We finished up our tour of Peru with a couple of days in Lima. We had less time there than we would have liked, partially because of a delayed flight from Cusco, but still managed to have an enjoyable time!
Top Tips for Visiting Lima
– Some areas of Lima are not very safe for tourists. We stayed in Miraflores and had no problems at all. Other good neighborhoods to stay in include San Isidro and Barranco.
– Don’t skip Lima while in Peru! In fact, if you can manage it, I recommend spending at least two full days in Lima. That was our original intention but with scheduling and our flight getting delayed, we really only had one full day, plus two nights in the city. I would have liked to be able to visit more museums and maybe some cathedrals with more time!
– Be sure to visit the Larco Museum, which has one of the largest collections of pre-Columbian art in the Americas. Its housed in a beautiful building with lovely gardens and shows over 4000 years of Peruvian history.
– As you’re exiting the airport, you’ll see a booth where you can arrange rental cars or taxi rides. I recommend booking a taxi from there, because there have been reported cases of tourist kidnappings or muggings with fake taxis at this airport.
– If you want to use a cell phone while in Peru, I recommend getting a SIM card (provided your phone is GSM… if dual SIM too, even better) from Claro or Movistar. This should cost about $5 USD and then an S/.20 (~$7) card will get you started and able to make calls.
– Most hotels will leave bottles of water by the sink – this is for brushing your teeth or drinking, since like elsewhere in Peru the tap water is not potable!
– Enjoy the delicious food options – there will be more of them available here than in other places in the country. Whether you enjoy sushi or the more traditionally Peruvian ceviche, Lima has you covered!
– Lima has some nice beaches, but it isn’t the best place to enjoy a beach holiday in the country (try Huanchaco, Punta Sal or Mancora to the north instead), so keep that in mind when staying there.
– Especially if you’re traveling by taxi, it’s convenient to grab a business card or two from your hotel to make easy work of explaining to your driver where they should take you.
– Don’t forget to sip a pisco sour, Peru’s national drink, while you’re in town!
We arrived later than expected to Lima because our flight from Cusco was quite delayed. So we didn’t do much the first night besides take a taxi to the hotel and relax in our hotel room. After spending five days in a lodge in the Amazon, the hotel room’s amenities (like bathrobes, television, electricity…) seemed like quite a treat!
The next day my main objective (after a delicious breakfast at the hotel) was to visit Museo Larco. This museum has one of the best collections of indigenous art in the Americas, and was honestly my main reason for spending some time in Lima on this trip. We took a cab to the museum and right away loved the beautiful flowers and courtyard as we walked in!
The museum is very nice. It’s laid out quite well and has tons of interpretive information with each artifact. We started in a room that played a short video introducing some of the pre-Inca cultures whose artifacts we would see, then moved on to a room of pottery. Some of the pottery was really amazing… so many small details, plus many of them were in interesting shapes as well. I found them a bit more impressive than some of the ancient pottery I’d seen in Greece. 😉
As we continued we were able to see pre-Inca and Inca textiles, jewelry, and metallic artifacts too. It was fascinating to learn that mining was kept somewhat secret by the ruling class to help maintain their godlike images. The regular people had no idea how they were able to shine like the moon, sun, or stars!
Another really interesting thing about the museum is that they keep their entire collection on display. There are several rooms with floor-to-ceiling shelving with all of the pottery that isn’t currently being used in the regular exhibitions. After seeing that, we walked down into the garden afterwards, which was full of gorgeous flowers. On the other side of the gardens was the gallery of erotic pre-Inca pottery, which was actually quite interesting, in its own way. The museum also had a very nice looking restaurant, which we didn’t get a chance to try, and a gift shop, where we did end up buying a couple of cute things. 🙂
That afternoon we strolled through a local mall/shopping area and then headed down to the beach. We sat on the rocky shoreline and people-watched, including a group of students learning to surf and some people hang-gliding. In the evening, we decided to check out the hotel’s restaurant and ate some delicious sushi, having a few pisco sours with it too, of course!
The next morning we had breakfast and then took a cab back to the airport to take the long trip home. Lima, and the Miraflores area in particular, were lovely, and it was a great end to our trip!