Arequipa

Arequipa is a fairly large, but still beautiful, city located just below the edge of the Peruvian Altiplano.

Understand

It's nicknamed the 'white city', because many of the buildings in the area are built using sillar, a rock coming from some of the many volcanoes that surround the city including the towering El Misti.

Get in

By plane

By far the easiest way to get in to / out of Arequipa is by plane. Lan flys twice daily from around $70.

By bus

Several buses a day do the long trips to Cuzco, Puno, Nazca, Lima and Tacna (near the border with Chile).

By train

Daily (cold) trains travel up to Juliaca and Puno.

See

Visit some of the many markets in the centre of Arequipa
Visit the catholic colonial-era Convento de Santa Catalina
A visit to the Colca Canyon is recommended. It's at least three uncomfortable hours' drive from Arequipa. Once thought to be the deepest canyon in the world and twice as deep as the Grand Canyon nearby Cotohuasi Canyon is actually deeper at 11,488 ft (3501m). Here you can do a spot of walking, or else go up to the "Cruz del Condor", where you can normally see the magnificent sight of many condors soaring around you.

Buy

You should definitely eat Rocoto relleno con pastel de papa in the Lucila in Sachaca.

Stay safe

All the usual advice given for Peru applies really. Arequipa feels like a very safe city, and like in most of the other major Peruvian cities there was always a fairly large police presence. That said, don't unnecessarily flaunt your valuables or your money. Despite of this, there have been several robberies reported. The most common form is when a foreigner takes a no-name cab and some corners later other people are picked up to rob the tourist. Always take branded taxis (of which you can see plenty). The best you can do is to call one. This holds for the rest of Peru as well.