Lima in Peru is a UNESCO World Heritage Site where archaeological and colonial monuments come together. Lima is perfect for incentive and pleasure trips as it has a great variety of luxury hotels as well as having two restaurants in the top ten in the world. The variety of experiences offered by the “City of the Kings” ranges from gastronomic and cultural to experiential. After a few days in Lima, you can explore cities like Cusco where you can visit one of the 7 wonders of the modern world, or enjoy a few days in the Peruvian jungle in Puerto Maldonado.
Must Experiences
- Downtown Lima Tour – If you are interested in the history and culture of the beautiful city of Lima and want to visit its most symbolic and representative sites, this tour is made for you. The tour starts in the heart of Miraflores in the morning and offers you the possibility to visit the Plaza de Armas, the Cambio de Guardia, some museums like the Casa Aliaga, the MALI, and the Santo Domingo church. In addition, you will have a traditional Peruvian lunch in a restaurant in downtown Lima.
- Street Food tour – Experience an outing through the streets of Lima visiting a market to admire exotic fruits and vegetables, taste fresh fruit juice, and learn about medicinal herbs. Continue with a visit to a seafood restaurant to try the popular starter called “Leche de Tigre”, which is fish marinated in a citrus-based sauce, and finish at La Florentina ice cream store, an ice cream parlor that offers 20 incredible flavors of ice cream, including ginger ice cream.
- Gastronomic Experience “Peruvian Biodiversity” – From Barranco to San Isidro, passing through Miraflores, you will enjoy a true gastronomic journey through Peruvian biodiversity. You will start with a chocolate workshop, followed by eats at three gourmet restaurants, where the jungle, the highlands, and the coast will be the stars of the night, and you will finish in one of the best bars in the world.
- Visit the Larco Museum which is housed in an 18th-century viceregal mansion, built over a 17th-century pre-Columbian pyramid. The number one museum in South America according to Trip Advisor, you will see remarkable chronological galleries that provide an excellent overview of 3 000 years of development in pre-Columbian Peruvian history. It has the best collection of gold and silver from ancient Peru and the famous erotic archaeological collection, one of the most visited Peruvian tourist attractions.
- Barranco Tasting Tour – Spend a few hours in the artistic and bohemian neighborhood of Barranco in Lima. Start the day with chocolate experts Amanda and Felipe, who will take you through the Peruvian Andes and the Amazon to discover the different types of cacao and coffees that grow there. You will be invited to participate in a pairing session that will end with a fun game to test your palate. After walking around Barranco, you will have the opportunity to taste a wide variety of Peruvian wines and cheeses before heading to Isolina, a famous tavern-style restaurant that is currently ranked as the 12th best restaurant in Latin America. After lunch, you will visit Barranco’s famous Bridge of Sighs and get some views of the ocean (hopefully it will be sunny!). Finally, you will conclude this tour at the bar of Hotel B with a refreshing cocktail and a sweet bite to eat.
Must Eat
- Peruvian Ceviche is the iconic dish of Peruvian gastronomy. Ceviche consists of fish marinated in lemon juice, onion, corn, sweet potato, and other accompaniments depending on the region where it is prepared.
- Lomo Saltado is another famous dish of Peruvian cuisine. Chinese-style sautéed beef served with french fries, onion, and sautéed tomato, sometimes accompanied by rice.
- Pisco Sour is Peru’s flagship cocktail. It was created in the long gone Morris Bar in downtown Lima in the 1920s and the final version was served in the bar of the Maury Hotel (downtown Lima).
Best Nightlife: Enjoy a few pisco sours in downtown Lima at the Maury Hotel bar or the Bolivar Hotel bar. Miraflores has a more active nightlife as it has a variety of cafes, restaurants, and bars to delight your palate and the star location for nightlife is the Bohemian district of Barranco. Great writers, such as the Nobel prize winner in Literature – Mario Vargas Llosa, were inspired by the bars of this district.
Best time to visit: You can visit Lima all year round. The summers in Lima are hot and cloudy while the winter has the peculiarity of having high humidity, although Lima has such charm that the weather will go unnoticed. Average temperatures vary from 15° C in winter to 27°C in summer. Importantly, it never rains in Lima.
Top Tip: Visit Lima not only for its history, culture and monuments but for the best gastronomy there is to offer. With two Top Ten restaurants, it is a city that will delight you with dishes from Lima and the different regions of Peru.
Our recommended DMC: Fiorella Freyre and the team at Pure Travel Group – Peru, will create unique itineraries for you.