Arequipa, Historic and Colonial City and Santa Catalina Monastery
Recommended by 90% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Arequipa, Peru
- 3 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
Overview
If you've got limited time in Peru's White City, check off as many of Arequipa's historical sights and attractions as you can on a half-day sightseeing tour. Stay cool and cover more attractions as you travel via air-conditioned coach to viewpoints such as the Mirador de Yanahuara and through colonial districts including Yanaahuara and St Lazarus. Plus, visit the Monastery of St Catherine, which was closed to the public for almost 400 years.
- Insight from your guide adds context to what you see in the UNESCO-listed center
- Head off the beaten path to explore neighborhoods beyond tourist hot spots
- Transportation by vehicle helps you see more in less time
- Go beyond the guidebook and learn about the city’s history from your guide
What's Included
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Professional guide
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Gratuities
- Food and drinks
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Operating hours.2:00 pm
Itinerary
Following pickup at your hotel in Arequipa, set out to explore what is known as the White City (Ciudad Blanca) aboard an air-conditioned coach.
Stop first at the St Lazarus quarter, where Arequipa was founded. Walk down lovely streets lined with flowers and historic homes. At the Carmen Alto viewpoint, stop for views and photo ops of the surrounding farmland, framed by the Pichu Pichu, Cachani and Misti volcanoes.
See the Andalusian-style church and buildings in the Yanahuara colonial district. The white buildings here are made from sillar, a volcanic rock, giving the White City its nickname. Stop at another popular viewpoint, El Mirador de Yanahuara.
Continue to the Monastery of St Catherine, a Dominican religious site that was closed to the public for over 4 centuries. Walk through the nunnery's peaceful plazas, narrow alleyways and lush gardens.
Visit the Basilica Cathedral of Arequipa in the Plaza de Armas, dating from the 16th century. Learn about the history of the structure from your guide, then stop by cloisters at the Church of the Society of Jesus (Iglesia de los Jesuita).
At the conclusion of your city tour, return to your hotel for drop-off.
Stop first at the St Lazarus quarter, where Arequipa was founded. Walk down lovely streets lined with flowers and historic homes. At the Carmen Alto viewpoint, stop for views and photo ops of the surrounding farmland, framed by the Pichu Pichu, Cachani and Misti volcanoes.
See the Andalusian-style church and buildings in the Yanahuara colonial district. The white buildings here are made from sillar, a volcanic rock, giving the White City its nickname. Stop at another popular viewpoint, El Mirador de Yanahuara.
Continue to the Monastery of St Catherine, a Dominican religious site that was closed to the public for over 4 centuries. Walk through the nunnery's peaceful plazas, narrow alleyways and lush gardens.
Visit the Basilica Cathedral of Arequipa in the Plaza de Armas, dating from the 16th century. Learn about the history of the structure from your guide, then stop by cloisters at the Church of the Society of Jesus (Iglesia de los Jesuita).
At the conclusion of your city tour, return to your hotel for drop-off.
1
Historical Centre of the City of Arequipa
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
2
Plaza de Armas
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
3
Monasterio de Santa Catalina
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Note: Admission to religious places in shorts is not allowed; please wear long pants or a long skirt
- Not wheelchair accessible
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.5
based on 42 reviews
Ada_G, Feb 2026
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.
Lindsey_P, Aug 2025
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!
Shi_C, Aug 2025
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.
Angelika_V, Mar 2025
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.
DAVID_B, Jan 2025
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..
George_B, Sep 2024
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.
Hamza_A, Jun 2024
We had a great tour, with two beautiful viewpoints, a visit to the monastery, and a walk around the main square and church. Our guide, Sline, was very kind and helpful in answering our questions and had lots of information. He was amazing in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Roland_C, May 2024
Outstanding tour, Arequipa very beautiful city with rich history, architecture and culture. Our tour Guide was excellent with so much love for the city people and culture.
Janelle_H, Apr 2024
The convent was amazing. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable. We loved the experience. I would recommend.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
We're thrilled to hear that you had an amazing experience at the convent! Our team strives to provide knowledgeable guides to ensure our guests have memorable visits. Thank you for recommending us!
Gobinda_S, Apr 2024
Great tour of Arequipa. The city has so much to learn and discover about past history, culture and archeology. Our tour guides were very nice people and highly knowledgeable about the city. Great tour.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Thank you for your kind words! We're delighted that you enjoyed your tour of Arequipa and found it to be a rich source of history, culture, and archaeology. Our guides are passionate about sharing their knowledge and ensuring that every aspect of your experience is enjoyable and informative.
It's fantastic to hear that you had a great time exploring the city with our team. Arequipa truly has a wealth of fascinating stories to discover, and we're thrilled that we could be a part of your journey to uncover its past.
If you ever find yourself back in Arequipa or exploring other destinations, we'd love to have the opportunity to show you even more of what Peru has to offer. Thank you again for choosing us for your tour, and we hope to see you again soon!
Claudia_M, Jan 2024
None, we waited for an hour outside the hotel where we would be picked up. We were staying at a house a few blacks from the hotel. Our hosts left us there and no pick up happened. We called the local operator, no answer, the U.S. number from where we got the confirmation voucher, no answer. All this on the street on a steam afternoon. We’re seniors and this was exhausting, our only afternoon in Arequipa with great hopes of enjoying the historic city ruined. A message to your operation, Vipac Travel, was later answered with a refund and no explanation until I specifically asked for one. They said there was a mix up in dates and offered another tour which we can’t take as our time in the city is over. Very upset!!!
Cherry_O, Apr 2023
Our guide Kaitlin was such a wonderful guide. Very knowledgeable, learned a lot from her and you can see she loves her job, spending more time and details.👍
Martin_C, Jul 2022
We really enjoyed the tour. We learned a ton of interesting information and saw a beautiful part of Arequipa history
Rina_P, Jul 2022
Tour guide was very knowledgeable and helpful. Arequipa is a beautiful city, we are so glad we were able to spend a few days here!
David_H, Feb 2022
Visiting the Santa Catalina monastery was fascinating. Our tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable and made the monastery come alive in the mind which was interesting and shocking.
Mary, Feb 2020
The guide was excellent, lively, interesting and spoke very good English. The tour was packed with information presented in a clear manner. The guide gave me another English translator for Santa Catalina so I had my own gilded tour for the Monastery. Overall, excellent.
Laurence C, Jul 2018
The monastery part of this tour was very good and not included in any other tour. Well worth while.
Carolina_J, Jul 2018
The spectacular views of the city of Arequipa and the super interesting visit to the Monastery really made our trip to Arequipa worth the trip!! Our choice of tours was a very good one. The guide was excellent, very knowledgeable and helpful. Enjoyed every minute of it.
Ken D, Sep 2017
Enjoyable as we saw many interesting sites - If you arrive at the Monastery and don't have time to see it all then ask if you can come back for free - they were very accommodating at the entrance
colin c, Jan 2016
The guide and transport were good the issues we had developed around the large religious content, roughly two thirds of the tour was taken up with visits to a convent and a church, these visits were interesting in themselves but as both my wife and I are atheists it WA just to much for us.
I wouldn't put others of going on this tour if you have an interest in religion, just not our bag
Kathleen P, May 2015
Tour comprehensive, guide very knowledgable. I booked English tour but all were Spanish speakers. Guide's descriptions very long so found myself waiting many minutes for information. Suggestion:- break each description into smaller sections? Had Eng guide in St Catalina but felt obliged to give tip
coblast19, May 2015
The guide was great!! The tour was educational and definitely showed us some of the highlights of the city. We wouldn't have been able to see all of this without the tour.
Bandit, Jun 2014
Comprehensive city tour of the main attractions of Arequipa. Knowledgeable and charismatic guide which made all the difference. Highly recommend booking this!
Markus_D, Oct 2024
Tolle Führung im Kloster in deutscher Sprache. Der Führer durch die Stadt hatte großartiges Wissen. Das Englisch war nur etwas schwer zu verstehen.
Milia_J, Oct 2019
Il s’agissait d’un groupe trilingue. Le guide parlait les 3 langues et nous proposer de traduire si on ne comprenait pas en espagnol s’assurant a multiples reprises que l’on avait bien compris .
Hormis des informations sur les lieux que l’on visitait il a été tres a l'écoute de tous avec de l’humour qu’il faut.
Grand Merci
Philippe_D, Sep 2018
Superbe visite avec un beau point de vue sur le volcan en particulier et après un cloître et la place centrale visite avec un guide particulier en français de ce plus grand monastère au monde, une ville dans la ville ! Sublime
Josep, Jun 2013
Visitabmiy bien estructurada, excelente el guia Victor. Totalmente recomendable para conocer Arequipa en corto espacio de tiempo.
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