this tour enough!
We understand the guide’s English perfectly. We so far have had several tours with Viator, she is the only one who spoke real English.
This was a great 3 hour tour. The first hour was outside of the main downtown area of Arequipa and it’s great to see Misti from different view points (try to go on a sunny day). The 2-3 hours are spent walking around town and going into a church and the monastery. The tour guide was very knowledgeable.
Great tour. Little bit of outside the central city, and then quite a bit into the central city. A couple of spectacular viewpoints. Very well done..
Knowledgable guide, good English, comfortable vehicle, flexible to fit with schedule, comprehensive itinerary. Monastery tour felt repetitive and could be compressed. Cathedral visit was the last stop scheduled in the tour at 5pm, despite its tower with views of Arequipa and the surrounds closing at 4pm, meaning I could not do this during my stay. A itinerary reshuffle would be a simple fix.
The most beautiful city in Peru. Not to be missed! Santa Catelina Convent is very pretty. Very good food. The people are very welcoming.
