Sillar Route and Culebrillas Petroglyphs: Explore Volcanic Stone Quarries and Ancient Artworks
4.7
36 Ratings
Arequipa

The Sillar Route encompasses a vast expanse of sillar, a type of volcanic stone, which carves out magnificent ravines akin to those found in Petra, Jordan. It’s a place where one can witness petroglyphs and understand the method used for quarrying the rocks.

Duration: 4 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Canteras de Sillar - Our first visit will be the quarry called Añashuayco. Being still in full operation, it has become a huge canyon with white walls about 30 meters high. The alarifes explain in the same place their work techniques and the uses of volcanic stone.
  • Quebrada de Culebrillas - the Quebrada de Culebrillas, quarry of sillar that is not yet in operation. In a 20-minute walk, we will observe some petroglyphs impregnated on the walls of the creek. On returning to the city we will observe the Apachetas, stone mounds that represent a mystical tradition for the locals.
What's Included
  • Group tour experience
  • Guidance by a certified guide
Location
Canteras de Sillar
Quebrada de Anashuayco
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.7
(36 Ratings)
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Lisa_c
Mar 13, 2024
Great Tour! - Excellent tour, we had a great time! Tour picked us up at the hotel right on time, good pace the hike was also very good.
Review provided by Viator
Dalia
Jan 19, 2024
Good tour for a good price - The trip over all was great. Our tour leader Christina was bilingual and very knowledgeable when it came to both salt mines and the city of Arequipa. My only suggestion would be to spend more time at each of the salt mines, perhaps 40 minutes for the first mine and an hour at the salt mine with the statues. For the second location, 40 minutes was not enough time to enjoy the whole site without rushing. Overall the trip and experience was a great value for the price.
Review provided by Viator
Omar
Oct 10, 2023
Nice experience - The tour was fun and instructive. Mile, our tour guide had a lot of knowledge and made it fun. The tour lasted just the right amount of time to experience the Sillar while also visiting the Mirador de Yanahuara, and then to have a free afternoon to continue experiencing Arequipa. Totally recomended!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Andrea_m
Sep 8, 2023
A very informative experience - We enjoyed seeing and learning about the sillar, seeing the petroglyphs and then seeing the wonderful carvings.
Review provided by Viator
Trip641510
Aug 18, 2023
Stone trek - Our guide Franco did a great job explaining everything! Even though we were the only non-Spanish speaking in the group. Really good value for money!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Flyaway2day5019
Jun 18, 2023
Volcanic stone tour - Miguel/Michael/Mike is a very congenial host. He translated everything into English and Spanish. I was looking forward to the Petroglyph part of the tour. The picture on TripAdvisor is the only "petroglyph" there. All else were carvings of animals, a Nativity scene and more. Families come here for photographs and what I think is family portraits and celebrations. Bathrooms tbathroom hat were open were clean and stocked. 1 womans was closed, but 3 others open. Celebrities has 1 bathroom only. I did not take the walk as it was too hot for me June 18th I was here. Bring water, hat, sunscreen. When the locals are sitting in the shade, yep you need the sunscreen. Was it worthwhile? I say yes.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lukeofgotham
Mar 25, 2024
A good trip but without many different things - The place is very interesting. There are many incredible works of art and the guide also talks well about how Sillar is produced. However, it is a very quick ride. After a while there isn't much to see. So it's a nice ride but very quick
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nilanjan_d
Jan 27, 2024
Nice experience - Overall, it was a pleasant experience. And one must try it for once. We both think walking through the rocks was the best of it.
Review provided by Viator
London_l
Mar 13, 2024
Rushed - This tour felt rushed to me...the stuff we should have taken more time in ...we didn't. We spent about 30min just at the Volcano viewpoints which was wayyy too long. There was an extra cost to take several of the pictures as the Sillar Route which I thought was stupid. Also it wasn't explained that there was wayyy more to see during the exhibit. Once we got back in the van and drove out, realized there was another section that wasn't even mentioned and there wouldn't have been enough time to see that section. Once we got to the Petroglyphs, that was def rushed! Basically the guide just walked thru with us and didn't offer to take any pics or allow time for pics to be taken without being rushed. I wound up getting behind because I was determined to get pics but that whole exhibit should be revamped. Should only allow certain amount of folks to walk thru at a time as it is very narrow and impossible to capture the beautiful scenery when you have 100 people in the background walking towards you every moment.
Review provided by Viator
Familytraveler_se
Oct 10, 2023
Good, but not wow! - The statues were cool, but not amazing. The guide was good and the views were absolutely stunning. The best part was the walk through the canyon, very pretty views and good photo opportunities.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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up to 15 guests
1 Adult
May 2024
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