Arequipa City Tour: Plaza de Armas & Santa Catalina Monastery

The Plaza de Armas anchors a morning of colonial architecture and religious art.

A guided city tour of Arequipa's historic center starting from your accommodation, with a bilingual guide leading stops at the Plaza de Armas, the cathedral, Company of Jesus, Santa Catalina Monastery and the San Francisco complex. The tour runs roughly three hours on foot, departing at 08:00, 09:15, 11:00, 14:00 or 14:30. Hotel pickup and drop-off are included; entrance fees to the sites are not.

Step-by-step itinerary

Arequipa city tour and viewpoints

• Pick-up at accommodation
• Visit Carmen Alto viewpoint
• Visit Yanahuara viewpoint
• See panoramic views of city and Misti volcano
• Walk tour of city center and main attractions

The Experience

The tour begins with pickup at your hotel, then heads to Carmen Alto and Yanahuara viewpoints where you get panoramic views of the city and Misti volcano before descending into the center itself. A bilingual guide travels with the group on comfortable transport, explaining the sites as you move between them. The Plaza de Armas sits at the heart of the route — an imposing square ringed by the main cathedral, the Company of Jesus, and a seventeenth-century neoclassical basilica that houses a museum of the city's most significant artworks and religious objects.

The walking portion takes you through the Monastery of Santa Catalina's cloisters, the chapel of St. Ignatius, the house of Tristan del Pozo, and the San Francisco complex. Each stop reveals a different layer of Arequipa's colonial past. The whole circuit is pedestrian, so comfortable shoes matter more than any other gear. Children from age five are welcome on the tour; younger children can sit on an adult's lap during the transport sections.

Five departure times spread across the day — early morning at 08:00 and 09:15, mid-morning at 11:00, and afternoon slots at 14:00 and 14:30 — so you can fit the tour around other plans. The guide speaks both English and Spanish, making the stops legible regardless of which language you prefer. Transport back to your hotel is included once the tour ends.

What’s included

• Hotel pickup and drop-off.
• bilingual guide (English and Spanish).
• comfortable transport between the viewpoints and major stops.
• access to the tour route through the historic center, Plaza de Armas, cathedral, Company of Jesus, Santa Catalina Monastery cloisters, chapel of St. Ignatius, house of Tristan del Pozo and San Francisco complex.

Good to know

Easy physical levelInfant seats availablePublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Chullos Travel Peru

Is this one for you?Choose this small-group tour if you prefer a guided walk through colonial plazas and churches with a bilingual guide leading the route, rather than navigating independently.

Traveler reviews

5.00★★★★★★★★★★

1 verified traveler review

Read all the reviews ›

Top questions

What exactly is inside the Santa Catalina Monastery that the tour visits?

The Santa Catalina Monastery tour includes the cloisters, the heart of the complex where the religious community lived and worked. The tour does not enter the full interior of the monastery itself, but focuses on the cloister spaces and the architectural detail they contain.

Do I need to pay separately to enter the cathedral and the other churches on this tour?

Entrance fees to the sites are not included in the tour price. You will need to pay separately at each stop if you want to enter the cathedral, the Company of Jesus, the basilica museum, or the other religious buildings on the route.

How much walking is involved in the three-hour tour?

The entire circuit is pedestrian, meaning you walk between and through most of the sites. Transport takes you to the viewpoints and between major stops, but once in the historic center, you are on foot for the duration. Comfortable walking shoes are essential.

Can I book a private tour instead of joining a group?

This listing is a group tour with other travelers. The bilingual guide leads the group together through all the stops, departing at one of the five scheduled times each day.

What is the view like from Carmen Alto and Yanahuara at the start of the tour?

Carmen Alto and Yanahuara are viewpoints that overlook the entire city and Misti volcano. The tour stops here first to give you panoramic views of Arequipa's layout and the volcano before you descend into the historic center on foot.