The Santa Catalina convent
A city within a city — a maze of blue and ochre cloisters, quiet courtyards and a photographer’s dream.
Arequipa & Colca Canyon
White-stone city and the world’s deepest canyon
Best time
May – September
Gentle pace
3–4 slow days
Ideal for
Couples · Adventurous families · Photographers
Arequipa is Peru’s loveliest city — a grid of colonial churches and cloisters carved from white volcanic stone, sitting in the shadow of three snow-capped volcanoes. A few hours beyond lies Colca Canyon, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, terraced since Inca times and patrolled by Andean condors on the morning thermals.
With children, spend two gentle days in the city’s cloisters and markets, then drive up to Colca for a night in a valley village, an early-morning condor watch, and the hot springs at Chivay under the stars.
Worth lingering over
Cruz del Condor
A viewpoint above the canyon where condors glide past at eye level on the morning thermals.
The Chivay hot springs
Soak in open-air thermal pools under the stars after a day on the canyon road.
Hidden gem
The oasis of Sangalle
At the very floor of Colca Canyon, a thousand metres below the rim, lies a hidden oasis of green palm trees and turquoise pools, reached only by a long, steep descent on foot or mule. Most canyon visitors stay on the rim; those who make the down climb sleep in simple lodges by the pools, swim under the stars, and climb out at dawn as the condors pass overhead.