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Best Things To Do in Lima, Peru

Going to Peru? Here’s our guide to the best things to do in Lima Peru, so you don’t miss any of the highlights! Read below for all our Peru travel tips.

Lima Peru

How many days to spend in Lima Peru?

Two days is enough to see the main highlights in Lima Peru. But if you have a third day, I have a fun day trip recommendation for you at the end of this post. You’ll visit an actual, real-life oasis in the middle of the desert, take a high-speed dune-buggy ride, sand board down the dunes, and even get to see penguins and sea lions.

Lima Peru

Park of Love

The Park of Love (Parque del Amor) is a small park dedicated to lovers that offers a panoramic view over the Pacific Ocean and the cliffs of Lima Peru.

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Lima Peru

The curved, mosaic benches overlooking the ocean were seriously giving me some Barcelona vibes!

Lima Peru

Larcomar

Larcomar is an outdoor, high-end shopping mall built into the sea cliffs in Lima Peru. There are many outdoor restaurants with views overlooking the ocean, and even a movie theatre and a bowling alley. It’s worth visiting even if just for the view! It’s where I took the first picture in the post. From here it’s about a 15 minute walk to the Park of Love, overlooking the ocean the entire way.

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Lima Peru

Black Sand Beach

Near the Park of Love, there’s a path down to the beach. The sand is black! I had to see it for myself.

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Lima Peru

Miraflores Lighthouse

From the Park of Love, you can continue walking through the Antonio Raimondi Park to the Miraflores Lighthouse. It’s a very nice walk. Along the way there’s a striking overlook of the cliffs and the lighthouse.

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Lima Peru

You can continue walking along the cliff’s edge to reach the lighthouse.

From here, I took a cab to to the historic district of Lima Peru. With traffic, it took about 30 minutes and the price was 20 soles. Always be sure to ask the price before getting in a taxi and always negotiate! My taxi back to this area was also 20 soles, but I had to negotiate a lot harder for the price on the way back. Don’t be afraid to walk away from the first taxi if they don’t want to accept your price — you’ll find another taxi in less than 2 seconds. I seriously think every car I saw in Lima was a cab!

Lima Peru

Historic District of Lima Peru

The historic district of Lima Peru is a UNESCO World Heritage site. I had my cab drop me at Plaza San Martín, a park with a large monument of José de San Martín in the middle. From here you can walk down the Jirón de la Unión (Union Street) to the main square of Lima Peru.

Lima Peru

Jirón de la Unión (Union Street)

Union Street is a pedestrian walking street in the Historic Center. It was once one of the most important, aristocratic boulevards of the city and the meeting-point for the most affluent citizens. Now it’s filled with souvenir shops and fast food restaurants, but the old architecture is still there. This building reminded me of the Antoni Gaudí style we saw all over Barcelona.

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Lima Peru

Plaza Mayor de Lima Peru (Main Square)

Plaza Mayor is the heart of the historical district, and is known as the birthplace of Lima Peru. There’s a large fountain in the center and the plaza is surrounded by palaces on all sides — the Archbishop’s Palace, the Government Palace, the Municipal Palace and the Cathedral of Lima.

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Lima Peru
Plaza Mayor in Lima Peru

Lima Peru

Basílica de San Francisco

Just two blocks away from the main square is this Baroque-style Roman Catholic church & monastery.

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Lima Peru

Park La Muralla

Right behind the church is a park with an overlook of the colorful houses of San Cristobal in Lima Peru.

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Paracas & Huacachina Day Trip from Lima Peru

Huacachina Peru — Day Trip from Lima Peru.

How amazing is this real-life oasis in the middle of the desert in Peru??

I’m the kind of person who likes to get up early and spend all day outside exploring a new city. After two days in Lima Peru, I had seen most of the hotspots. So on my last day, I booked a day trip from Lima to Paracas and Huacachina.

Huacachina Peru — Day Trip from Lima Peru.

How to Get There

Originally I wanted to go with Peru Hop, but their tour didn’t get back until 11:45 PM. Normally this would be fine, but I had a 1 AM flight back to the United States. I wouldn’t be able to get to the airport in time. In hindsight, I should’ve gone the previous day, but I didn’t realize I would be “done” with Lima Peru after only 2 days. This day trip was a total last minute decision, but I’m so, so, SO glad I went!!

I ended up booking with Quality Vacations. I just stopped by their office the morning before I wanted to go. They were in the same building as the Peru Hop tour office and offered the exact same tour, but their tour got back at 10:30 PM. That would give me just enough time to make my flight if I brought my luggage with me and went straight to the airport after the tour. Plus their tour was only $80 USD — the exact same Peru Hop tour was $120 USD.

Even though I booked with Quality Vacations, the actual tour company that I went with was called Travel Picaflor Peru. They also have an office in Miraflores, and you may could book directly with them. But I didn’t have any problems with Quality Vacations, and I would recommend them. But I don’t know if it would be cheaper if you booked directly with Travel Picaflor Peru?

Huacachina Peru — Day Trip from Lima Peru.

After reaching the oasis, we took a high-speed adventure dune buggy ride through the steep dunes of the desert. SO much fun!!

After what was practically a rollercoaster ride through the desert, we arrived to the top of one of the steepest, highest dunes… Watch the video to see what we got to do next!!!

Huacachina Peru — Day Trip from Lima Peru.

Wear Sunglasses!

I wasn’t wearing any and I got SO much sand in my eyes as it was flying everywhere on the high-speed dune buggy ride!

Huacachina Peru — Day Trip from Lima Peru.

Our day trip also included a visit to the seaside town of Paracas. Here we took a boat tour around the Ballestas Islands where we saw sea lions and penguins.

Huacachina Peru — Day Trip from Lima Peru.

Sit on the LEFT side of the boat!

The best views are on the left side, and while they sometimes turned the boat so the people on the right side could see, they didn’t always. Best to just be on the left side to start!

Huacachina Peru — Day Trip from Lima Peru.

On the way to the islands you’ll see a prehistoric geoglyph of a candelabra carved into the side of a cliff.

Huacachina Peru — Day Trip from Lima Peru.

This was such a fun day trip from Lima Peru, and I’m so glad I went. It’s a lot of time on the bus, but the bus was very comfortable, and I slept almost the entire time on the bus.

Be sure to bring plenty of water, sunscreen, and something to eat for breakfast.


Hotels in Lima Peru

Wyndham Costa del Sol Lima Airport

Most people who visit Peru fly into Lima, but then immediately go to Cusco. Flights from the United States generally arrive to Lima Peru late in the evening, and the next flight to Cusco isn’t until the morning. It’s very common to see people sleeping on the floor at the Jorge Chavez International Airport.

But there’s a much better option. The Wyndham Costa del Sol Lima Airport is directly connected to the airport. There’s a covered walkway connecting the airport and the hotel, so you don’t even have to go outside. Our room (above) literally overlooked the check-in counters at the airport. It’s so close to the airport you’ll be able to check in and get to your room as soon as possible and sleep in as late as possible!

The the rooms and bathrooms are very nice and clean and the bed was super comfy! Highly recommend the Wyndham Costa del Sol Lima Airport if you have an overnight layover at the Lima Peru airport.


Best Area to Stay in Lima Peru

The best place to stay in Lima Peru is definitely the Miraflores area. I booked an Airbnb on Av 28 de Julio. It was within walking distance to everything in the Miraflores district, and right across the street from a market where I could buy water and snacks. I stayed in an entire apartment with a private doorman, huge bedroom, bathroom, living room, dining room, and kitchen for half the price of a hotel.

Join Airbnb using this link to get $40 off your first booking.

A taxi from the airport to Miraflores should cost 40 soles. The official price inside the airport is 60 soles, but if you negotiate with one of the taxis outside you can get it for less.


Did I miss your favorite thing to do in Lima Peru? Let me know in the comments!

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11 Responses
  1. nidhi

    Everything you did was close to Lima airport. Not sure why did you fly to curso based on this iternary. Also you did do Amazon and Macha pichu.

  2. Courtney

    Hi We are booking flights and want to clarify, should we be flying into Lima and then going to Cusco? or did you guys fly into Lima and stay?

    1. Amanda

      We flew into Lima, spent the night at the airport hotel, then took a super early flight to Cusco the next morning! We would’ve gone straight to Cusco had that been an option. Have a great trip!

  3. Sam

    Im heading to Peru in November, and we want to do the same day trip you did on our last day. Did they allow you to bring your luggage on the bus? And where did that drop you off at the end of the tour? just curious so we don’t miss our flight back home. Thank you!

    1. Amanda

      Yes they did allow me to bring my luggage onto the bus. The bus wasn’t full for my tour, and my luggage had to go in the seat next to me, so if it’s a full tour it might be more complicated. You probably want to double check with them the day before the tour to make sure they’ll have room. The bus dropped us off the same place they picked us up, at the Larcomar Mall. Hope this helps, have a great trip!

  4. Natasha

    Hello! Did you visit Huaca Pucllana or Indian Market in Miraflores? Is it worth it to visit? We have 1 full day in Lima and then on the return from Cusco we have 1/2 day in Lima before flying out the next morning.

    1. Amanda

      HI Natasha! We went to the Indian Market in Miraflores and I wasn’t super impressed. The best market in Peru was in Pisac! I wanted to go to Huaca Pucllana but didn’t have time. Have a great trip!

    1. Amanda

      We stayed at an Airbnb in Lima, but you can look up hotel prices on Google or TripAdvisor! Have a great trip!

    1. Amanda

      Hi Jana! I did everything in Lima on my own, but for the day trip to Paracas & Huacachina I went with a tour. Hope this helps! :)

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Meet Kevin & Amanda

Kevin and Amanda

We love to travel and to eat! Here we share our favorite quick and easy recipes, plus travel tips and guides for our favorite places around the world. If you have any questions about what camera I use or how I edit my photos, check out my photography tutorials.

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