47 Best Sights in Lima, Peru

Although it resembles the colonial-era buildings that abound in the area, City Hall was constructed in 1944. Step into the foyer to see the stained-glass windows above the marble staircase. To the south of the building is a popular pedestrian walkway called the Portal de los Escribanos, or Passage of the Scribes, lined with restaurants. On the right, you'll find the entrance to a small gallery run by City Hall that hosts exhibitions by Peruvian artists.

Although relatively small, this private museum of pre-Columbian artifacts holds some of the city's best textiles, in addition to well-preserved ceramics and other handiwork. The museum was founded by Japanese businessman and collector Yoshitaro Amano in 1964 and expanded and remodeled by his offspring in 2015. The chronological exhibition charts Peru's artistic development from 800 BC to the 15th century across four halls packed with well-preserved artifacts from pre-Inca cultures, including the Paracas, Nazca, Moche, and Chancay. The impressive collection of weavings contains some that are almost 2,000 years old; miraculously, many have retained their vivid colors and (sometimes comic) imagery. Displays are in English and Spanish; you can also call ahead to reserve an English-speaking guide.

Lima's newest art museum is run by a privately funded institute on land donated by the Municipality of Barranco. Its minimalistic, rectangular exhibition spaces house a permanent collection by Latin American and European artists that dates from the past 60 years, as well as temporary shows that change every few months. The main hall overlooks a metal sculpture by Veronica Wiesse perched over a reflection pond; beyond it lies a small park that's used for fairs and other events.

Italian art in Peru? This small museum is one of the city's most delightful. Most of the art is about a century old, so it captures the exact moment when impressionism was melting into modernism, and the building itself is a work of art. Don't overlook the magnificent iron door by Alessandro Mazzucotelli.

Occupying a refurbished, turn-of-the-century house near the Museo Pedro de Osma, this small museum exhibits photos by renowned Peruvian fashion photographer Mario Testino. It has rooms dedicated to the likes of Kate Moss, Gisele Bündchen, and Madonna, as well as a few photos of indigenous Peruvians in traditional Andean dress. A separate building holds a sampling from the last photo shoot of Princess Diana before her untimely death. The gift shop has some great postcards, and the museum's café is a pleasant spot for a light meal or drink.

The country's most extensive collection of pre-Columbian artifacts can be found at this sprawling museum. Beginning with 8,000-year-old stone tools, Peru's history is narrated through the sleek granite obelisks of the Chavín culture, the intricate weavings of the Paracas, and the colorful ceramics of the Moche, Chimú, and Incas. A fascinating pair of mummies from the Nazca region is thought to be more than 2,500 years old. They are so well preserved that you can still see the grim expressions on their faces. The exhibits occupy two colonial houses, in one of which the Venezuelan general Simón de Bolívar, who led South America's wars of independence, lived while helping to organize a newly freed Peru.

Much of the museum is currently closed for remodeling, but the exhibits are slated to reopen before Peru's bicentennial in July of 2021. Meanwhile, the areas having to do with the country's post-independence history can still be visited.

Sacred to the god of earthquakes, this sprawling adobe temple was for 1,300 years the chief pilgrimage destination on Peru's Pacific coast. What those votaries came to see was Pachacamac—"he who moves the earth"—a scowling lord carved into a wooden staff wielded by the sanctuary's fearsome priests (elsewhere, he appears on ceramic vessels as a strange, griffin-like creature, with a bird's beak and feline claws). Pachacamac's cult began with the Lima culture around 200 AD, but it grew when the Huari took over the complex some four centuries later. It exploded when the Incas came in 1470, elevating the earth-shaker to the rank of their own creator-god and erecting a sun temple in his honor on the bluff's apex. Today, visitors can meander through the pre-Inca Painted Temple, with its traces of red brick, as well as the hilltop Temple of the Sun that looks out on the Pacific. An on-site museum offers informative displays.

The best way to visit Pachacamac is by taking a half-day guided tour with an agency like Mirabus, since the site is 32 km (20 miles) south of downtown, and getting a taxi back can be tricky.

This neobaroque palace north of the Plaza de Armas is the official residence of Peru's president. It was built on the site where Francisco Pizarro was murdered in 1541 and has undergone several reconstructions, the most recent of which was completed in 1938. The best time to visit is at noon, when you can watch soldiers in red-and-blue uniforms conduct an elaborate changing of the guard, all to the tune of "El Condor Pasa." It's not quite Buckingham Palace, but it is impressive. Tours are offered on Saturday from 9 to 10:30 am, but reservations must be made at least a few days ahead of time.

Eager to prove it was a world-class capital, Lima hosted an international exposition in 1872. Several of the buildings constructed for the event still stand, including the neoclassical Palacio de la Exposición, which now serves as the Museo de Arte de Lima. Meanwhile, the park itself has become a busy meetup spot. Stroll through the grounds, and you'll find the eye-popping Pabellón Morisco, or Moorish Pavillion. Painstakingly restored, this Gothic-style structure has spiral staircases leading to a stained-glass salon on the second floor. The nearby Pabellón Bizantino, or Byzantine Pavilion, most closely resembles a turret from a Victorian-era mansion.

You could be forgiven for thinking you're in Barcelona when you stroll through this lovely park designed by Peruvian artist Victor Delfín. As in Antoni Gaudí's Park Güell, which provided inspiration, the benches here are encrusted with broken pieces of tile. In keeping with the romantic theme—the name translates as "Park of Love"—the mosaic includes sayings such as Amor es como luz ("Love is like light"). The centerpiece is a massive statue of two lovers locked in a passionate embrace. The park affords a sweeping view of the Pacific, and on windy days, paragliders take off from an adjacent green.

Across the bridge from the park, you can see the Intihuatana by Fernando de Szyszlo, a huge concrete sculpture inspired by an Inca astronomical clock.

For years, this rambling olive grove was slowly being eroded, as homes for wealthy limeños were built in and around its perimeter. The process was halted in the 1960s, in time to save more than 1,500 gnarled olive trees. Some of the trees are four centuries old and still bear fruit. A network of sidewalks, flower beds, fountains, and playgrounds makes this 20-hectare (50-acre) park a popular spot on weekend afternoons.

What locals call Parque Kennedy is, strictly speaking, two parks. A smaller section, near the óvalo, or roundabout, is Parque 7 de Junio, whereas the rest of it is Parque Kennedy proper. On the park's east side stands Miraflores's stately Parroquia La Virgen Milagrosa (Church of the Miraculous Virgin), built in the 1930s on the site of a colonial church. The equally young colonial-style building behind it is the Municipalidad de Miraflores (district town hall). Several open-air cafés along the park's eastern edge serve decent food and drink. At night, a round cement structure in front of those cafés called La Rotonda fills up with handicraft vendors, and the park becomes especially lively. Street vendors also sell popcorn and traditional Peruvian desserts such as picarones (fried donuts bathed in molasses), mazamorra morada (a pudding made with blue-corn juice and fruit), and arroz con leche (rice pudding). This park is the most popular meetup spot for the entire district.

Elegant royal palms, swirls of purple-and-yellow bougainvillea, and the surrounding colonial architecture make this park a Lima standout. Its southern end is lined with historic buildings, the most prominent of which is the library, with its pink clock tower. To the west stands Barranco's Iglesia La Hermita, a lovely neo-Gothic structure unfortunately closed to the public since its roof caved in during a 1940 earthquake. A nearby staircase leads down to the Puente de los Suspiros and Bajada de los Baños.

This spectacular plaza is unlike any other in the city. It's surrounded on three sides by neocolonial buildings dating from the 1920s, the pale facades of which are lit at night, when the plaza is most impressive. Presiding over the western edge is the Gran Hotel Bolívar, a pleasant spot for a pisco sour. Even if you're not thirsty, you should step inside for a look at its elegant lobby. At the plaza's center is a massive statue of José de San Martín, the Argentine general who brought about the independence of Argentina, Chile, and Peru from Spain.

This romantic wooden walkway over the tree-shaded Bajada de los Baños has been the site of countless lovers' trysts. The name translates as "Bridge of Sighs," and it's inspired a host of criollo songs, most famously Chabuca Granda's legendary hit of the same title from 1960.

On the southern end of the Palacio Municipal de Miraflores (town hall), around the corner from Parque Miraflores, is the Sala Luis Miró Quesada Garland: one of the district's most popular galleries. It exhibits the work of Peruvian painters, sculptors, and photographers, with a new artist exhibiting each month.