Small-Group Arequipa Countryside Tour Including La Mansion del Fundador -Mirabus

Its a rip off! You dont get what you booked. It clearly says small group but I was cramped with 20 plus more people in a open deck bus. The sites we visited are not the ones described on the tour. You can book the same tour cheaper directly at the Plaza de Armas.

Fun tour to the outskirts - giving you a different flavor of the city

They outsource the tour to Mirabus, where you are on a sightseeing bus with 20 other people. Hence it all takes a little longer than expected.

For those who have never been to Arequipa and also want to get a sense of its location in the countryside, this tour is very good, especially for the price. It does stop at several well-know locations for vistas or to sample a local drink specialty. However, the one stop that is at a church for 360 degree vistas entails a good set of stairs to climb so if your knees are not so good, like mine, you may not bother with this vista. But I really did enjoy going about the La Mansion del Fundador. This is a well-preserved historic hacienda related to the founding of Arequipa and has barrel-vaulted ceilings, lots of old artwork and especially for me some very nice gardens. In addition, I enjoyed simply the opportunity to get outside of Arequipa and see a bit of the countryside, with a guide if I wished to ask questions. They also drop you off at the main plaza, a good location for further activities or a meal. Unfortunately they said they were going to visit the Mill, but I don't think we did. However, well-worth the cost and time.

This tour gives you a feel for the area around Arequipa, and there are some great viewpoints. Our guide was very sweet, but did not seem to know much about the Mansion, which was a shame, as it is a beautiful place.

The Mirabus tour was replaced by a car tour since supposedly we were the only people to sign up that day for morning tour. On Saturday? It sounds strange, especially since we saw other Mirabuses on the street. We were optimistic, since we expected the same program, but in a car, however a guide it took more than an hour, from 9:00 to 10:30 to pick up her had other ideas, and despite our references to original program did a shortened version and finished the tour by 12:00 noon, instead of 14:00. The tour was supposed to be in English, but the guide spoke Spanish and French, mostly. Okay, we enjoyed a nice couple hours in the country side, but it was definitely not what we expected. Could have taken a cab for less.