We came to Arequipa as the base for our trek to the Colca Canyon, one of the deepest canyons in the world. We ended up staying a week because we fell in love with the cutesy old town and the chilled vibe of the “White City”.
On that note, the ‘White City’ nickname has nothing to do with coca(!) play or Miami-style White Parties…it is simply because the city is almost completely built out of “sillar” – a white volcanic stone.
Put simply, this is a place to come to be WOWed by nature over and above everything else. Travel + Leisure Magazine even named it as the #2 on its annual list of the top 50 best places to travel to. Whilst there is a small gay scene to explore (more on this below), we suggest saving up your partying groove in gay Lima.
In this guide to gay Arequipa, we set out the best hotels to check out, along with the queer-friendly spaces, events, our favourite places to eat and best things to do.
Is Gay Arequipa safe?
Overall we found the city to be safe for gay travelers. Tourism is a major source of income for the local economy, so businesses are used to dealing with foreigners and are accustomed to dealing with LGBTQ travelers.
That being said, remember Peru is still very conservative with a strong affinity to the Catholic Church. We took this on board and were careful not to flaunt our love in people’s faces. At the same time, we never felt unsafe anywhere in gay Arequipa. In the worst-case scenario, people just asked us if we’re brothers. All the hotels we stayed at were gay friendly and welcomed us – no one batted an eyelid that two men wanted to share a double bed.
The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is one of the most famous treks in the world. We did it in early January 2017, during the rainy season. Whilst we loved our experience a great deal, we think you should avoid doing the Inca Trail in January, or at least carefully consider the risks.
The weather in Peru’s Sacred Valley has two seasons: wet and dry. Wet season is between October to April and the dry season from May to September. February is considered the worst month with very angry storms, heavy downpour and mudslides, so this is the one month the government closes the Inca Trail to carry out maintenance works. Some tour companies also refuse to go in late January because it becomes too dangerous.
The heavy rain makes the steps slippery and therefore unsafe. In addition, the views are extremely limited because of the thick clouds. Had we known how bad it gets, we would have rescheduled our plans to another time of year.
Why the Inca Trail?
Let’s get something straight. We’re not saying don’t do it. This is an incredible experience and we strongly recommend trekking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. As well as being one of the most famous treks in the world, this 44km (27 miles) trail was initially part of a highly advanced network of around 40,000 trails built by the Incas to connect the distant corners of their kingdom.
This particular trail is the most popular because it had religious and ceremonial importance. It was part of the Incas’ route of pilgrimage to Machu Picchu and included rituals to honour the mountains. In addition, the views of snow capped mountain peaks, cloud forests and various Inca ruins you pass along the way is what makes this trek so rewarding, and of course, world famous.