42 Best Sights in Lima, Peru

This 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.

Housed in an 18th-century quinta that has been occupied by both José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar, this fascinating if somewhat discombobulated museum is like Peru's national attic. The left wing is dedicated to pre-Columbian civilizations, with special emphasis on the cultures of Paracas, Chavín, and Nazca; in it, the crowning treasure is the Stella Raimondi, a 2,000-year-old slab inscribed with images of the so-called Staff God, a deity born in Chavín de Huántar that presided over Andean religion for more than a millennium. On the museum's right side, a rambling mansion harbors a collection of independence-era artifacts, including Bolívar's own saber, a pair of viceregal carriages, and reconstructions of a typical 18th-century Lima interior. It's a bit of a hodgepodge, but the peek it affords into Peru's 5,000-year evolution is tantalizing.

Part of the museum's pre-Hispanic wing was closed for remodeling as of this writing, but the exhibits featuring the Stella Raimondi and the Tello Obelisk remain open, as are the museum's beautifully refurbished republican-era halls.

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 AD 200, but 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. A 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, but reservations by email are required at least a few days ahead of time.

Eager to prove it was a world-class capital, Lima hosted an international exposition at this vast green space 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 amphitheater in front of those cafés called La Rotonda fills up with performing artists, and the park becomes especially lively. Street vendors also sell popcorn and traditional Peruvian desserts such as picarones (fried doughnuts 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 neocolonial 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.

A short walk north of the pedestrian bridge at the bottom of Barranco's Bajada de los Baños, this narrow beach is one of Lima's most popular. The sand is dark gray, and when the sea is rough it is unsafe for swimming. But that doesn't stop Playa Barranquito from getting packed from December to April, when vendors stroll through the crowd selling snacks (which inevitably generates litter on the beach). It's a quiet spot the rest of the year except for the cries of seagulls and the rumble of cars passing on the Circuito de Playas. Amenities: food and drink, parking (fee); toilets. Best for: sunset; walking.

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 while there's nothing Venetian about it, it has inspired a host of criollo songs, most famously Chabuca Granda's legendary hit of the same title from 1960.