Our insider’s guide to the Peruvian capital explores Lima’s deep-rooted history, world-class flavors and artisanal keepsakes you won’t find anywhere else. If it’s Lima’s artistic soul you’re in search of, look no further than Barranco, the rapidly gentrifying bohemian neighborhood where restored mansions have been turned into boutique hotels and some of the world’s best restaurants. Rising up from the cliffs of the Pacific, chaotic and captivating Lima offers visitors plenty of gritty charm and cuisine that’s taken the world by storm.
San Martin Square
Peru is home to world-famous sites such as Machu Picchu and the Nazca Lines, as well as celebrated backdrops like Lake Titicaca and the Amazon Rainforest, but in recent years the country’s capital has risen to rival them all. This city of around nine million people is perched on the Costa Verde — vine-covered cliffs that stand hundreds of feet above the Pacific. It’s dominated by a ring of pueblos jóvenes — young neighborhoods that climb the steep, brown hills that surround the city and were settled by migrants who escaped violence in the Andes during decades of civil unrest. Even five centuries after it was founded beside the Rímac River, Lima remains a city trying to bridge the world of the haves and have nots.
Its original colonial grid, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, remains the country’s center of political power, even if the rest of the city has moved on. Nearby is South America’s largest Chinatown, and to the west, in the Pueblo Libre neighborhood, is the Larco Museum, with its vast collection of ancient Peruvian artifacts that include a notable pre-Columbian erotic pottery collection.
The commercial heart of the city has shifted south to the modern neighborhoods that hug the coast, like Miraflores and San Isidro, where some of the best hotels and restaurants are found in and around glitzy skyscrapers. These neighborhoods are also home to green spaces such as Parque El Olivar, Parque Kennedy and the malecón, a clifftop esplanade overlooking the coast, popular with joggers and cyclists.
La Ermita de Barranco church
HISTORY
The Central Peruvian coast was originally inhabited by the Lima and Ichma communities, whose people left archaeological sites in and around where the city would later be built. The most prominent within the city limits is Huaca Pucllana, a clay and adobe pyramid that dates from around 500 B.C.E., while the larger and better-preserved Pachacamac complex is 25 miles to the south.
Lima’s modern era began in 1535, when it was founded by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, who called it La Ciudad de los Reyes, or the City of Kings. Back then, it was the capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru that governed the Spanish Empire in South America. The colonial center of the city (rebuilt several times after severe earthquakes) radiates from the Plaza Mayor, ringed by historical buildings such as the Metropolitan Cathedral and Government Palace. Within a few blocks is the catacombladen Basilica and Convent of San Francisco and the Iglesia Las Nazarenas, which is the starting point of the fervent Señor de los Milagros procession that takes place each October.
Republican-era architecture has been best preserved in the Barranco neighborhood to the south, especially surrounding the Bajada de los Baños, a walkway that leads down to the oceanfront, and the Bridge of Sighs that crosses it from above.
White asparagus with tiger’s milk
FOOD
The thing that unites Limeños more than anything else is food. From rotisserie chickens spinning on charcoal grills to world-class fine dining, the city excels when it comes to gastronomy. Around the turn of the century, chef Gastón Acurio spearheaded a movement, organizing a collective of cooks, pumping out books and television shows and launching culinary festivals that rebuilt Lima as a gastronomic powerhouse. He has around 20 restaurants in the city, ranging from his flagship fine-dining temple, Astrid y Gastón, and lauded seafood spot La Mar to a casual line of cafes called T’anta and reimagined old-school Peruvian taverns called El Bodegón.
The city’s most emblematic dish is ceviche (or cebiche) — raw fish tossed in leche de tigre (tiger’s milk), a marinade featuring lime juice, onions and chilies. The lunchtime-only cebicherías fill up on weekends especially, when families and friends spend entire afternoons ordering from a list of seafood-led dishes that might include scallops grilled on the shell and topped with melted parmesan, or fragrant seafood soups like parihuela.
For street food, seek out anticuchos, marinated beef hearts sold by the skewer from sidewalk grills at dusk by local legends like Tia Grimanesa and Doña Pochita. More stalls selling things like pan con chicharrón, a sandwich layered with fried pork and sweet potato slices, or juices made from local fruits like lucuma or camu camu, can be found in and around the Mercado de Surquillo, an easily accessible market full of regional flavors.
Lima routinely has several establishments on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, such as Mitsuharu Tsumura’s Nikkei restaurant Maido and the more contemporary Mayta. The cornerstone of Lima’s fine-dining scene is in Barranco at Casa Tupac, a garden-filled compound that’s the base of Central, where each course on the menu is inspired by a different ecosystem at a particular altitude. Sister restaurant Kjolle is located upstairs and there’s also a full-blown chocolate laboratory that offers immersive tastings and workshops.
View of Huaca Pucllana
DRINKS
While you could always find a good pisco sour at any bar in town, Lima’s cocktail scene has really blossomed since the pandemic. Make your first stop the diminutive Lady Bee in Miraflores, where drinks are infused with seasonal Peruvian botanicals from the Andes and Amazon.
You’ll find a lively atmosphere at Sastrería Martinez, a speakeasy hidden behind a Miraflores tailor shop, or the restobar Siete, with its funky music and a menu of Peruvian-Mediterranean food. For wine, including those made from grapes like Quebranta and Albilla at vineyards along the south coast, there’s Cordial, a Barranco bar where DJs provide the soundtrack. The coffee scene is also much improved, with specialty brews from varietals sourced from the high jungle at cafes like Neira Café Lab and Ciclos Café, attached to chocolate shop El Cacaotal.
A street mural at Callao Monumental
EXCURSIONS
Lima’s port of Callao is a destination in itself, with the 18th-century Real Felipe Fortress that was built to fend off pirate attacks, and a distinctive cuisine that includes onion-topped mussels served in the shell and fried fish sandwiches. It’s also a jumping-off point for boat trips to nearby islets. Most tours head to the Palomino Islands to seek out seabirds like boobies and Humboldt penguins and swim alongside sea lions.
While you can find decent waves in Lima, surfers in the know head to the breaks farther out. If a trip to the warmer waters along the north coast isn’t in the cards, the best day trip is to Punta Hermosa, a beach town with over 10 different breaks, about 30 miles south on the Pan-American Highway. The town has a bustling culinary scene, too — check out former Astrid y Gastón head chef Diego Muñoz’s coastal Peruvian restaurant Navegante, or oyster bar Cañete.
Further south and inland is Lunahuaná, hidden within a narrow valley in the Andean foothills. During the rainy season, from November to April, the Class IV rapids on the Lunahuaná River attract thrill-seeking rafters and kayakers. Beginners will prefer the calmer waters during the rest of the year, or just sipping pisco, Peru’s emblematic grape brandy, from the artisan distillers there. Plan for a meal at Refugio de Santiago, where you can taste regional specialties like guinea pig or river prawns. This area is also known for its lucuma, a local fruit that tastes like a cross between pumpkin and maple syrup — try it in ice cream from vendors along the highway as you head north back to the city.
Miraflores Boardwalk, Parque del Amor
SHOPPING
The shopping scene in Lima is markedly more modern than elsewhere in the country, with most of the large malls like Jockey Plaza focused on international luxury brands, though homegrown designs can be found outside of the more commercial districts.
Barranco is a hotbed of independent shops and galleries. A good place to start is Dédalo, a 30-year-old concept store in a historical home that’s brimming with high-quality textiles and interior goods from a collection of small designers. A few blocks away is Puna, a design studio with a collection of textiles and one-of-a-kind objects. On the same street is El Cacaotal, a premier destination for chocolate made from native cacao, as well as the attached cafe, Ciclos, which sells bags of specialty coffee from around Peru.
Handcrafted furnishings worth shipping home can be found at Artesanos Don Bosco. Its use of tongue-and-groove techniques to join the wood results in meticulous pieces you won’t find anywhere else. For clothing made using luxurious South American camelid wools, Kuna is a local brand that has a couple of stores in Miraflores and in the airport. Aside from socks, scarves and gloves, it has modern takes on ponchos and blazers that use a range of fibers from baby alpaca to ultra-extravagant vicuña.
For affordable souvenirs, there are several handicraft markets, like the Mercado Indio and Inka Plaza, a few blocks from Parque Kennedy in Miraflores. The open-air stalls sell inexpensive alpaca hats, silver jewelry and carved gourds from the Mantaro Valley.
By Nicholas Gill
