32 Best Bars in Lima, Peru

Amid the current rage for rooftop lounges in Lima, this place stands out for its unparalleled views. The bar is located on the top floor of the Iberostar Miraflores Hotel, allowing visitors to kick back poolside as they watch the sun setting over the Pacific. A select list of bar snacks is available.

This beachfront disco offers splendid nighttime views of Lima's coastline and is perennially popular with younger limeños. DJs spin a good mix of tunes, but the lounges can get suffocatingly crowded on weekends.

The refurbished 19th-century mansion that houses Ayahuasca would be worth visiting even if it wasn't Barranco's chicest bar. The wild decor—it's named for a hallucinogen used by Amazonian tribes—and light menu only add to the allure.

This handsomely wood-paneled hotel bar is where the pisco sour took on its definitive form. The man responsible, Don Eloy Cuadros, has learned his trade well: after 60 years on the job, he still whips up refreshing cocktails that are a perfect break from sightseeing in El Centro.

Bored with Peru's beer selection? This microbrewery a block north of Barranco's Parque Municipal not only offers several house brews, but also has sandwiches on home-baked bread, chicken wings, and blue-corn pizza.

Two blocks west of Parque Kennedy, Cocodrilo Verde features some of Peru's best musicians, plus visiting acts that play everything from jazz to salsa and bossa nova. Shows start anytime between 9 and 11 pm, depending on the night.

This popular bar just to the right of the Hotel Bolívar's entrance overlooks the Plaza San Martín and makes a wicked pisco sour. Or step inside to the hotel's main bar and restaurant, which offer tables on an elevated terrace and a more subdued setting.

Facing Barranco's main square is one of the neighborhood's most venerable establishments, albeit one whose premises definitely veer toward the bare-bones and bohemian. Built by Italian immigrants in 1905, this former pharmacy is packed nightly with limeños drawn by the cheap drinks, historic setting, and ham sandwiches.

On the second floor of an old building across from Parque Kennedy, El Tayta has live guitar music (mostly Latin pop) performed by duos or trios.

Artisanal cocktails, first-rate food, and a relaxed, conversational ambience make this gastro-bar a hit with Lima's over-30 crowd. The outdoor terrace is an added plus in the summer.

This dimly lit, postindustrial-chic lounge channels a speakeasy-ish vibe and specializes in cocteles del autor (signature drinks whipped up by the inventive mixologist). An outdoor terrace and live music on Thursdays are added pluses.

It's easy to miss the Jazz Zone, owing to its clandestine digs in a colonial-style retail complex called Pasaje El Suche. Yet head up the bright-red stairway to the dimly lit second-story lounge, and you'll find performances of everything from Latin jazz to blues and flamenco, with salsa or other dance music on weekends. Shows start at 10:30.

Drawing a mix of locals and foreigners, La Candelaria is located in an attractive art deco building a couple blocks east of Barranco's Parque Municipal. The restaurant, where food and drink are à la carte, opens at 9 pm, and shows (there's a cover charge) combining the folklores of the coast, mountains, and jungle start at 10:30 on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. There are also frequently performances on Sunday afternoon.

One of a dozen bars on Calle Manuel Bonilla, La Cuina is known for its ample selection of tapas—from mushrooms sautéed with garlic to tortilla española (Spanish omelet)—and good lineup of microbrewery beers. The tables out front are a nice spot for a drink.

Perhaps Lima's most tourist-friendly peña, La Dama Juana offers 90-minute shows in an atmospheric Spanish colonial--style building in Barranco. Performances start at 8:30 pm, and a traditional Peruvian buffet is served from 7:30 to 10. There's also a Sunday show that starts at 2:30 pm; the buffet opens at 12:30.

This classic tavern is set in a funky old house at the end of the pedestrian street lined with bars known as El Bulevar de Barranco. The building includes a concert hall with a separate entrance (and admission fee) where local rock, Latin pop, and jazz bands perform. It's a great place for a drink even if you don't see the show.

This lively peña is one of the most famous in the city. Weekend shows of Afro-Peruvian music from the country's south coast culminate with a brindis (toast) around 2 am, when hundreds of pisco-sour glasses are raised.

Housed in a remodeled old building under the Puente de los Suspiros, this is where upscale limeños go to drink and dance on the Bajada de los Baños. There are usually DJs on weekends, when groups of friends shake their groove things on the outdoor patio. It also has a decent kitchen, perfect for a late-night snack.

This bohemian tavern is decorated with a wild collection of antiques and art, including statues of angels. It's one of the few bars in Barranco suited to conversation, and guitarists perform Latin American classics nightly.

When you're in Barranco, a pleasant place to start off the evening is La Posada del Mirador, at the end of the path behind La Ermita church. The bar has a second-story balcony that looks out to sea, making this a great place to watch the sunset or enjoy a nightcap.

Down several flights of stairs from the lower level of Larcomar shopping center is this cavernous lounge–dance club, a see-and-be-seen destination for Lima's beautiful people. The club and shopping center are built into a cliff, so if you need a break, step out back for a sweeping view of the Lima coast. It's open Friday and Saturday, 9 pm to 6 am.

Artisanal cocktails are what's on tap at this atmospheric saloon patterned after an Ica bodega (winery). The classic pisco sours are formidable, but even better are the ginger-ale-based chilcanos and the citrus-and-berry-laced frutales. The expert mixologists are happy to make recommendations.

Frequent drag shows and a come-as-you-are vibe make this bar a haven for Lima's LGBTQ community, but the super-cool waitstaff, colorful decor, and excellent drinks make it a great pit stop for partyers of any persuasion. The warmth and inclusivity here are palpable.

The retro force popular with Lima's hipster crowd is strong in this tiki bar a mere 5,000 miles from Polynesia—note the bamboo panels, palm-thatch fringe, koa paddles, and Hawaiian shirts in profusion. Channeling 1950s California is just one of the joint's fortes: there's also a list of 50-plus cocktails that run from classic mai tais and planter's punches to imaginative potions that employ the bar's 230 rum varieties in unexpected ways.

This lovely little bar in an adobe building one block south of Barranco's main square dates from 1915 and is a memorable spot for a drink. The decor is that of a traditional bodega, with lofty, beamed ceilings and glass cabinets filled with liquor bottles. Weekend nights draw a substantial crowd.

With more than three decades in business, Sachún's mix of Andean folk dancing and música criolla draws a predominantly older crowd. The food here is a cut above that at other peñas.