Peru
Lima
South America's food capital, on desert cliffs above the Pacific, with ceviche at lunch and surf below the malecon.
Lima is Peru's sprawling capital, spread along desert clifftops above the Pacific, and the city many people rate as the food capital of South America. The colonial centre around the Plaza de Armas, founded by Francisco Pizarro as the City of the Kings, holds baroque churches, carved wooden balconies and the catacombs of San Francisco. Out on the coast, Miraflores and bohemian Barranco line a green clifftop malecon, with surfers in the water below and adobe pyramids from long before the Inca standing between the apartment blocks.
Suggested stay
2–4 days
Language
Spanish, Quechua
Currency
PEN
Timezone
UTC-5
Why you'll love Lima
Food Ceviche, causa, anticuchos, Chinese-Peruvian chifa and Japanese-Peruvian Nikkei cooking make Lima one of the great eating cities of the world
Colonial centre The Plaza de Armas, baroque churches, carved wooden balconies and the bone-lined catacombs of San Francisco recall the capital of a Spanish viceroyalty
The malecon A green clifftop path runs above the Pacific through Miraflores and Barranco, with paragliders overhead and surfers in the water below
Ancient Peru Adobe pyramids inside the city, Pachacamac on its edge and the Larco Museum's collections reach back thousands of years before the Inca
Best time to visit
Oct-Apr
Warm & sunny · 22-27° days
12.046° S, 77.031° W
UTC-5 · America/Lima
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Weather & when to go to Lima
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Oct-Apr
Surfing prime Apr-Sep
Activity seasons none fair good prime
Conditions Feb Warm & sunny · Mar Warm · Apr Mild · May Garua fog starts · Jun Grey & damp · Jul-Aug Grey garua · Sep Grey easing · Oct Clearing · Nov Warming · Dec Warm & sunny
Cards tinted by verified verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Lima
No bad season. Roughly June to September a low grey sea mist, the garua, settles over the city for weeks at a time, keeping it cool, damp and sunless though almost never rainy. It is a mood rather than a barrier, and the food and museums are just as good under it.
Top things to do in Lima
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Plaza de Armas - Lima's historic centre
history culture arts 👍 PopularThe UNESCO-listed old city centres on the Plaza de Armas, framed by the Cathedral, where Pizarro is entombed, the Archbishop's Palace with its carved wooden balconies, and the Government Palace, where the guard changes around midday. Walk on down Jiron de la Union and to the Plaza San Martin.
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San Francisco Monastery - catacombs and old library
history culture arts 👍 PopularA few blocks from the main square, the yellow baroque monastery hides tiled cloisters, a domed library of antique books and catacombs where the bones of thousands of colonial Limenos are laid out in geometric patterns. Visits are guided.
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Ceviche and Nikkei - eat your way through Lima
food 👍 PopularCeviche is a lunchtime dish here, at cevicherias that fill from midday, washed down with a pisco sour. Graze anticuchos from street grills, try chifa in the Barrio Chino, and book ahead for the city's celebrated tasting menus such as Central and Maido.
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Larco Museum - pre-Columbian treasures in Pueblo Libre
history culture arts ⭐ Highly recommendedA colonial mansion set in bougainvillea-draped gardens holds one of the finest collections of ancient Peruvian ceramics, gold and silver and textiles, spanning Moche, Nazca, Chimu and Inca cultures, plus a notorious gallery of erotic pottery and open storerooms stacked with thousands of pots.
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Barranco - the bohemian clifftop district
culture arts nightlife music ⭐ Highly recommendedLima's arty quarter of pastel mansions, street murals and galleries, where the wooden Puente de los Suspiros crosses a leafy ravine and the Bajada de Banos steps lead down to the sea. The bars and live-music rooms keep it busy late.
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Huaca Pucllana - an adobe pyramid in Miraflores
historyA stepped pyramid of handmade adobe bricks built by the Lima culture around 1,500 years ago rises in the middle of a modern residential district. Guided tours explain the site, and it is lit up after dark.
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Miraflores malecon - clifftops, parks and paragliding
scenic adventureWalk or cycle the clifftop parks above the Costa Verde, past the mosaic-covered Parque del Amor and the lighthouse, and watch the tandem paragliders launch from the cliff edge out over the Pacific.
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Costa Verde - surf Lima's breaks
surfingSurfers paddle out year-round below the Miraflores cliffs and at La Herradura in Chorrillos, while the southern beaches of Punta Hermosa and Punta Rocas hold stronger waves and Pico Alto, a big-wave spot. Wetsuits are needed in the cold Humboldt water.
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Museo de Arte de Lima - Peruvian art in the Parque de la Exposicion
culture artsHoused in a 19th-century exhibition palace, MALI runs from pre-Columbian textiles and colonial Cusco School painting to modern Peruvian art.
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Circuito Magico del Agua - fountains in the Parque de la Reserva
culture artsA park of illuminated fountains, including walk-through tunnels of water and an evening laser and music show, popular with Lima families after dark.
Best areas to stay in Lima
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Miraflores
First-time visitors $$Clifftop parks, restaurants and easy base
Explore hotels in Miraflores →
Barranco
Couples and nightlife $$Bohemian mansions, murals and bars
Explore hotels in Barranco →
San Isidro
Business and quiet $$$Leafy, polished financial district
Explore hotels in San Isidro →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Lima
Getting to & around Lima
Getting there
Fly into Jorge Chavez International (LIM) in Callao, northwest of the centre, then transfer by taxi or airport bus
Flight
Jorge Chavez International Airport (LIM)
The airport sits in Callao, roughly 12 km from the historic centre and further from Miraflores and Barranco. Most arrivals take an official taxi or app ride, or an airport express bus; heavy traffic means allowing about an hour or more to the coastal districts.
Coach
Company terminals, mostly along Avenida Javier Prado and in La Victoria
Long-distance coaches run the Panamericana to Paracas, Ica, Nazca, Arequipa and the north coast, and inland to the Andes
Cruise
Port of Callao
South American cruise itineraries call at Callao, Lima's port, a short drive from the centre
Getting around
Taxi and ride-hailing
The usual way around for visitors; app-booked rides are the safer choice over hailing on the street
TBC
Metropolitano
Bus rapid transit on dedicated lanes linking the historic centre with Miraflores, Barranco and Chorrillos
TBC
Metro Line 1
Elevated rail line across the city's south and east; useful for some districts but it does not reach Miraflores
TBC
Combis and minibuses
Crowded private minibuses cover almost every avenue, with the route painted on the side; fast but confusing for newcomers
TBC
Walking
Miraflores and Barranco are pleasant on foot along the malecon, and the historic centre is best explored walking
Free
Day trips from Lima
Pachacamac
Half dayPre-Inca sanctuary
A vast adobe sanctuary in the desert on the city's southern edge, home to a revered oracle for more than a thousand years, later taken over by the Inca, who added the Temple of the Sun overlooking the ocean.
Getting there
car | tour
About an hour south by car or tour, depending on traffic
Palomino Islands
Half daySea lion colony
Boats run out past the island of San Lorenzo to rocky islets home to thousands of sea lions and seabirds, and in calm conditions you can get into the cold water to swim with the sea lions.
Getting there
tour
Boat tour from the port of Callao
Paracas and the Ballestas Islands
1-2 daysDesert coast wildlife
Boat trips circle the Ballestas Islands for sea lions, Humboldt penguins and huge bird colonies, passing the Candelabra geoglyph, and the Paracas reserve has red-sand beaches and desert cliffs. Best with a night.
Getting there
bus | car | tour
About three and a half to four hours south by coach or car
Caral
Full dayAncient sacred city
The pyramids and sunken plazas of Caral in the Supe valley belong to one of the oldest cities in the Americas, some 5,000 years old. A long day, but a remarkable one.
Getting there
car | tour
About three to four hours north by car or tour
A little history of Lima
Long before the Spanish, the Rimac valley was home to the Lima culture, who raised adobe pyramids such as Huaca Pucllana, while Pachacamac on the coast to the south was one of the great pilgrimage centres of the Andes. Francisco Pizarro founded the Ciudad de los Reyes, the City of the Kings, near the river in 1535, and as capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru it became the richest city in Spanish South America, funnelling Andean silver through the port of Callao.
Earthquakes repeatedly levelled it, the worst in 1746. San Martin proclaimed Peru's independence here in 1821, and Chilean forces occupied the city during the War of the Pacific. From the mid-20th century migration from the Andes turned Lima into a metropolis of millions, and the mix of Andean, Spanish, African, Chinese and Japanese cooking in its kitchens is the root of the food scene it is famous for today.
The Lima culture builds the adobe pyramid now known as Huaca Pucllana
Francisco Pizarro founds the City of the Kings on the Rimac river
Lima becomes capital of the new Viceroyalty of Peru
The University of San Marcos is founded, one of the oldest universities in the Americas
An earthquake and tsunami devastate Lima and destroy the port of Callao
Jose de San Martin proclaims the independence of Peru in Lima
Chilean troops occupy Lima during the War of the Pacific
Know before you go
Payment
Cash preferred
English
Widely spoken
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type A / B / C
230 V, 60 Hz
Dialing
+51
Mobile network & SIM card
Get an eSIM before you fly
A Peru eSIM installs in minutes and works the moment you switch off flight mode. No SIM swap, no roaming bill.
FAQs about Lima
▸ When is the best time to visit Lima?
The warmer, sunnier months run from around December to April, when the city heads to the beaches, and the months either side are pleasant too. Roughly June to September the sky is usually grey with the coastal mist called garua, cool but almost never rainy, and the city is perfectly visitable.
▸ Why is Lima's sky so often grey?
The cold Humboldt Current chills the air over the sea, trapping a low blanket of cloud and fine mist over the coast for much of the cooler half of the year. The same effect keeps Lima one of the driest capitals on earth: it almost never properly rains.
▸ How many days do I need in Lima?
Two to four days covers the historic centre, a museum or two, Barranco and Miraflores, and several long meals. Most visitors pass through on the way to Cusco and Machu Picchu, and it is worth staying longer than a single overnight.
▸ Is Lima safe for visitors?
Miraflores, Barranco and San Isidro are comfortable to walk around, and the historic centre is busy and fine by day. As in any big city, watch for pickpockets and bag snatching, use app-booked or official taxis rather than hailing on the street, and check your own government's current advice.
▸ Is Lima expensive?
Mostly moderate. Market lunches, cevicherias and local set menus are good value, while the celebrated tasting-menu restaurants and upscale hotels in Miraflores and San Isidro sit at international prices.
More in Peru
Arequipa
Peru's White City: a colonial centre cut from volcanic stone beneath El Misti, and the gateway to Colca Canyon.
✓ best all yearCusco
The Inca empire's capital, still standing underneath the colonial city built on top of it.
✓ best Apr-NovIquitos
The biggest city on earth you cannot drive to, and the jumping-off point for Peru's Amazon.
✓ best May-Oct