Lima
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Lima - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. Casa de Aliaga
El CentroFrom the outside, you'd never guess this was one of Lima's most opulent addresses. Commonly known as Casa de Aliaga, this stunning example of Spanish-colonial architecture a block from the Plaza de Armas was built in 1535 by Jerónimo de Aliaga, one of Pizarro's officers, and has been continuously inhabited by his descendants ever since. Each room boasts a different period décor, from colonial to republican, and Jerónimo's German-made sword is still on display in one of the salons. To visit, you must hire an officially approved guide or go as part of a city tour.
Jr. de la Unión 224, Lima, Lima, 01, Peru01-427–7736Sight Details
Rate Includes: S/50, Daily 9:30-5 -
2. Casa Torre Tagle
El CentroThis mansion sums up the graceful style of the early 18th century. Flanked by a pair of elegant balconies, the stone entrance is as expertly carved as that of any of the city's churches. The patio is a jewel of the Andalusian baroque, with slender columns supporting delicate Moorish arabesques. The Casa Torre Tagle currently holds offices of the Foreign Ministry and is open to the public only on weekends, when you can check out the tiled ceilings of the ground floor and see the house's 18th-century carriage. Across the street is Casa Goyeneche, which was built some 40 years later in 1771, and was clearly influenced by the rococo movement.
Jr. Ucayali 363, Lima, Lima, 01, Peru01-204–2400Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Closed weekdays, Sat. and Sun. 10–5 -
3. Convento de San Francisco
El CentroWith its ornate facade and bell towers, ancient library, and catacombs full of human skulls, the Convento de San Francisco is one of Lima's most impressive sites. The catacombs hold the remains of some 75,000 people, some of whose bones have been arranged in eerie geometric patterns (warning: the narrow, dusty tunnels aren't for the claustrophobic). Meanwhile, the convent's massive church, the Iglesia de San Francisco, is the quintessential example of Lima baroque. Its handsome, carved portal is like an oversized retablo, projecting the church's sacred space out onto the busy street, while the central nave is known for its beautiful ceilings carved in a style called Mudejar (a blend of Moorish and Spanish designs). The 50-minute tour includes the church, the library, ample colonial art, and the catacombs.
Jr. Ancash 471, Lima, Lima, 01, Peru01-426–7377Sight Details
Rate Includes: S/15, Daily 9–8:15 -
4. Convento de Santo Domingo
El CentroIf the Iglesia de San Francisco is Lima Gothic—all skulls and penitential gloom—Santo Domingo represents the city's sunny side. From pink facade to rococo tower, every detail here glows with charm. The main cloister is especially enticing: long arcades with Sevillian tiles, gardens redolent of jasmine, coffered ceilings carved from Panamanian oak. But don't overlook the chapter room, which housed Peru's University of San Marcos when it was founded in 1551, or the tombs of Santa Rosa de Lima and San Martín Porres, the first two saints in the New World. In a city given over to the here and now, this temple offers a glimpse into another world.
Jr. Conde de Superunda and Jr. Camaná, Lima, Lima, 01, Peru01-426–5786Sight Details
Rate Includes: S/10, Daily 9:30–6 -
5. Huaca Pucllana
Miraflores | RuinsRising out of a nondescript residential neighborhood is Lima's most-visited huaca, or pre-Columbian temple—a huge, mud-brick platform pyramid that covers several city blocks. The site, which dates from at least the 5th century, has ongoing excavations, and new discoveries are announced every so often. A tiny museum highlights a few of those finds. Knowledgeable, English-speaking guides will lead you through reconstructed sections to the pyramid's top platform and, from there, to an area that is being excavated. This site is most beautiful at night, when parts of it are illuminated. Thirty-minute partial tours are available during this time.
Cl. General Borgoño cuadra 8 s/n, Lima, Lima, 18, Peru01-617–7148Sight Details
Rate Includes: S/15 during the day, S/17 at night, Closed 5–7 pm daily and at night Mon. and Tues. -
Recommended Fodor’s Video
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6. Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI)
El Centro | Museum/GalleryBuilt in 1871 as the Palacio de la Exposición, this mammoth neoclassical structure was designed by the Italian architect Antonio Leonardi, with metal columns from the workshop of Gustav Eiffel (who later built the famous Parisian tower). The ground floor holds temporary exhibitions by both national and international artists, and the second floor houses a permanent exhibition that spans Peru's past, with everything from pre-Columbian artifacts to colonial-era art to republican-era paintings and drawings that provide a glimpse into Peruvian life in the 19th and early-20th centuries. One of the museum's treasures is the collection of quipus, or "talking knots": collars of strings tied with an array of knots, each with a distinct meaning (the closest thing the Incas had to writing). Leave time to sip an espresso in the café near the entrance.
Paseo Colón 125, Lima, Lima, 01, Peru01-204–0000Sight Details
Rate Includes: S/12 (suggested donation), S/30 , Closed Mon. -
7. Museo Larco
Pueblo LibreHot-pink bougainvillea spills over the white walls of this lovely colonial mansion, which is built atop a pre-Columbian temple. What those walls house is the city's most exquisite collection of ancient art, with works from all of Peru's major pre-Hispanic cultures spanning several thousand years. Highlights include a Moche stirrup vessel detailing grisly human sacrifices, a selection of Inca quipus, and thousands of ceramic "portrait heads" that give astonishingly realistic insights into their subjects' personalities. The sala erótica reveals that Peru's ancient artisans were an uninhibited lot, creating clay pottery adorned with explicit sexual images. Guides are a good idea, and the cost is just S/35 per group. The café overlooking the museum's garden is an excellent option for lunch or dinner.
View Tours and ActivitiesAv. Bolívar 1515, Lima, Lima, 21, Peru01-461–1312Sight Details
Rate Includes: S/30, Daily 9 am–10 pm -
8. Museo Pedro de Osma
BarrancoEven if it contained no art, this century-old Beaux-Arts mansion would be worth the trip for its design elements alone. The mansard-roofed structure—with inlaid wood floors, delicately painted ceilings, and stained-glass windows in every room—was the home of a wealthy collector of religious artifacts. The best of his collection is permanently on display. The finest of the paintings, the 18th-century Virgen de Pomata, combines Marian iconography with indigenous symbols in the Holy Mother's mountain-shaped robes festooned with garlands of corn. Other halls contain canvases of archangels, fine silverwork, and sculptures of Huamanga alabaster. Make sure to visit the manicured grounds.
Av. Pedro de Osma 423, Lima, Lima, 04, Peru01-467–0063Sight Details
Rate Includes: S/30, Closed Mon., Tues.–Sun. 10–6 -
9. Plaza de Armas
El Centro | Plaza/SquareThis massive square has been the center of the city since 1535. Over the years it has served many functions, from open-air theater for melodramas to impromptu ring for bullfights. Huge fires once burned in the center for people sentenced to death by the Spanish Inquisition. Much has changed over the years, but one thing remaining is the bronze fountain unveiled in 1651. It was here that José de San Martín declared the country's independence from Spain in 1821.
Jr. Junín and Jr. Carabaya, Lima, Lima, 01, Peru
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