VacationSelector
The church of La Compania under a blue sky, Arequipa
ArequipaThe church of La Compania under a blue sky
Vine rows before the snow-capped Andes in the Uco Valley, Mendoza
MendozaVine rows before the snow-capped Andes in the Uco Valley

Photos: Arequipa by DocSlyper, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped; Mendoza by David, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Arequipa or Mendoza?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Arequipa for

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Arequipa’s own page.

Choose Mendoza for

  • day trips
  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Mendoza’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Arequipa 8, Mendoza 6: Arequipa leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Arequipa 66, Mendoza 68: Mendoza leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Arequipa 64, Mendoza 30: Arequipa leads by 34 points.
Nightlife. Arequipa 36, Mendoza 40: Mendoza leads by 4 points.
Nature & outdoors. Arequipa 74, Mendoza 83: Mendoza leads by 9 points.
Day trips. Arequipa 30, Mendoza 52: Mendoza leads by 22 points.
Good for families. Arequipa 35, Mendoza 42: Mendoza leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Arequipa 54, Mendoza 48: Arequipa leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Arequipa 44, Mendoza 33: Arequipa leads by 11 points.
Affordability. Arequipa 82, Mendoza 56: Arequipa leads by 26 points.
Live music & performing arts. Arequipa 27, Mendoza 33: Mendoza leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Arequipa 34, Mendoza 55: Mendoza leads by 21 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Arequipa and Mendoza.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Arequipa
46match

Wins on culture and sights and prices with your weighting.

Mendoza
46match

Wins on day trips and wellness with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Arequipa in July

21 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
11 hdaylight a day

Mendoza in July

15 °Cdaytime high
2 °Cnight-time low
5 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

01020304050JFMAMJJASOND
ArequipaMendoza

Where the figures come from

Arequipa's station stands 203 m above the city centre, so the centre is likely a little warmer than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Arequipa: 1991-2020 normals, Arequipa (9.2 km from centre). Mendoza: 1991-2020 normals, Mendoza Aerodrome (8.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureArequipaMendoza
Official languageSpanish, Aymara, QuechuaSpanish
CurrencySol (PEN)Argentine Peso (ARS)
SocketsABC220 V, 60 HzCI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC-5UTC-3
Emergency number111 or 911117 or 911
Elevation2,335 m769 m
Main airportRodríguez Ballón International Airport (AQP)7 km from centre2 non-stop destinationsGovernor Francisco Gabrielli International Airport (MDZ)8 km from centre5 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year17 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureArequipaMendoza
City population1,008,290127,160
People per km²1,5512,355
Museums within 10 km31
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Arequipa or Mendoza somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.