Best time to visit Arequipa
Peru · Latin America
All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.
The year in Arequipa
Tap a month for its page
- JanJArequipa in January: good
- FebFArequipa in February: ok
- MarMArequipa in March: good
- AprAArequipa in April: sweet spot
- MayMArequipa in May: sweet spot
- JunJArequipa in June: sweet spot
- JulJArequipa in July: good, busy
- AugAArequipa in August: good, busy
- SepSArequipa in September: sweet spot
- OctOArequipa in October: sweet spot
- NovNArequipa in November: sweet spot
- DecDArequipa in December: sweet spot
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
Dry season: Apr–Dec, 6 or fewer rainy days a month.
Plan this trip
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Where to stay
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Things to do
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Things to do in Arequipa
- Monasterio de Santa Catalina The most visited building from the Spanish era of the city.
- Cathedral Basilica of Arequipa The first cathedral was built in 1544.
- Museo Santuarios Andinos From May to November the main exhibit is the mummy Dama de Ampato, also known as Juanita.
- Casa Tristan del Pozo Built in 1738 as the residence of general Domingo Carlos Tristán del Pozo, nowadays the building houses a branch of the BBVA Perú bank.
- Casa del Moral A grand two-story house in Baroque-Moorish style, built in 1773 and named after an old mulberry plant on its patio.
- Basílica y Convento de San Francisco de Arequipa Cultural heritage site in Peru
Tours and tickets in Arequipa
Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank
Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Arequipa), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.
Month by month
No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.
| Month | Max °C | Rain days | Humidity | Sun h/day | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 21° | 13d | 70% | 9.2h | good | 21C max, 13 rainy days |
| Feb | 20° | 16d | 76% | 8.4h | ok | 20C max, 16 rainy days |
| Mar | 20° | 12d | 73% | 9.1h | good | 20C max, 12 rainy days |
| Apr | 22° | 0d | 50% | 11.1h | sweet spot | 22C max, 0 rainy days |
| May | 23° | 0d | 32% | 10.9h | sweet spot | 23C max, 0 rainy days |
| Jun | 23° | 0d | 26% | 10.7h | sweet spot | 23C max, 0 rainy days |
| Jul | 23° | 0d | 22% | 11.0h | goodbusy | busier than usual |
| Aug | 23° | 0d | 23% | 11.4h | goodbusy | busier than usual |
| Sep | 24° | 0d | 25% | 11.6h | sweet spot | 24C max, 0 rainy days |
| Oct | 24° | 0d | 30% | 12.2h | sweet spot | 24C max, 0 rainy days |
| Nov | 24° | 1d | 35% | 12.3h | sweet spot | 24C max, 1 rainy day |
| Dec | 23° | 3d | 49% | 11.5h | sweet spot | 23C max, 3 rainy days |
Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.
Weather read at the Plaza de Armas, 7 km from the airport (AQP): ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.
A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.
How busy it gets
Then and now
Arequipa's December days now average 22.9°C, 3.4°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 12 of 12 months are clearly warmer.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–90 | 18.1° | 18.4° | 18.3° | 19.0° | 20.2° | 20.7° | 21.1° | 21.7° | 22.1° | 22.1° | 21.1° | 19.4° |
| 2017–26 | 20.8° | 19.9° | 20.0° | 22.4° | 23.4° | 22.7° | 23.0° | 23.3° | 24.2° | 23.9° | 23.6° | 22.9° |
| Change | +2.7° | +1.5° | +1.6° | +3.3° | +3.2° | +2.0° | +1.9° | +1.6° | +2.1° | +1.8° | +2.5° | +3.4° |
The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.
Getting there
How far Arequipa is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.
- from Lima
- from Santiago
- from Bogota
- from Buenos Aires
- from Sao Paulo
- from Miami
- from Mexico City
- from Tampa
Open in Rome2rio for every way from to Arequipa, flying or not.
Before you go
Type A and B and C plugs at 220 V. Drives on the right. The currency is the Nuevo sol. UK Foreign Office: avoid all but essential travel to parts. Global Affairs Canada: Exercise a high degree of caution (with regional advisories). US State Department: Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution. Everything for Peru: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.
Being there
On arrival
- Paying — Cards work in chains and upmarket hotels, restaurants and shops, sometimes with a surcharge, which must be shown on a sign; carry soles elsewhere. Many locals pay by Yape QR code.
- UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
- Tipping — Not usual in basic restaurants, but 10% for good service is polite.
Getting around Arequipa
- Apps — Rides: Cabify, DiDi, inDrive, Uber. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: WhatsApp. Street taxis have no meters: agree the fare before you get in, or book through an app or a taxi company.
The city has an urban area that can be explored on foot. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Arequipa, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Help
- Emergency — police 105 · ambulance 106 or 116 · fire 116.
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.
Your embassy — : how to reach your embassy or consulate abroad. A guess from your city, : a city is not a passport.
Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 7 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.
Sources (24)
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/peru/getting-help
- travel.gc.ca/destinations/peru
- uber.com/global/en/cities/lima
- web.didiglobal.com/pe
- indrive.com/es-pe/city-rides
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabify
- peru.travel/en/useful-data/transport
- peru.travel/en/useful-data
- gob.pe/institucion/atu/noticias/1420574-atu-moderniza-el-transporte-publico-con-la-tarjeta-interoperable-recaudo-digital-y-nuevas-herramientas-tecnologicas
- gob.pe/institucion/indecopi/noticias/627578-el-indecopi-recuerda-derechos-de-usuarios-de-servicios-turisticos-por-la-festividad-de-san-pedro-y-san-pablo
- yape.com.pe
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Peru
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Lima
- es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitano_(Lima)
- es.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%ADnea_1_del_Metro_de_Lima
- soax.com/research/most-popular-messaging-apps
- developers.google.com/maps/coverage
- apple.com/ios/feature-availability
- perurail.com/faq
- perurail.com/purchase-terms-and-conditions
- perurail.com/destinations/machu-picchu
- incarail.com/en/machu-picchu/how-to-get-to-machu-picchu
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2286608
- rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/AnnualReport/PDFs/09PAYMENT290526C6588B796E664822A2BD0DEB6452CAD4.PDF
Arequipa in pictures
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Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Mojnsen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What Arequipa is like
Arequipa is a city in the Southern Coastal region of Peru just below the edge of the Altiplano, at 2,380 m (7,810 ft) above sea level and surrounded by three impressive volcanoes. It's Peru's second most important city (after Lima), and the second most popular among tourists (after Cusco). More on Wikivoyage
- Worth seeing
- Many of the almost 250 colonial buildings named as Human Heritage by UNESCO, are close to the main square. Some have been turned into banks, stores, restaurants and private residences. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth doing
- Free Walking Tour (Downtown Arequipa), Calle Santa Catalina 204. Tours leave daily 10:00 & 15:00. More on Wikivoyage
- Getting in
- By far the easiest way to get to Arequipa is by plane, Rodríguez Ballón airport (AQP IATA), Av Aviacion S/N, Cerro Colorado (8.5 km north of the city along Av Ejercito and Av Aviacion in Cerro Colorado). More on Wikivoyage
- Staying safe
- Don't flaunt your valuables or your money; there are occasional robberies reported. Do not walk alone after 23:00 in the downtown area! More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Arequipa, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.
Around Arequipa
Also in Peru
- Cusco best May, Jun, Sep
- Lake Titicaca best Jun, Aug, Sep
- Lima best Jan, Feb, Apr
- Machu Picchu best May, Jun, Aug
Nearby
- La Paz Bolivia · 363 km
- Salar de Uyuni Bolivia · 672 km
- Sucre Bolivia · 727 km
- San Pedro de Atacama Chile · 804 km
Kind of place
Arequipa is in Peru, Latin America. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.
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