Lima ~ 3 Must-Try Activities
Lima is the capital of Peru, and with 8.5 million inhabitants it is huge and can be quite intimidating. I loved the variety of faces in the city, not only from the tourists, but also from the locals. There is a lot of history in Lima.
We flew to Lima from Arequipa, as it is a 16-hour drive, which helps you realize how large a country Peru is! It was the last step of our trip before returning home, and we only had two days in Lima, because we ended up spending almost two weeks in Cusco. I’ll have to return to explore more museums, but I feel that with the following activities, we got a great intro to the place.
Plaza San Martín, downtown Lima.
However, we managed to do a lot in just two days mostly thanks to Free Walking Tours:
Sculptures seen on the Barranco Free Walking Tour.
Barranco neighborhood
The Barranco neighborhood is the Arts District of Lima, and there are murals everywhere!
We did a Free Walking Tour that I would highly recommend to see some of the most interesting murals, walk across the Bridge of Sighs and learn more about the history of the neighborhood as well as some of the artists who did the murals.
There are some very old murals that show signs of age, and some very recent ones, but they are all interesting and depict different facets of Peruvian life and its peoples.
Be aware there are many stairs in this tour.
To see a video of this tour, shot in 2019, click here!
The Virgen Milagrosa church, Huaca Pucllana, and Parque 7 junio, in Miralfores
Miraflores neighborhood
Miraflores is an interesting and varied neighborhood. There’s an upscale shopping mall, but you can still find reasonable accommodations at hostels, and get to enjoy the shopping district and many restaurants in the area.
The ruins of a pre-Inca temple, Huaca Pucllana, are located in Miraflores, but not included in the tour. There is the Indian Market and the Larcomar shopping mall, giving you two very different shopping experiences. You can also check out Iglesia Virgen Milagrosa as well as the Parque del Amor.
If you love cats, check out Parque 7 junio, which has interesting sculptures, and Parque Kennedy, where you can see several sculptures and eat street food, but also where lots of cats just hang out and settle in trees to spend the night!
If you can, choose the late afternoon tour: it is absolutely worth staying for sunset in Miraflores, as it overlooks on the Pacific Ocean from high up on a cliff (see image below).
Sunset on the coast, from the Miraflores neighborhood.
To see a video of our exploration of Miraflores and the Centro, from 2019, click here!
Free Walking Tour of the Centro
As mentioned above, Lima is huge… and we thought the best way to experience the Centro would be with a guide.
We took the metro from Miraflores and got to see a lot of the Centro in a short amount of time, and it was great to have the guide explain the history of the area as well as show us many governmental buildings, churches, pedestrian streets, Plazas, and end up at the Parque de la Murralla, where some of the old walls of the city can still be seen.
There are definitely a lot of people downtown, tourists and locals: it’s great to have a local guide you through it!
With more time, we would have gone to several museums, but those three walking tours were a great way to experience different facets and districts in the city in the short amount of time we had.
Have you been to Lima? Did you do any of these tours, or more? Let me know in the comments below!