The Best Things To Do in Lima

Lima, the former crown jewel of the Spanish Empire and the proud melting pot city of ‘todas las sangres’, is often the first stop for tourists, but no one stays very long. While there are many attractions across the country, including the famous Machu Picchu, passing over Lima is a mistake.

Every time I return to Lima, I find something that draws me further into the city’s allure. The city is littered with huacas, pre-Incan adobe and clay pyramids, with modern apartments and restaurants built around them. Its cuisine, never turning down new influences, blends African, Japanese, Chinese, and Indigenous ingredients and techniques and has been rightly claimed as one of the best in the world.

Lima is a world-class city finally finding its feet. Coming here for a single night before jetting off means missing out on so much that Peru has to offer.

This is a guide to 10 activities in and around Lima that you can’t miss on your trip.

Tour An Ancient Pyramid

The city of Lima is built up around these towering clay and adobe pyramids called huacas, a Quechua word that refers to a shrine or a sacred place.

The most famous huaca in Lima is the Huaca Pucllana in the heart of the Miraflores neighborhood. You can tour (and climb) the Huaca at the Pucllana Site Museum or go to the lesser known Huaca Huallamarca in San Isidro.

Independent entry is not allowed, you must either book a registered guide or go on the official tour (offered in English and Spanish) to enter the site.

Listen To A Local Jazz Band

Barranco is the heart of nightlife in Lima and you would be remiss to skip out on it entirely. While there are lots of great fancy bars in Lima, going to a music venue is a great way to have a more local experience.

My favorite was the music club La Noche Del Barranco’s Peruvian jazz night every Monday at 9:30 pm. Come early for drinks and dinner (their anticuchos and sandwiches are delicious!) because seats fill up quickly once it hits 9pm.

They also have a lovely bar to the right of the music venue, with plenty of seating if you’d rather get a table and hear your friends.

Website

See Peru’s Ancient History at the Larco Museum

This might be my favorite museum of all time. I’ve been three times! It’s an incredibly well-organized museum in a beautiful 18th-century mansion surrounded by gardens filled with bougainvillea.

The museum focuses solely on showcasing pre-Columbian Peruvian art and artifacts from across the country. Roughly divided into “north,” “central,” and “south,” you can see pottery, textiles, golden and silver headdresses, armor, and sacrificial weapons.

On Parts Unknown, Anthony Bourdain made a stop at the Larco Museum and was quite fond of the downstairs erotic art gallery.

Afterward, you can dine at the downstairs restaurant next to the garden. While the restaurant is more expensive than your average Lima restaurant, the food is well-made and served in beautiful settings. Worth stopping by even for a coffee and a snack.

Have A Meal at a Traditional Peruvian Taverna

The front bar at Antigua Taverna Queirolo

A little under a mile away from Museo Larco and just steps away from the National Archeological Museum, is the oldest restaurant in Lima, opened in 1880 by the Italian Queirolo family.

The taberna was created by Spanish and Italian immigrants who called Lima home in order to have a place to stop by for a snack, a drink, and to chat with friends and family.

Now this restaurant is an instutition for locals and tourists alike although when I visited on a Sunday afternoon, I was the only non-local at a table. Serving Peruvian creole food, the Antiguo Taberna Queirolo has updated as years have gone by but it is nostaglic for many locals and retains its old school bodega charm.

You can’t go wrong with any Pisco based cocktail here as the Queirolo family are also Pisco and wine producers with vineyards in the inland town of Ica. The more traditional dishes like lomo saltado, cau cau (tripe and potato stew) with rice, and papa rellenas (potato croquettes stuffed with seasoned ground meat, tomato, and onion) shine.

Visit A Conquistador’s Home

The oldest continually inhabited house in South America is in Lima’s central historic district and is almost unrecognizable from the plain wooden door outside.

Inside, a grand staircase leads you up to the mansion where the Aliaga family, descendants of a conquistador who was given the house by Pizarro himself, have lived for 17 generations since 1535.

They have opened up their house, which has many of its original details, including wood carvings and an Andalusian-inspired courtyard, to tours and the occasional dinner.

I’m always surprised that this is not a more popular tourist destination. Learn more about booking a tour here.

Eat A Delicious Seafood Lunch

The famous trio, ceviche, chicharron de pescado, and seafood fried rice, from Al Toke Pez in Miraflores

A trip to Lima is not complete without gorging yourself on seafood!

Thanks to its location on the Pacific Coast alongside the cold and mineral rich Humbodlt Current, Lima is rich in seafood, and the nearby Callao port means that fresh catches can show up on the Lima lunchtime tables the very same day.

Yes, seafood and ceviche are lunchtime dishes rather than dinner dishes here in order to maximize the freshness of the fish caught in the morning. But luckily, lunch in Peru goes quite a bit later than lunch in the U.S. It usually starts at 12 or 1, but restaurants stay open until 4 or 5 in the afternoon.

Al Toke Pez, La Picanteria, and El Mercado, all around the Miraflores neighborhood, are three of my favorite places for a seafood lunch in Lima.

Sip A Cocktail Al Fresco

Yes, Pisco is from Peru (don’t tell Chile) but you don’t have to have a Pisco sour to enjoy a cocktail in one of Lima’s many indoor/outdoor settings.

If you are a traditionalist, you must go to the Gran Hotel Bolivar in the historic center right off of San Martin Plaza, for a pisco sour. Sit either at the bar or at the balcony section of the restaurant.

The hotel was the first major modern hotel in Lima, opened in 1924, and used to host such luminaries like Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles. It is a time capsule to a bygone era and while this means the hotel is a bit tired and not great for a stay, it is still worthwhile to have a cocktail (and their cocktails are pretty good!) and gaze at the 1920s opulence like the art deco stained glass dome in the lobby.

For those looking for a more contemporary experience, Barranco and Miraflores are home to many fantastic cocktail bars with both inside and outside seating. Ayahuasca, CaLa, and the bar at Hotel B all make drinks that are thoughtful creations with local ingredients and in beautiful settings.

Go Horseriding in the Desert

Horse riding through the sand dunes with my Mom

This is technically slightly outside of Lima, but it was such an incredible experience that I don’t see anyone else write about it, so I had to put it on the list.

A mere 90-minutes outside of Lima, you can ride the famous Peruvian Paso Horses, known as the “smoothest horse ride in the world,” at Cabalgatas Peru. After riding them for two hours across the sand dunes, I’m not inclined to disagree with that statement!

You can also book a horse riding experience to the local beach. The horses were friendly and ready to go. Great for beginners and experts alike. If you’re worried about making it out there, Cabalgatas provides a round-trip taxi ride from your hotel for an additional fee.

Read my blog post for more information on riding with Cabalgatas, price options, and booking.

Shop Local Fashion Designers and Artisans

Lima is not yet known as a fashionable city, but it has more than its fair share of designers and artisans creating beautiful clothes, home goods, and more. It’s the home of the luxurious pima cotton and the super soft alpaca wool.

In Miraflores, you can find most of the well-known alpaca wool clothing and textile brands like Sol Alpaca, Kuna, and Mundo Alpaca. In Barranco, younger, trendier shops have opened, selling clothing, jewelry, and sunglasses, such as Onism, Floam, and the Puna and Ka concept stores.

Plus, these make for cooler souvenirs, too.

Taste Artisanal Coffee and Chocolate in Barranco

A drinking chocolate from Ukaw to start the day

Thanks to its rich Amazonian and mountainous regions, Peru is one of the top producers of high-quality coffee and chocolate, and Barranco is the HQ for Lima’s booming organic, local-origin coffee and chocolate shops.

A few places even do both to very high standards! If you’re looking for a morning pick-me-up in artsy settings and to bring home some delicious, local chocolate while you’re out, then stop by Ukaw Chocolates or Ciclos Cafe. Both shops are in the Barranco neighborhood and within walking distance of each other.

Have A Spa Day

A lot of people come to Peru for strenuous activities: hiking, trekking, and climbing ancient Incan ruins in the mountains (they must have been very fit people).

I like to have a reward at the end of my travel activities, even if my most physical activity was an extra-long bus ride, and so I recommend stopping at Maeli Spa before you go back home.

Maeli offers terrific massages, facials, and head spa treatments out of her San Borja studio, and after your treatment is done and you’ve relaxed, a delicious slice of carrot cake is waiting for you as a final treat.

Read my blog post on treatment options, how to book at Maeli Spa, and my review of the experience.