Cost of Living in Arequipa Peru

[kkstarratings] This is Dan from Vagabond Buddha. I have been traveling internationally for 11 years now looking for where I would like to retire. I have been to 64 countries so far in my life. I decided to collect data and give you examples of the cost of living as I travel. However, cost of living is just part of the story. I also want to love the area.

You probably have your own requirements when considering whether you could live somewhere or not. I call these my livability factors. My livability factors are walkability, internet reliability, quality food choices for reasonable prices, and weather. I also consider things to do in an area, the social aspects of a location, and political considerations (corruption, respect for fellow citizens, general feeling of community, open minds to foreigners (me)). I add all that up and it leads to a desirability to live somewhere or not.

Walkability: Anywhere within a 10 block radius of Plaza de Armas is highly walkable and an attractive place to live. If you can afford to live there and you don’t need to commute to work that would be ideal. There are restaurants, museums, movie theatres, parks, and a river walk all within Old town Arequipa.

Internet: Arequipa is the intellectual capital of Peru. It is a university atmosphere and quality is available both in your home, internet cafes, and a few public spaces.

Food: The international food choices in Arequipa within the Old Town Area are unmatched in diversity and density of choices. Lima Peru has more choices overall, but you will need to get in your car to get to them. Arequipa even has a vegan sushi house.

Weather: Arequipa is situated at 2335 meters above sea level (7660 feet), so it is always cool and almost never hot. The average temperature year-round is about 75F/23C high and 49F/7C low. It averages 4 days rain per month in January, February, and March. All other months average zero days of rain. If it slightly warmer, it would be the most perfect weather in the world.

Things to Do: I could spend years in Arequipa without getting bored. Arequipa even has an international airport so you can travel without going to Lima.

Social Considerations: Arequipa has the highest standard of living in Peru, both financially and socially. The university atmosphere and commensurate money has created a robust economy which has made Arequipa the best place to live in Peru, for both foreigners and Peruvians.

Desire to Move Here: I could live easily in Arequipa and the cost of living is reasonable. The only thing that makes me hesitate at all is that it felt a little too cool. In the middle of the day you can walk around wearing only a single layer. But after about 4pm, it gets cool fairly quickly.

Free E-Book: If you would like to learn how to make money online, or how to live internationally possibly with less money than you spend at home, please subscribe to VagabondBuddha.com and grab a free copy of my Ebook.

Here are my estimated costs of living one month in Arequipa, Peru as a temporary visitor.

Some of the estimates could be reduced. For example, if you rented a furnished apartment by the month, it could be cheaper. Or, you could get a nicer place for the same amount of money. These expenses are based upon the Old Town area of Arequipa. You can rent a furnished 1 bedroom apartment in Old Town Arequipa for about s/1200 to s/2400 per month (400-800 USD) depending on how nice and how close in you want to be.

Monthly Cost of Living, Arequipa, Peru, Ecuador ($USD)

Expense	Cost	Low	Medium	High**
Airbnb	$28.00	0	14	30
Moderate Hotel	$65.00	0	12	0
Backpacker Hostel	$9.00	30	3	0
High End Restaurant	$12.00	1	4	8
Neighborhood Restaurant	$4.00	30	44	48
Food Cart	$1.00	30	12	4
Subway/Train/Metro	$0.80	20	26	8
Bus	$0.80	20	10	0
Taxi/Uber	$2.50	6	10	20
Total	Per Month	$479.00	$1,488.80	$1,188.40
Total	Per Day	$15.97	$49.63	$39.61

**In the above table, the high cost of living in Arequipa is lower than the medium cost of living because an Airbnb apartment is cheaper than a moderate hotel room.

For more information about how the above “Cost of Living Monthly Multiplier” works, please visit the bottom of this page at Vagabond Buddha. The above table does not include alcohol, excursions, or extras, and it is for one person. These costs are based upon eating outside your accommodations twice a day. If you stay in the Airbnb apartment, you might be able to save money cooking more. But that depends on what you cook and whether you would otherwise eat in Food Carts, Neighborhood Restaurants, or High-end restaurants. Some of the expenses remain unchanged when you add another person. I am not guaranteeing anything. These are just my notes from my personal travel.

Best Places to Live in World: Here is my list of the ==>best live-cheap in paradise locations<== in the world.

I am not offering you these prices. These are just my notes and estimates from the time of my visit and this post. Your costs will likely be drastically different if significant inflation or deflation occurs or the market changes after this post. I will not update these numbers until I am on the ground again here, if ever.

Cost of Living in Arequipa Peru

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