Discover the real spirit of the City of the Kings
Lima is a city of contrasts, a kind of mosaic that contains lots of different faces. The spirit of the city is this mix of identities, that you can find most of all in the people -melting pot of autochthonous Indians, Spaniard conquerors, African slaves, Chinese, Japanese and European immigrants-, but also in the places, in the traditions, and in the gastronomy. We want to offer you a complete portrait of the real city, with all its complexity and its paradoxes.
In Lima you will find natural environments, like the Palomino islands, full of birds and friendly sea lions with whom you can swim, or the ‘Pantanos de Villa’, a marsh that is considered a natural reserve for different kind of birds. But you can also find pre-Inca archaeological sites right in the middle of the modern city, like Huaca Pucllana and Huaca Huallamarca, or Pachacamac, the most important ceremonial centre of the Peruvian coast.
You can’t loose the Spanish colonial centre, full of old palaces and churches, like San Francisco Convent, with its catacombs, or the old cemetery, full of beautiful sculptures. Not far from there you will find the local Chinatown, famous for its oriental restaurants .
Going east from the centre you will reach the port of Callao, where you can visit the ‘Real Felipe’ fortress, built to protect the city from the pirates. You can also take a walk long the charmy beachfront of the ‘La Punta’ neighborhood, kind of little ‘cote d’azur’ with some good sea food restaurants. From the port you can take a boat to reach the Palomino islands.
South from the centre you will find the nice residential districts in front of the ocean, each one with a different character: the elegant San Isidro, with modern business areas, pubs and restaurants for the local wealthy people; the happy Miraflores, that offers nice shopping areas, cultural life, and beautiful views of the ocean, where you can surf or experience the tandem paraglider flights; the romantic and bohemian Barranco, with its beautiful wooden bridge of sighs and a busy night life; and finally Chorrillos, originally a fishers town, where you can taste very good sea-food, and visit the ‘Pantanos de Villa’.
But the regular Lima is surrounded by lots of slums that represent the two thirds of the city. These spontaneous neighborhoods appeared in the fifties close to the river, on the hills, and lastly, all around the city, forming a kind of ring populated by people from all around Perú.
There are also lots of interesting museums, like the famous erotic pottery collection of the Larco Museum, and other collections of gold pieces, textiles, and artefacts of ancient Peru.
But maybe one of the best experiences is to discover the local gastronomy, rich of flavours that are a result of the mix of different cultures.
Depending on the period, you can also enjoy some of the local traditions, like the bull fight, the cock fight, the step horse exhibition, or follow the huge October procession.
If you are planning to stay more than three days, then you can also visit the surroundings of the city, like Marcahuasi, an enigmatic place full of natural stone sculptures, or Churin, with its thermal baths, and other nice places for camping and practicing open air sports.
Here you have some of the most important faces of this mosaic called Lima.
1. Natural Environments.-
The city of Lima, with a population of 8 million persons, has already occupied an immense area that covers 3 different valleys (Rimac, Chillón & Lurín). But it is still possible to find some natural areas, like the Palomino islands in front of Callao, a natural refuge for guano birds and a huge population of 6,000 friendly sea lions, with whom you can take a swim.
In the district of Chorrillos, famous for its fishers, you can visit the ‘Pantanos de Villa’ ecological park, a wetland that now is considered a natural reserve for different kind of birds. Going to the south you reach Lurín, the last green valley of the city, where you can practice adventure sports, visit Pachacamac, and taste the traditional Pachamanca.
2. Natural landmarks.-
The two most important natural landmarks of the city are: the San Cristobal hill and the Rimac river (rimac means in quechua, the Inca language, ‘the one who talks’) from which comes the name of the city. The San Cristobal hill is the highest natural point from which is possible to see, depending on the weather, almost the whole city. It is also considered an ‘Apu’, kind of protector divinity for the Andean culture. It is located in the district called Rimac, where you can also visit some places of interest, like ‘Plaza de Acho’, the bullfight arena, and other colonial buildings. This district is joined to the centre by the ‘Stone Bridge’, the oldest testimony of the colonial city, built in 1610 over the Rimac river.
3. Archeological Sites.-
Before the arrival of the Spaniard conquerors to the site of Lima, there was already a developed pre-Inca civilization that left some interesting temples, like Pachacamac, the most important oracle and ceremonial centre of all the Peruvian coast. The word means in quechua ‘the one who trembles’, pre-Inca god which is at the origin of the syncretism around the Lord of Miracles October procession, also known as Lord of the Earthquakes.
Huaca Pucllana and Huaca Huallamarca are located in the middle of the modern and residential districts of Miraflores and San Isidro, respectively. Inside Huaca Pucllana you can find a very good restaurant specialized in ‘New Andean’ gastronomy. West from the centre is located Puruchuco, and very close, an Inca cemetery under a shanty town.
Huaca Huallamarca
4. Historical Center: the Pizarro Chess-board.-
The very centre of the city is the main square, or ‘Plaza de Armas’, located in the so called ‘Pizarro Chess-board’, according to the name of the Spaniard conqueror that founded Lima in 1535. There are located the three powers: the Cathedral, the Government Palace, and the City Hall. Close to this square you can find the most important palaces and churches. All the palaces are characterized by the typical wooden balconies, from which the most famous are the ones of Torre Tagle palace. A must is the San Francisco Convent and its catacombs.
Plaza De Armas
5. Historical Centre: the ‘Barrios Altos’ quartier.-
Leaving San Francisco and the Pizarro chess-board by crossing the Abancay avenue, the most chaotic of the city, you will reach ‘Barrios Altos’, where you can find the local Chinatown and enjoy the ‘chifas’, or oriental restaurants. Going further you will find the ‘Quinta Heeren’, a group of old houses with a charmy interior square that was once the residence of very wealthy families. Lastly you can reach the old cemetery, called Presbítero Maestro, considered as the biggest sculptoric park of South America, where you will appreciate beautiful marble statues.
Barrios Altos
6. Callao.-
The port of Callao is located west from the centre of the city. There you can visit the XVIII century Real Felipe fortress, created to confront pirates and corsaires, and hosting now a military museum. Behind the fortress you will reach ‘La Punta’, a narrow peninsula with a nice beach-front and European style houses. In these places you can find some good sea-food restaurants. The port is also the point of departure for the tour to the Palomino islands.
Real Felipe Fortress
7. The Residential Districts: San Isidro and Miraflores.-
These districts are the modern face of the city, and represent the new business and financial centres. There you can also find the best hotels and shopping centres. In San Isidro you can visit the Huaca Huallamarca, a pre-Inca pyramidal ceremonial centre close to a very modern business area. Conquistadores avenue is a vital area full of very good restaurants and nightclubs.
Miraflores is the commercial district, with some of the most important art galleries and night clubs. Some popular places are: the ‘Pizzas Street’, narrow alley full of pubs; Larcomar shopping centre, with a beautiful view of the ocean; and the Souvenir Market of Petit Thouars avenue. You can also visit the Huaca Pucllana pre-Inca temple.
In the Miraflores coast is possible to practice surf and tandem paraglider flights over the city and the Pacific ocean.
San Isidro Miraflores
8. Barranco and Chorrillos.-
Barranco is a very romantic place where you can also find an intensive cultural life and a bohemian atmosphere during the night. The Bridge of Sighs, the central square, and the belvedere to the ocean are a must.
Chorrillos is maybe the best place for tasting sea-food, since it was originally a fishers town. You will see lots of fishermen boats in the sea and a very vivid fish market. In the Morro Solar hill you can visit the astronomical observatory and have a nice view of Lima’s coast line. In one side of the hill are located the pre-Inca ruins of Armatambo, in part under a slum with the same name. Behind the hill you will reach ‘Pantanos de Villa’ ecological park, natural reserve for birds of different types.
Barranco Chorrillos
9. Slums.-
The two thirds of the city are the result of a spontaneous urban process. The first slums appeared close to the centre during the forties, in hills and in the river side. Some of them are now already part of the regular city, but Lima continues growing, and since the weather is mild and without rains, houses can be built with matt, wood and even pasteboard. Some of these slums were built over archaeological sites, like Puruchuco-Huaquerones and Armatambo.
Armatambo
10. Traditions.-
Depending on the period of your visit, you can enjoy of some local traditional events, like the bullfight fair, the cockfight, the step horse exhibition, and the huge October procession, which is followed by a multiethnic crowd of devotes of a miraculous image of Christ, painted by an African slave in the beginning of the XVII century. But this catholic tradition has pre-Hispanic roots, since its origin is related to the god Pachacamac, representing in this sense the most important case of syncretism that resumes all the racial Peru components.
Ocotber Procession
11. Adventures.-
Lima also offers the possibility to practice some open air activities, like trekking, mountain biking, surfing, tandem paraglider flights, and swimming with friendly sea lions. This last experience is part of the tour to the Palomino islands, in front of the port of Callao, while surfing beaches are located long the ‘Costa Verde’, mostly in Miraflores and ‘La Herradura’, a beach in Chorrillos that has a perfect wave. The Lurín valley, in the south of Lima, concentrates the major quantity of adventure sports and camping possibilities.
La Herradura
12. Museums.-
Lima has important museums, where you can appreciate different collections of archaeological pieces, Inca’s golden jewels, textiles and colonial art. But the 2 most peculiar museums are the Larco one, famous for its pre-Hispanic erotic pottery collection, and the Inquisition one, that includes a visit to the tortures chambers in the building’s basement.
Larco Museum
13. Gastronomy.-
One of the best reasons to come to Lima is its gastronomy, considered among the most important in the world, because of the fusion between different traditions: the local one, the Spanish one, the black one, and the Chinese one. The result of the mix of these communities is an incredible variety of dishes and flavours. These are some of the choices you have: The ‘Pachamanca’ (from the quechua words pacha=earth and manca=oven), which is a dish handed down from the Peruvian ancestors as an offering to the mother earth, that includes a variety of meats and vegetables, all of them cooked in an oven excavated in the earth and filled with heated stones; the ‘Cebiche’, raw fish marinated with lemon juice and hot chili pepper considered the national dish; ‘Ají de Gallina’, chicken with a delicious spicy sauce; ‘Papa a la Huancaina’, boiled potatoes covered with a creme made of cheese and chili. A must are the ‘chifas’, or Chinese restaurants, that you can find everywhere, but the most famous are in the boulevard of the local Chinatown. Sea food restaurants are excellent, and the best of them are located in the districts in front of the ocean, like Chorrillos or Callao. There are also very good local deserts and drinks, like the Pisco Sour, a delicious cocktail made of pisco, lemon juice, sugar syrup and egg whites.
Papa Huancaina
14. Nightlife.-
The night in Lima offers lots of possibilities. The most typical places are the ‘Peñas’, where you can enjoy local Afro-Peruvian music with groups of dancers and music bands. One of the districts with more nightlife is Barranco, where you can find any kind of bars and pubs. Miraflores, around the central park, and San Isidro, in the Conquistadores avenue, are other places to have fun late in the night.
15. Surroundings.-
If you are going to spend more than three days in Lima, then you can also discover some of the beautiful places around the city. Marcahuasi is an enigmatic table-land full of natural stone sculptures and little lakes, considered a kind of ritual rain water reservoir. The national reserve of ‘Lomas de Lachay’ is a unique eco-system conformed by desert hills that turn bright green in winter thanks to the condensation of the mist. Churín is a nice village famous for its hot springs. Lunahuaná is a kind of Mecca for adventure sports. In the surroundings you can visit nice beaches, woods, water falls, and pre-Hispanic ruins. These are only some of the places that you can find at some hours from Lima.
Marcahuasi
‘ALL THE FACES OF LIMA’ ONE FULL DAY TOUR
We pick you up from your hotel early in the morning (about 8:30/9:00). We will spend the morning visiting the natural areas of the south of the city and the archaeological site of Pachacamac. Going to the coast for having lunch, we will pass through some shanty towns. Once in Chorrillos, we will enjoy of a sea-food buffet in front of the ocean. After lunch a short repose (30/45’) in the beach is necessary to be ready to continue our journey. Then we will leave Chorrillos through the coast and we will reach the very centre of the modern and residential district of Miraflores, where we will take a coffee at ‘Haiti’, one of the most famous cafes of the city. We will be ready then to go toward the Historic Centre and visit the most interesting places, like the main square, the San Francisco Convent, the old cemetery, and other palaces and churches. When the sun goes down, we will reach the top of the San Cristobal hill and have a panoramic view of the city. Going back to the square, we will visit the oldest bar of the city, the ‘Cordano’, where we will have a Pisco Sour as an aperitif before dinner. Then we will reach Chinatown and we will dine in one of the ‘chifas’ of its boulevard. Leaving the centre after dinner we will enjoy the view of the illuminated old buildings and squares. Then we will address toward Barranco passing by San Isidro and Miraflores, where we will see the illuminated archaeological sites of ‘Huaca Huallamarca’ and ‘Huaca Pucllana’. Once in Barranco we will have a drink at ‘Juanito’, the most famous bohemian bar of the district.
Optional: we can spend the night in one of the many ‘peñas’, where you can appreciate the show and dance with the typical black music of the coast.
WHERE TO STAY.-
Depending on how much you want to spend, we suggest you anyway to stay in the hostels or hotels of San Isidro, Miraflores or Barranco, which are the safest places of the city. There you can find very cheap backpackers hostels and very luxury five stars hotels. The cheapest places cost around US$ 10 by night including breakfast, but if you are lucky you can also find even cheaper hostels. Anyway, if you want to save money, you can also consider the possibility of camping in the Lurin valley, most of all if you are interested on natural environments and open air activities.
USEFUL INFORMATION.-
Weather.- In Lima winter starts in June and ends in October/November, and it is the best period to visit the surroundings and camping, since the hills are still green.
Calendar.- During the first week of March takes place the Adventure Sports Festival at Lunahuaná (170 km south from Lima). The wine festival is in the second week of March in the district of Surco. During the second half of April you can admire the Step Horse Exhibition at Lurín. October is the traditional month, when you can follow the ‘Lord of Miracles’ procession and the bull fight fair. It is already spring and the sun shines a bit.
Time.- Lima time coincides with Eastern Standard Time in the U.S.A.
Electric Current.- 220 v. Major hotels have special 110 v.
Airport taxes.- US$ 28 before leaving Peru and US$ 5 for domestic flights.
‘ONE FULL DAY TOUR’ PRICES.-
Departure: 9:00 a.m. aprox.
Duration: 10 hours aprox.
1 person: US$ 120
2 persons: US$ 70 each
3 persons: US$ 50 each
Tour includes transportation. Doesn’t include meals and tickets.
CONTACT US.-
For further information do not hesitate to write us or call us. We will be glad to program your vacation and solve any of your problems:
insidelima@yahoo.com
Office: + 511.4474358
Mobile: + 511.96919113
