Arequipa or Lima?

For Arequipa, the beach is not part of the trip. The sandy shore at Mollendo and Mejia is two hours away over the hills, and the water there stays cold and rough.

Lima at least lives on the coast. Below the cliffs, the Costa Verde is grey pebble and surf, better for watching surfers than for swimming. The sandy beaches at Punta Hermosa and San Bartolo are about an hour south and make a good summer day out when the sea is at its warmest.

Both cities eat seriously, but in different ways. Arequipa's strength is one deep regional tradition, best at lunch in the picanterías: rocoto relleno, shrimp chowder, Sunday adobo and chicha de guiñapo. It has little international cooking and few fine-dining tables.

Lima goes much wider. Coastal ceviche, Nikkei raw fish, Chinese-Peruvian chifa and criollo classics share the city with anticucho carts and tasting-menu restaurants known across the continent. A food-led trip has far more to explore here.

The two are evenly matched, but the experience differs. Arequipa's appeal is one coherent centre carved from pale volcanic stone, with Santa Catalina's coloured lanes, the La Compañía portal and the Inca mummy Juanita all a short walk apart.

Lima's colonial core is grander, as befits a former viceregal capital, with its wooden balconies and the San Francisco catacombs. Its real strength, though, is pre-Columbian: the Larco and MALI collections and adobe huacas standing among the modern districts. Seeing it all means crossing the city.

Lima is the place for a proper night out. Barranco's mansion bars and clubs fill around midnight and dance to salsa and cumbia until dawn at weekends, and Miraflores adds a more polished second scene.

Arequipa's evenings gather around Calle San Francisco. Student crowds fill its pisco bars and a few clubs late in the week, but it is mostly quiet early, and early Colca departures keep many visitors in bed.

Arequipa is far ahead here. Three volcanoes stand over the city, there are rafting and gentle walks in the terraced campiña, and Colca Canyon offers condors, multi-day treks and high-altitude reserves where vicuñas graze.

Lima's nature faces the sea. You can paraglide off the cliffs, surf all year or swim with sea lions at the Palomino Islands. Inland the hills are bare, apart from the brief green of the winter fog oases.

Both cities have their best excursions just beyond day-trip range. In Arequipa that means Colca, and in Lima Caral, Paracas and Ica, all better done overnight. Closer in, they differ in kind. Arequipa's outings are rural and gentle: the Sabandía mill, country restaurants in Characato and the Yura springs. Lima's best is archaeological, the vast adobe sanctuary of Pachacamac, with old Callao and La Punta as a short extra.

Lima has more to keep children busy. Parque de las Leyendas combines a zoo with ruins, the Circuito Mágico del Agua fountains light up in the evenings, the clifftop playgrounds are good for an afternoon, and older children can go to the southern beaches in summer. The catch is the traffic, so it pays to base yourself in Miraflores or Barranco.

Arequipa is easier to handle, with a flat, relaxed centre and welcoming plazas, but it has few attractions aimed at children beyond Santa Catalina and the mummy. Its big excursions climb high and start before dawn.

In Arequipa almost everything is on foot. The plaza, Santa Catalina, the museums and most hotels sit within a few blocks of a flat grid, and taxis cover the rest cheaply.

Lima is much harder work. Miraflores and Barranco are walkable and joined by the clifftop path. Beyond them the city sprawls, and slow traffic can turn a short taxi ride into an hour. The Metropolitano busway is the reliable way to reach the historic centre.

Alpaca is the main purchase in both cities. Arequipa is the home of the industry, and its mill outlets sell reliable baby alpaca and vicuña, but there is little else beyond craft shops in colonial courtyards.

Lima has more range. The Avenida Petit Thouars markets gather textiles, silver and retablos from every region, Barranco has Peruvian design shops, and the malls cover everyday brands.

Arequipa is the cheaper stay. Colonial guesthouses, picantería meals and short taxi rides all cost little, and the only real expenses are Colca tours and guided climbs.

Lima can be just as cheap if you eat set lunches and street snacks. Its top end costs much more, though, and a trip planned around its famous tables and Miraflores cocktail bars quickly becomes expensive.

Lima has much more to attend. The Barranco peñas, with música criolla and Afro-Peruvian cajón late into the night, draw the audience onto the dance floor. The Gran Teatro Nacional and the restored Teatro Municipal stage symphony, ballet and opera.

In Arequipa, the main option is a weekend peña with Andean folk over dinner, plus the street parades and concerts of the August founding anniversary.

Arequipa is the more restful of the two. Its dry, sunny days, long lunches and quiet cloisters slow you down, and there are volcanic hot springs at Yura and near Chivay in Colca.

Lima has no bathing tradition, and its traffic and grey winters keep a stay busy. Rest there means a hotel spa or an early walk along the clifftop parks.