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Tourism in Lima

Tourism in Lima, Perú – Welcome

 
In recent years, tourism in Lima has grown thanks to an obligatory lay-over on the way to visiting Machu Picchu (one of the wonders of the world, which can be found in Perú – we’ll tell you more about this in a future article). The fact is that this city has many charms and impressive touristic spots to visit.Lima is the capital of the Incan country of Perú, where you will fall in love with not only its scenery and history, but also with its food: Perú is known world-wide for its marvelous gastronomy.

 

The climate in Lima varies every 3 months: Summer is from December to March with temperatures from 22 to 35 degrees centigrade, Autumn is from March to June with temperatures from 18 to 25 degrees, Winter occurs from June to September with temperatures as low as 10 to 18 degrees (in fact, because of the humidity, winter-time in Lima feels even colder), and finally Spring is from September to December with temperatures ranging from 18 a 25 degrees.

 

Due to its location on the Pacific coast, the cold Humboldt current runs along the coast and makes these waters chilly. This same current creates a near-constant cloud cover that sunlight can’t easily penetrate. As a result, you’ll note that in Lima, the sky is never really blue, but rather grey, and that it also never really pours with rain but rather sprinkles water in the Winter time.

 

 

 

How to get to Lima?

The main airlines that operate in Perú are “Lan” and “Taca”, and a flight from Europe to Lima takes about 12 hours while it takes approximately 7 hours from eastern North America to fly to Lima. The airport in Lima that you’ll arrive at is called the Jorge Chávez Airport, located in Callao, a province that is part of Lima.
 

When you get to the airport you will be offered plenty of certified-safe taxis – we actually recommend you take one of these since the area of Callao isn’t really the safest area to go out in search of transportation. The cost of one of these taxis to destinations like Barranco or Miraflores (really popular destinations in Lima with plenty of hotels and hostels) should be between 20 to 25 USD.

 

Tourism in Lima – Toursitic areas

Among the best-known touristic districts in Lima are the following:

 

Miraflores

Miraflores is the most popular part of Lima for tourists thanks to its safety, commercial centers, beaches, sea wall walks, and parks.
 

Among the destinations you could visit in Miraflores are Huaca Pucllana, Kennedy Park, Larcomar Commercial Center, Raúl Porras Barenechea Museum, Ricardo Palma Museum, the Gold Museum of Perú, and Esplanade Cisneros, among other sites that you may enjoy. I suggest that you walk as much as you can around this beautiful district of Lima so that you can appreciate its beauty.

 

lima miraflores sunset shot by drone

Lima – Miraflores: Modern district with impressive view of the sea.

 

Barranco

This is definitely my favourite district in Lima. It is a Bohemian paradise with old houses, good bars, clubs and restaurants. When you go to Barranco, don’t forget to go to the Bridge of Sighs, to the look-out, on the Costa Verde (or, “Green Coast”) Esplanade, Barranco Boulevard, and the Main Square.

 

In Barranco, I recommend that you try some of the delicious “anticuchos”, which are skewers of beef hearts accompanied with potato, Peruvian corn, and, if you want it, chili sauce. You can also try local fritters, a traditional fried doughnuts made with pumpkin, sweet potato and sweet fig.
 

lima barranco sunset view

Lima – Barranco: Beautiful district of old houses and places you can not miss.

 

Historical Center of Lima

As in every city that one visits, the center of Lima is really worth your time as a tourist. The center of Lima has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Colonial houses with balconies of wood and more than 600 historical monuments can be found here.
 

Locations of interest include San Martín Square, the Basilica of Mercy, the Main Square, the Catacombs of San Francisco, and don’t forget to try a delicious pisco sour in the Bolívar Hotel in front of San Martín Square. The pisco sour is a cocktail made from pisco (an emblematic kind of liquor of Perú that is made from grapes), egg white, lemon, ice and jelly syrup. It’s delicious!
 

view of molecon del rio in lima shot with drone

Lima – Historical Center: Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESECO in 1991 with great touristic importance.

 

Beaches of Lima

In Lima, there are various beaches where locals from Lima and tourists enjoy the summer. The most highly recommended beaches are Silence Beach, Octopus Beach, Resort of Asia, and Santa María Beach. Something to keep in mind is that, as I mentioned at the start of the article, the waters are cold and the waves can be strong, so be safe. Even still, these beaches have their charm and are worth visiting. I’ll talk more about these beaches in the Beaches of Lima article.

 

Dangerous Areas

Although Lima is a beautiful city that is well-suited for tourism, there are also many zones that we don’t think you should visit. For example, the districts that are located towards the north of the city are typically more dangerous.
 

In the center of Lima it is recommendable to not leave objects of value in plain site as you walk around so that you lower the risk of anything bad happening to you.
 

Finally, let me give you one more piece of advice that seems really practical to me for tourists that visit Lima – this is to take a Turibus (a tour bus!) in Kennedy Park. These buses are two levels high and cost around 24 USD for a 3-hour tour to select tourist destinations around the city of Lima.
 

After reading about what you can do and see in Lima, do you think you’d like to visit?