Arequipa Walking Tour & Juanita Mummy Museum: Colonial Center

★★★★★★★★★★ 3.50 (2 reviews)

Free cancellation

1/16

Duration3h

GroupUp to 30

LanguagesEN · ES

PickupAt your hotel

San Lázaro to the frozen girl: three hours through Arequipa's history and one of Peru's most preserved remains

A guided walking tour of Arequipa's historic center and the Andean Sanctuaries Museum, where you see Juanita, a 13-year-old Inca girl found frozen on Ampato Volcano in 1995 and kept in a climate-controlled chamber. Hotel pickup is included; the guide speaks English, Spanish and French. The mummy is on display May through December; January to April it enters conservation and Mummy Sarita is shown instead. Cameras and phones are not permitted inside the museum, but lockers store your belongings.

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Arequipa historic center and museum

Pick up from hotel in historic center
Walk through San Lázaro colonial district
Visit Mundo Alpaca to see alpacas and llamas
Pass by San Francisco Square and view church
Panoramic visit to Plaza de Armas and Municipal Palace
Visit Andean Sanctuaries Museum and see Juanita Mummy
Drop off at hotel or city center

The Experience

The tour starts with pickup from your hotel in Arequipa's historic center. You walk through the San Lázaro district, the oldest neighborhood where the city was founded, passing colonial mansions like the Tristán del Pozo with its 18th-century baroque entrance. The route takes you to San Francisco Square, where the 17th-century San Francisco Church stands restored after multiple earthquake damage, then to the Plaza de Armas to see the Cathedral and the Church of La Compañía, built by Jesuits in the 1600s.

Before reaching the museum, you stop at Mundo Alpaca, where you see alpacas and llamas in a natural setting and learn how alpaca fiber is processed and woven—the animals live there, not in a display pen. This break sits roughly midway through the three-hour tour and gives you a sense of the textile traditions that still matter in the region.

The Andean Sanctuaries Museum holds the centerpiece: Juanita, also called the Lady of Ampato. She was discovered frozen on the volcano in 1995 at around 13 or 14 years old, and the museum keeps her in an urn maintained at 19 degrees below zero to preserve her state. You see the mummification process explained through her remains and the gold and stone figurines found with her as burial offerings. The guide—speaking English, Spanish or French—walks you through the Inca artifacts and the conservation methods. Note that cameras, phones and backpacks are not allowed inside; lockers hold your gear while you're there. The museum closes Mondays and opens only mornings on Sundays, so plan accordingly. After the tour ends, the driver returns you to your hotel or drops you in the city center.

What’s included

Guided walking tour through the historic center of Arequipa including San Lázaro, San Francisco Square and the Plaza de Armas.
visit to Mundo Alpaca to see alpacas and llamas and learn about textile production.
entrance ticket to the Andean Sanctuaries Museum with access to Juanita (or Mummy Sarita during conservation season).
guide in English, Spanish or French.
hotel pickup and return.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyPublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Tangol

Is this one for you?This is a shared walking tour with a guide, so you move at the group's pace and follow the planned route through the colonial streets and museum. Choose it if you want the history and context of Arequipa's architecture and the Inca artifacts explained as you walk, rather than navigating the sites on your own or reading placards alone.