Arequipa or Santiago?

Neither city is a beach destination, and both reach the same cold Humboldt water. From Arequipa the coast at Mollendo and Mejia is about two hours away over dry hills, with wide sand and rough surf. From Santiago the drive to Viña del Mar takes about as long but ends at a proper resort town with a seafront.

Back in the city, Santiago has the large public pools of the Parque Metropolitano, while in Arequipa swimming means a hotel pool.

Arequipa has the more distinctive kitchen, and it is at its best at lunchtime in the picanterias. Rocoto relleno, shrimp chowder and chicha de guinapo are served in noisy family dining rooms, and the city eats adobo on Sunday mornings. Eating where the locals eat is the whole point.

Santiago's strengths lie elsewhere: seafood at the Mercado Central and around La Vega, and wine from the nearby valleys, which makes dinner the main event. Its modern restaurants cluster in Lastarria, Barrio Italia and Bellavista. Neither city offers much international cooking.

Arequipa has the richer historic centre. Its pale sillar churches and mansions form a UNESCO-listed whole, and Santa Catalina's walled lanes can fill half a day on their own. Juanita at the Museo Santuarios Andinos and the carved portal of La Compania are a short walk away.

Earthquakes have left Santiago with fewer monuments, so its sightseeing leans on museums: the outstanding pre-Columbian collection, the Museum of Memory and La Moneda's link to 1973. Both cities need two or three days, but in Arequipa you spend them among the buildings and in Santiago mostly in galleries.

Santiago is the place for a late night. Bars fill after eleven, Bellavista has crowded terraces and the main LGBTQ+ clubs, and Lastarria and Barrio Italia have wine and cocktail bars for a quieter evening.

In Arequipa, going out means one area, Calle San Francisco, with pisco bars and a few student clubs that fill at weekends. Weeknights end early, partly because Colca tours leave before dawn.

Both cities sit under big mountains, but Santiago puts more of them within easy reach. Cerro San Cristóbal and Manquehue have hikes inside the city, the Cajón del Maipo has rafting and glacier trails, and the ski areas are about an hour and a half away from June to September. The drawbacks are winter smog and the sprawl you cross to get out.

Arequipa's landscape is higher and wilder. El Misti and Chachani are serious guided climbs, and Colca Canyon, with its condors and multi-day treks, is the highlight. It is three to four hours away, though, and best done with nights away from the city.

Here Santiago pulls well ahead. Valparaíso, with its steep hills and old funiculars, Viña del Mar, the historic Maipo estates and the Casablanca wine valley all fit comfortably into a day, and Pomaire makes a short half-day.

Around Arequipa the easy outings are smaller: the Sabandia mill, the Mansion del Fundador and country lunches in Characato or Tingo. Its bigger sights, the Colca villages and the Toro Muerto petroglyphs, need an overnight stay.

Santiago gives children far more to do. There is the funicular and zoo on Cerro San Cristóbal, the hands-on Museo Interactivo Mirador, the amusement park in Parque O'Higgins and summer pools, and the metro takes pushchairs on most lines.

Arequipa is gentle on children: it is flat, welcoming and at a manageable altitude, and older children enjoy Santa Catalina and the frozen mummy. Beyond those there is little, and Colca trips mean pre-dawn starts on roads above 4,800m.

Santiago is much larger but better equipped. Its clean, easy metro runs along the main axis to Providencia and Las Condes, one card covers trains and buses, and the walks between Lastarria, Bellavista and Providencia are pleasant. Rush-hour trains are packed, but ride-hailing fills the gaps.

In Arequipa, the plaza, Santa Catalina, the museums and most hotels are a few flat blocks apart, so the centre needs no transport, though the pavements are narrow. Beyond it you depend on taxis, because the buses and colectivos are hard for a visitor to work out.

Santiago has the wider range. There are big malls in the eastern districts, luxury labels around Alonso de Córdova, independent design and vintage shops in Barrio Italia, and copper, lapis lazuli and Mapuche silver at Pueblito Los Dominicos.

Arequipa does one thing better: alpaca. The mill outlets sell baby alpaca and vicuna knitwear of reliable quality, and Fundo El Fierro gathers local artisans, but there is little else beyond textiles.

Your money goes much further in Arequipa. Colonial guesthouses, set lunches and taxis cost little, and only Colca tours and guided volcano climbs make a real dent.

Santiago costs about as much as a mid-range southern European city, especially in Providencia, Lastarria and Las Condes, where most visitors stay. Set lunches, the metro and free or cheap museums help, but skiing and tours to the mountains or wineries add up.

Santiago has a real stage life. The 19th-century Teatro Municipal has opera, ballet and a philharmonic orchestra, the GAM puts on contemporary work, and bands play in Bellavista and the Centro. Each January the Santiago a Mil festival brings theatre into parks and streets.

In Arequipa the most rewarding evening is a peña, with Andean folk music and dance over dinner, mostly at weekends. The founding anniversary in mid-August brings parades and concerts into the streets.

Arequipa is the calmer city to spend time in, while Santiago's quiet lies mostly at its edges. Arequipa's dry sunshine, long lunches and cloister courtyards make an ordinary day restful. For proper bathing, the simple volcanic pools at Yura are under an hour away, and the open-air springs near Chivay are a reward after a day on the Colca rim.

Santiago is a busy, car-heavy capital with winter smog, so in town you slow down on the shaded paths of Parque Forestal or in the gardens on Cerro San Cristóbal. Its thermal water is closer, though: Termas de Colina has terraced pools on the northern edge of the city, and the Cajón del Maipo has basic springs such as Baños Morales.