4 Days Arequipa and Colca Canyon from Arequipa

Arrive at Arequipa airport. Our representative will meet you and take you to the hotel. Enjoy a comfortable transfer while a guide will inform you about the attractions and services the city offers and will assist you with the check-in at your hotel. Begin your tour at the main square, Plaza de Armas, admiring its elegant neo-Renaissance style basilica cathedral and the sensational Santa Catalina convent, which for centuries was a forbidden city within a city, closed off from prying eyes and the influences of the outside world. Founded in the 16th century, the convent was an almost self-sustained village, made up of houses for the nuns and their servants, cloisters, plazas, and narrow streets, kitchens, refectories and more. The nuns’ families paid vast dowries for their daughters to be admitted, which added to the convent’s wealth and prestige. Nowadays, to wander through its brightly coloured alleys is to step back in time and understand colonial Peru. Continue to the Church of the Company, perhaps the greatest masterpiece of Peruvian baroque, to study its fascinating façade. The vestry is particularly beautiful with its cupola and walls covered in murals representing the jungle. And the Jesuit seminary is famous for its beautiful principal cloister. Finally, head to the residential districts of Yanahuara and Carmen Alto, where you can enjoy a magnificent view of El Misti volcano rising above the city.

Charge your batteries with breakfast at the hotel before leaving the city via Yura, a district characterised by its rugged scenery, hills and cliffs. Then enter the Pampa Cañahuas Reserve, an extensive grass plain where vicuñas (an Andean camelid and a national symbol) can be spotted. Head through Vizcachani and Pampas de Toccra up to the crater of the Chucura volcano. From there, continue one last leg of the way to reach the Mirador de los Andes at Patapampa, a stunning viewpoint 4,800 metres above sea level with impressive views of the volcanoes surrounding Arequipa. Lunch is served in the town of Chivay, and in the afternoon you can rest in the hotel.

After breakfast at the hotel, prepare for a day of high drama with a trip to the breathtaking Condor Cross lookout. Take a deep breath and appreciate the sheer vastness of the Colca Valley, which is one of the world's deepest canyons with a maximum depth of more than 4,160 metres – twice that of the Grand Canyon. The thrill of the experience is enhanced by the natural spectacle of huge condors flying over the canyon. Watch in awe as these graceful birds of prey glide over the canyon, patrolling it with military discipline. Descend to the valley floor to discover some of the rustic towns on the banks of the River Colca such as Chivay, Pinchollo, Maca, Achoma and Yanque, where quaint colonial churches are as much as part of the scenery as the peaks of the Andes. There are also stops at the lookouts of Antahuilque and Choquetico to admire majestic views of the valley. After lunch, return to Arequipa.

After finishing your breakfast at the hotel, you will be transfer to Arequipa’s airport.