Arequipa City Tour with Santa Catalina Monastery

Santa Catalina Monastery opens onto narrow streets painted in colors that have survived four centuries.

An afternoon city tour of Arequipa with hotel pickup includes a guided walk through Santa Catalina Monastery, the Plaza de Armas, and viewpoints over the city. The tour runs about four hours, departing around 2pm and returning by 6pm. Your guide speaks English or Spanish and leads you through the monastery's cloisters and original rooms, then through the city's main square and surrounding neighborhoods. Meals are not included.

Step-by-step itinerary

Afternoon city tour and monastery visit

• Pick up from accommodation at 14:00
• Visit Santa Catalina Monastery
• Explore Plaza de Armas
• See Jesuit Church of the Company
• Visit Tristán del Pozo mansion
• View city from Carmen Alto and Yanahuara districts
• Return to Arequipa around 18:00

The Experience

Pickup happens around 2pm from your hotel in central Arequipa. The tour opens at Santa Catalina Monastery, where you walk through narrow alleys lined with colorful flowers and original furniture, moving through cloisters and rooms that span four centuries of the city's architecture. The intricate layout of cells and passageways means you move at your own pace through the convent, stopping where details catch your eye.

After the monastery, the route takes you to the Plaza de Armas, one of Peru's most beautiful squares, where the Jesuit Church of the Company stands with its mestizo architecture and ornate facade. You'll see the Tristán del Pozo mansion and move through the city's layout as your guide explains what you're standing in front of. The tour ends at the typical districts of Carmen Alto and Yanahuara, where a viewpoint and church give you a vantage over the white city before you return to your hotel around 6pm.

What’s included

• Hotel pickup in central Arequipa.
• guided tour of Santa Catalina Monastery.
• transport to the Plaza de Armas, the Jesuit Church, and the viewpoints at Carmen Alto and Yanahuara.
• professional guide in English or Spanish.

Good to know

Easy physical level

Operated by PVTravels

Is this one for you?The afternoon schedule means a 2pm start, so you can spend your morning elsewhere in Arequipa before the tour begins. The four-hour loop returns you by early evening, leaving time for dinner in the city.

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Top questions

What exactly is inside Santa Catalina Monastery that I'll see on this tour?

Santa Catalina Monastery contains narrow streets, cloisters, and original rooms filled with period furniture, along with colorful flowers and walls painted in traditional dyes. You walk through cells and various sections of the convent that show four centuries of Arequipa's architectural history.

Does the tour include meals or drinks?

Meals are not included in this tour. You'll want to eat before the 2pm pickup or plan a meal after the tour ends around 6pm.

What language will my guide speak?

Your guide speaks either English or Spanish, and you choose which one at booking.

How much walking is involved in this afternoon tour?

The tour covers the monastery's interior on foot with its narrow alleys and cloisters, then moves through the Plaza de Armas and surrounding neighborhoods. The itinerary is suitable for all fitness levels, though the monastery's layout involves some uneven terrain and stairs.

What is mestizo architecture that I'll see at the Jesuit Church?

Mestizo architecture is a blend of Spanish colonial and indigenous Peruvian design. The Jesuit Church of the Company displays this style in its facade, cloisters, and dome, which your guide will explain as you visit.