Arequipa's Plaza de Armas is among the finest colonial squares in South America. The entire north side is taken up by the Basilica Cathedral, a single immense white facade with twin bell towers and a fountain in front. The other three sides have continuous two-storey arcades — los portales — with restaurants, cafes, and balconies that look out over a manicured central garden with palm trees and a bronze fountain topped by a sixteenth-century tuturutu trumpeter.
It works as both meeting point and theatre. Local families gather in the evening to watch the sunset stain the cathedral pink, while shoeshine boys, balloon sellers, and uniformed schoolchildren on field trips fill the benches. The cafes on the second-floor balconies of the portales charge more, but the view down on the plaza is worth a pisco sour. Avoid the brass-band-and-flag spectacle of the Sunday-morning flag raising only if you dislike pageantry.