Best Time to Visit Arequipa: 300 Sunny Days, Dry Season & August Festival

Nicknamed the Ciudad del Eterno Cielo Azul (City of the Eternal Blue Sky), Arequipa enjoys one of the sunniest, most stable highland desert climates (Köppen BWk) in South America, with more than 300 days of sunshine per year. According to official 1991 to 2020 SENAMHI and WMO climate normals, daytime highs remain remarkably consistent across all twelve months, hovering between 21.7°C in February and 23.0°C in October, while crisp, dry mountain nights dip to between 6.8°C in July and 11.2°C in February.

April to November: The Sunny Dry Season (Best Overall for Colca & Volcanoes)

From April through November, rainfall in Arequipa drops to virtually zero (0 to 1 rain day per month across eight straight months):

• Clear Volcano Views & Colca Canyon Trekking: Afternoon temperatures sit at a pleasant 22.1°C to 23.0°C under cloudless cobalt skies, giving you unobstructed morning and sunset views of Volcán Misti (5,822 m) and Chachani (6,057 m), dry trails in the Colca Canyon, and blinding white salt flats at Laguna de Salinas. Note that April and May (just after the summer rains) combine crystal-clear skies with lush green pre-Inca agricultural terraces in the Colca and Chilina valleys.
• Viewing Mummy Juanita (May to December): If seeing the original Inca Ice Maiden Juanita at Museo Santuarios Andinos is a priority, time your visit between 1 May and 31 December; from January through April, Juanita is placed in dark conservation storage and her fellow Inca summit mummy Sarita is exhibited in her place.
• Fiestas de Arequipa (August, Peaking 14 to 15 August): Every August, the city celebrates its 1540 foundation with a month of folkloric dances, food festivals, serenades on the Plaza de Armas, and the ten-hour Corso de la Amistad parade on 15 August. Book hotels well ahead for mid-August.

December to March: The Short Andean Summer Wet Season

During the Southern Hemisphere summer (peaking in January and February with 5 to 6 rain days per month), mornings usually start sunny before afternoon clouds and brief mountain showers roll in. While high-altitude climbs on Misti and Chachani pause during heavy snow, this is the best season to photograph the mirror-effect water reflections across Laguna de Salinas (January to March), when thousands of pink Andean flamingos wade across the flooded salt pan.