Introduction
Although Peru is a popular country for tourists, the capital city, Lima, rarely features in people's itineraries. Most visitors simply use it as a layover, before taking internal flights elsewhere in the country. After 29 hours on the road, the last thing we wanted to do was get on another plane, so we took it slow and spent a few days investigating what Lima has to offer.
We weren't expecting to be blown away by Lima, but when we got there, we were pleasantly suprised. Although it started off as just the first name on our list of destinations, Lima turned out to be a brilliant start to our trip and a great city to explore. It had plenty of attractions, was clean and surprisingly peaceful considering it has 11 million inhabitants, and yet there was barely a single tourist in sight (a rare occurrence in this increasingly-popular country).
Lima Highlights
Centro Historco
To get to the centre of Lima, we had to figure out how to buy and then use the metropolitano bus tickets, which was the first test of how useful months of diligent Duolingo streaks would be (spoiler: not at all useful, but thankfully the language of hand gestures is universal). Despite the streets being relatively quiet in Lima, these buses were always packed with passengers, and felt more like the London Underground, but they were an efficient public transport system. The stress of figuring this out was worth it when we arrived at the historical centre. We took a free walking tourFree walking tours are a great way to get to know a place and explore, without the risk of getting lost. The tour guides give lots of useful information about the city, as well as tips for travellers. At the end, you give a small tip to say thank you. We took lots of these tours throughout our time in South America., showing us all the impressive architecture, the best local snacks, and learning about the culture in Peru. Lima's Plaza de Armas (central square) is impressive and one of our favourite spots to hang out. It was large and suprisingly quiet and peaceful, and not the busy tourist area we expected. The centro historico and its surrounding streets are patrolled by street vendorsThe city had many street vendors, who sell quality food for the locals to enjoy. Stalls selling fresh fruit, juice, churros, sandwiches and cakes are all very common, and they don't try to scam tourists - they offer the same cheap prices to everyone. The only downside is most of their stalls have wheels, so they are constantly on the move and can sometimes be tricky to track down., who are popular with the locals! We were regular customers to the stalls selling freshly squeezed juice or homemade cakes, enjoying our snacks on the go while we explored the area.
The Plaza de Armas and surrounding areas were very impressive, with baroque and colonial-style architecture mixed in with traditional peruvian buildings, and it felt much more calm and peacful than most city-centres - especially considering the size of Lima's population. The Plaza de Armas, and actually the city as a whole, was strikingly clean and tidy - we barely saw a single piece of litter during our 4 days there, probably because virtually every street corner had a cleaner, police officer, or gardener, working hard to keep the city presentable.
A few blocks from the Plaza de Armas is the magic water circuitThe Magic Water Circuit
The mgaic water circuit is a cool nighttime show, using water fountains and lights to create mesmerising effects., an enigmatic evening attraction for both Peruvian and international tourists alike. From the city centre, you can also see San Cristobal hillCerro San Cristobal is the highest point in the city. It used to be possible to take a tour bus to the top, but these have been discontinued due to the dangerous roads. It is supposed to have the best views of the city, but we had to admire it from afar. emerging from the clouds. Overall, a tour around the Centro historico is a solid starting point to explore Lima and meet some of the locals.
Palominos Islands
One of the more unusual things to do in Lima is a visit to the Palominos islands. Lying just off the coast of Callao harbour, these islands are some of the many Peruvian islands which are home to sealions, penguins, pelicans and other sea-birds. What makes the Palominos islands special, though, is the fact that swimming is actually permitted in the surrounding ocean (unlike other popular islands, including the Ballestas islandsThe Ballestas islands can be found near Paracas, and are often touted as 'the poor man's Galapagos'.). The opportunity to jump into the ocean and watch the sea lions playfully swim up to you is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that should not be missed.
Because the ocean is so cold (as we suddenly found out), there are no predators (aka sharks) in the waters around the Palominos islands, which means the sea lions are extremely playful and throw themsleves off of the rocks to come and swim with people in the sea. The tour also passed by 2 other islands, Isla San Lorenzo and Isla El Frontón, which the guide explained to us were a naval training base and former prison, respectively.
Barranco and Miraflores
Apart from the centro historico, the two main tourist areas in Lima are the districts of Miraflores and Barranco. We stayed in a hostel in Barranco, and so spent some time exploring this artsy bohemian neighbourhood. Barranco is full of colourful houses and street art and is very pleasant to walk through, and is home to several murals and the bridge of sighs Bridge of sighs
You will see this colourful bridge photographed in every blog, as it is the epicentre of Barranco's street art. Unfortunately, a faded paint job and a building site in the background meant this spot wasn't quite as picturesque as we expected.. Additionally, while we mainly stuck to food from street vendors, there were plenty of cafés and restaurants in Barranco.
Miraflores, on the other hand, is an up-market district with large hotels overlooking the seafront and the famous larcomar shopping centre built into the cliffside. The malecon path in miraflores is a nice place to walk or cycle, with the Pacific views as well as many charming parks along the way. We encountered many other walkers, runners, and cyclists making their way along the coastal path. Away from the cliffs, Miraflores is home to several interesting spots, including parque olivarParque olivar
This park is nestled between residential estates and is a popular spot for locals and tourists to sit and enjoy a picnic in the relaxing atmosphere. Alternatively, you can feed the fish in the pond or watch the tortoises sunbathing on the rocks., the 'cat park'Parque Kennedy
Parque Kennedy, also known as 'cat park', is the centre of Miraflores. Here, you will find loads of stray cats, although they are essentially house cats, with beds to sleep in and food and water provided., and Huaca PucllanaHuaca Pucllana
Huaca Pucllana is a pre-Incan archaeological site, made entirely out of mud-bricks. It is incredibly well-preserved, even after thousands of years, due to the tiny amounts of rainfall in Lima. It has also withstood several earthquakes, due to the gaps created between each brick. You have to visit as part of a tour, but these are organised at the entrance and depart every half-hour., which make Miraflores an enjoyable region to explore. Both districts sit on top of Lima's cliffs, overlooking the Pacific ocean and so are perfect places to sit and watch the sunset.
Lima offers another unusual opportunity. The high cliffs and strong sea breeze in Miraflores provide the perfect conditions for paragliding, and most days we could see people flying around the cliff tops. Brave (or crazy) tourists can pay to be taken into the skies in tandem with a pilot. Although Lima is cloudy and foggy most mornings, the clouds usually part and give way to blue sky most afternoons. The view of the city is unbeatable and after the feeling of soaring above the cliffs, we understood why the sport is so popular here. Paragliding isn't the only popular sport on Lima's coast - the sea was full of surfers catching the big Pacific waves.
Overview
Overall, despite not having a reputation as a popular tourist spot, Lima is a great place to explore. It has a variety of attractions to keep anyone busy for several days, and is well worth a visit.
