Location: Lima
Top Things to do in Lima
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10 Free Things to do in Lima That You Shouldn't Miss
Lima, founded by Francisco Pizarro in 1535, is a fascinating city and a treasure trove of history. Explore ancient Incan archeological sites, or stroll through the elegant cathedrals and opulent palaces dating from Spanish colonial times. Downtown Lima is crowded, but you'll enjoy exploring the city's neighborhoods—especially the beachfront areas, which have great shopping and dining and fabulous hotels.
Restaurants in Lima
1. Plaza de Armas (Plaza Mayor)
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 8,120 reviews
Once considered the heart of old Lima, this grand plaza features many important architectural monuments and buildings including a magnificent bronze fountain dating from 1650, the Archbishop's Palace with its elegant balconies and the Government Palace dating from 1924.
Reviewed By LuizDutraNeto - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Remember, everything started here ... On January 18, 1535, Spanish "Conquistador" Francisco Pizarro founded the City of Lima and, right at this very site, designated where the "Plaza de Armas" (or "Plaza Mayor") would be built! Just amazing! The other buildings came some time after, being built and rebuilt along the centuries up to their todays' features - the "Catedral de Lima", the "Parroquia del Sagrario and the central water fountain (all from the 17th century); the "Palacio Arzobispal", the "Palacio de Gobierno", the "Palacio Municipal de Lima" and the "Palacio de la Unión" (all dating the 20th century) constitute the city's focal point. You are just about to visit the very heart of Lima, its beautiful historic center, locally known as "Cercado de Lima". Take your time and stroll along, enjoy the views, the lovely manicured gardens and lawns, the "Changing of the Guard" at noon in front of the "Palacio de Gobierno" and visit the interior of all buildings that allow so! And as a curiosity, Peru's independence from Spain was proclaimed right here in 1821! Don't forget your camera! Enjoy!
2. Miraflores
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 15,580 reviews
This beachfront residential district features many of Lima's excellent shops, restaurants, nightspots and first class hotels.
Reviewed By 2017aajaa
Miraflores is a wonderful part of Peru filled with wonderful restaurants and parks to see! Highly recommend visiting Love Park, the Mall on the Cliff, and Kennedy Park, all areas within walking distance. There’s also mutiple markets in the area that sell beautiful souvenirs as well.
3. San Isidro
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,036 reviews
Elegant and charming residential neighborhood located north of Lima features neo-classic architecture, cobblestone streets, excellent dining, good shopping and the Huaca Hallamarma, a restored pre-Inca pyramid that now serves as a small museum of Indian artifacts.
Reviewed By Chinapjs - Washington DC, United States
Half of the foreign embassies are located here and some of Lima's best restaurants and sports clubs. One of the tonier neighborhoods to live in. One of South America's oldest golf clubs is located right in the middle plus two famous churches, a museum or two and a great park full of hundred year old and older Oliver Trees.
4. San Pedro Church (Iglesia de San Pedro)
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 485 reviews
Built by the Jesuits in 1638, this ornate church features baroque altars decorated in gold leaf, several colonial paintings and La Abuelita, the oldest bell in Peru.
Reviewed By RandyRoss - Ridgetown, Canada
We visited the San Pedro Church on our walking tour of historic downtown Lima, booked on the Holland America ship Volendam. This is a beautiful church and certainly worth seeing. There is so much history in this city.
5. Church and Sanctuary of Saint Rose of Lima
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 598 reviews
Located on the city's Main Square or Plaza Mayor, this cathedral was built in 1564 by architect Jeronimo de Aliaga and features an ivory baroque chapel of La Inmaculada and the tomb of Francisco Pizarro, known as the "conquistador of Peru."
6. Barranco
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 6,773 reviews
Reviewed By Susanorkide - Fredensborg, Denmark
I absolutely loved this bohemian district close to the ocean with a lot of street art, artists and artisans. Barranco has beautiful and old architecture. I was there, on my last day in Lima, January 1, so it was pretty crowded. Nevertheless, I enjoyed to walk around the neighbourhood, and it’s definitely worth a visit.
7. Centro Historico de Lima
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 5,021 reviews
Lima's downtown center, with its breathtaking architecture and rich history, makes it clear why it deserves to be a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Reviewed By RGSOUNDF - Mercerville, United States
Lima is a huge city. The greater Lima's population exceeds the one of New York City, by a couple million people. However, if you are an average typical visitor to the city, the chances are that you will be staying either in Miraflores or Barranco, and if you came to Lima for business you may be staying in the upscale San-Isidro district (the latter is the home of the famed haute-cuisine restaurant Astrid y Gaston). For a great architecture and interwoven layers of history, you got to head to the Historical Center of Lima. The "centro historico" of Lima is great for a sightseeing tour, anywhere from 2 to 3 hours. It is about 8 city blocks wide and 8 to 9 city blocks long. In the north it ends by Rimac river, next to the Palacio de Gobierno del Perú; in the south it is Plaza San-Martin, Monserrate neighborhood to the west and Barrios Altos in the east. Outside of the confines of the Historical Center, there is not that much to do nor see, these are definitely not "tourist areas" with many if not most of the buildings demonstrating neglect, urban decay or even abject poverty. Particularly exercise prudence and caution when venturing to the east of Plazuela San-Francisco; crossing Avenida Abancay will take you to Barrios Altos, not a neighborhood best-suited for solo walks, especially after sunset. We would recommend you start your tour with Plaza San-Martin (equestrian statue of General San-Martin, the Liberator of Peru and historic Hotel Bolivar) and take a pedestrian shopping street Jirón de la Unión. The shopping per se might not be alluring to a visitor from the US or European countries, for most of the stores look like dollar stores, but there are beautiful colonial-looking houses with their Moorish ornate wooden carved balconies, beautiful Republican buildings (built after Peru gained its independence in 1826) of Beaux-Arts or even Art-Nouveau styles (the latter represented by Casa E. Courret), centuries-old churches and historical monuments. While walking up Jirón de la Unión towards Plaza Mayor, don't miss the Iglesia de la Merced, with some of its parts dating back to the first half of the XVIth century, and the monument to Ramon Castilla, three-times president of Peru in the XIXth century, across from the Iglesia de la Merced, in front of the very interesting building now housing Oechsle electronic store. Next, Plaza Mayor (alternatively known by its previous name Plaza de Armas) offers a concentration of main landmarks of downtown Lima, some are several centuries old and some are stylized in the 1930s and 1940s to look like colonial buildings, such as Palacio de la Unión, Palacio Municipal de Lima, Archbishop's Palace of Lima, Cathedral Basilica of Lima, and Palacio de Gobierno del Perú. From the latter, take a look at Rimac river (or rather what is left of it; nowadays it resembles a half dried up creek with muddy waters). The sort of embankment along it, on the Historical Center side, Alameda Chabuca Granda features many a souvenir shop. Heading back south, don't miss a fantastic covered arcade, with respective entrances on either Jirón Camaná or Jirón de la Unión, surprisingly reminiscent of Parisian passages couverts. We believe it is called (or referred to) as Casa de Correos y Telegrafos Covered Arcade. The area surrounding Plaza Mayor, to the north, presents another pedestrian shopping street Jirón Ancash. We stopped by the wonderful tiny URQU Coffee Shop offering 100% famous Peruvian coffee. Generally speaking, most of the food outlets in the area are definitely not the fine dining establishments LIma is so famous for; they are either fast food or quite down-to-earth eateries. Jirón Ancash starts with Casa de la Literatura Peruana (Peru numbers many great writers, among them a Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa) and opens on the amazing Iglesia de San Francisco de Asís with its famous catacombs and picturesque Plazuela San Francisco. The area to the east of Plaza Mayor includes the shopping streets Jirón Camaná, Jirón Callao, and Jirón Conde de Superunda; the latter offers yet another beautiful cathedral, the pinkish-colored imposing Convento de Santo Domingo. Walking back south down Jirón Camaná don't miss the Convent of San Agustin de Lima with its fantastic facade. Now, of course, there is so much more to the Historical Center of Lima, museums, distinguished houses (XVIth century Casa de Aliaga, on the corner of Alameda Chabuca Granda and Jirón de la Unión, Casa Mendoza on Jirón Ancash, and magnificent Casa de Osambela on Jirón Conde de Superunda, among others) and other worthy points of sightseeing interest, however, to see it all will mandate a dedicated tour of downtown of 2 days or more. To sum it all up: the Historical Center of Lima should be on your top list of priorities when visiting this unparalleled City of Kings.
8. Nor Yauyos-Cochas Landscape Reserve
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 214 reviews
Reviewed By mariedragon - Huaraz, Peru
We came to Nor Yauyos Cochas Reserve from Huancayo, roughly a 4-hour drive (with many photo stops) to get to the village of Huancaya, located at the heart of the reserve. We decided to go on a tour and not public transport as we wanted to be able to make stops and photos along the way, which was totally worth it. The drive is now easier as the road is paved almost all the way, except from the turn off to Huancaya and Vilca. We crossed two high passes at 4600m and 4700m, the scenery along the way was spectacular with many lakes, llama herds, scenic villages (especially Tomas) and incredible Uchco Canyon. As soon as you enter the Nor Yauyos Cochas reserve you enter a magical land of towering canyons and never-ending waterfalls. We visited the areas of Huancaya and Vilca, spending two nights in the small scenic village of Huancaya. The only thing that lets the area down is the lack of proper accommodation, if we had found something comfortable we would certainly have stayed longer, unfortunately given my fragile back and awful mattresses, this was not an option. We came on a week day when the area is deserted. I would not recommend coming at weekends and certainly not during national holidays as the area apparently gets jam packed with Peruvian tourists. Strangely there is no entrance fee to enter the actual reserve, but you have to pay S/10 soles in Huancaya and another S/10 soles in Vilca. Both control points were closed though when we visited as there were virtually no other tourists around. To get to Lima from Huancaya you first have to take a car/combi to Magdalena (1h30 of driving along magnificent scenery within a narrow canyon), which leaves between 6 and 7am, then another combi to Cañete (2h30 of hair-raising driving along the beautiful Cañete river). Apparently there are sometimes direct buses from Lima to Magdalena. From Cañete it is a 2-hour drive to Lima, many buses offer the journey. The Nor Yauyos Cochas Reserve, despite being little-known to foreign tourists (as it is barely mentioned in most guidebooks) offers unique, magnificent scenery, which easily rivals that of any more famous sites in Peru. The scenery is truly spectacular and surprisingly varied from endless rows of cascades, to deep turquoise trout-filled lakes, huge canyons and quaint villages. The boat ride on Lake Huallhua is definitely worth it, as well as the incredibly beautiful hike from there back to Huancaya (the opposite shore from the jetty is best). Another highlight is the drive from Huancaya to Vilca, where the vastness of the landscape takes another dimension. In the small village of Vilca you will find a series of cascades and some great viewpoints.
9. Marcahuasi
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 311 reviews
Wir sind eine Gruppe von Entusiatikern, die unsere Erfahrung teilen möchten. Wir haben mehr als 15 Jahre Erfahrung in Peru. Wir kennen fast jeden geheimen Ort in Peru
10. Miraflores Boardwalk
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 5,414 reviews
Reviewed By violz - Lima, Peru
Ita a 2 hour nice walk from Miraflores all the way through the seashore up to Barranco. i always enjoy it, lots of green, lots of sporties, nice.
