Best things to do in Lima – 3 incredible districts
Best things to do in Lima – 3 incredible districts
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If you plan to visit Peru, include 1 to 2 days to explore at least these 3 nice districts of Lima! Although Lima is mostly cloudy from April until October, these months are the driest in the Cusco area, Lima has some really nice things to offer: Cute cafés, huge wall paintings and houses in different colors. Lima is the 5th biggest city of South America and the only capital facing the ocean! Keep in mind, that some districts in Lima aren’t save for tourists to walk around! We recommend to book a hotel or hostel in the beautiful and save Miraflores district. From there, you can easily explore the cafés in Miraflores, as well as two other nice and save districts Barranco and Surquillo. Below we listed all the different things to do in these 3 districts.
The district Miraflores
Miraflores is a beautiful big, most modern part of the city. Here you will find all the top hotels and best places to eat. It has a beautiful boardwalk with great views out over the coast. Have a look at all the old VW busses and cars! You can easily take an Uber from your hotel to the coastline or you plan a longer walk.
1. Walk around the streets and check out the nice cafés
Miraflores is full of nice cafés and restaurants. Since the ocean is pretty close, there are a lot of fine dining fish restaurants like Barra Maretazo. We are both vegan, so here are our favorite cafés with vegan options:
Raw Café Independencia
The Raw Café, located in the heart of Miraflores, is our absolutely favorite restaurant in Lima! The menu consists of different bowls and smoothies for breakfast, as well as savory bowls for lunch and dinner. They also have a huge selection of vegan cheese cake! The restaurant is open from 9am to 7pm. We loved the jungle design and the tempeh was soo ahh-mazing!!
El Pan de la Chola Dasso
Our favorite bakery and breakfast café in Miraflores is definitely El Pan de la Chola! It’s THE place where locals get their banana bread after running or simply meet for breakfast with their family or friends. Caution, there are two “El Pan de la Chola” in Miraflores. The first one is only their bakery, the bread and the croissants looked delicious there, but you can only order for to go at the moment. The main café, where you can sit down, is located a little further away in Dasso. So make sure you search for Dasso on maps!
Neira Café Lab
Another cute café in Miraflores. They also sell the croissants from El Pan de la Chola. It’s also a go to place for the locals in the morning after running, walking their dog or just for meeting with friends.
2. La Marina Lighthouse
You can’t leave Miraflores without visiting the coastline, it’s one of the most beautiful areas in Lima. Lima sits on 161m above sea level, due to the high cliffs meeting the coastline. The lighthouse is located on top of these cliffs and the view down to the ocean and all the surfers is amazing! The parks around the lighthouse and the cliffs are really beautiful and a nice place to relax escaping the hustling traffic. This place is open 24 hours.
3. El Parque Del Amor
After a 10 minute walk from La Marina Lighthouse you will reach El Parque del Amor. Walk along the curved walls with colorful mosaic stones and enjoy the view of the ocean. From there you can perfectly see the surfers! The park is open from 7am – 11pm.
4. Huaca Pucllana
In the middle of the modern Miraflores district sits an ancient adobe and clay pyramid, dating from around 500 CE. It was built by a Pre-Incan indigenous coastal civilization that lasted in the region from around 100 CE to 650 CE. Surrounded by a desert climate, the early cultures created sprawling networks to carry much-needed water from springs and rivers to the towns. The Lima culture was overtaken by the Wari culture around 700 CE. Under the Wari, Huaca Pucllana held significance primarily as a burial site. The west half was a ceremonial sector, containing the 22-meter-high pyramid and used for religious rites.
The entry fee is 12 soles per person and it’s open from 9am to 3:15pm. At the moment you have to book your tickets online several days in advance!
5. Go surfing!
Yes, it’s a thing to go surfing in Lima, for tourists as well as for locals! We saw so many surfers in the water and the waves looked pretty nice for beginners! There are several surf schools for beginners, but also for advanced surfers. However the water in September is pretty cold (around 17 degree), you will need a full body wetsuit.
6. Rent a bike
You can easily get an Uber via the app to get from the center of Miraflores to the coastline, it’s totally save. But you can also rent a bike, it’s the perfect way to really soak in the area. If your hotel doesn’t provide rental bikes, you can go here: Estación Bici Market Cafe. You can also grab a coffee there ;).
7. Stay in Miraflores
We stayed at the Selina hostel in Miraflores, they have a nice café / restaurant on the ground floor. However the rooms were pretty simple and very cold, because they only had metal cassettes to close the window opening. But there are many affordable hotels in this area, just look on booking which one has a discount at the moment.
The district Barranco
Known as the SoHo of Lima, Barranco is one of the city’s hippest neighborhoods, with colorful street art, tucked away bars and coffee shops, vibrant old mansions and summer houses, beautiful museums, delicious food, and plenty of bohemian vibes. The huge wall paintings give a great contrast to the grey cloudy sky and you find art everywhere.
1. Puente de los Suspiros
The perfect start for exploring the Barranco district might be the bridge Puente de los Suspiros. From there you can walk North through the whole Barranco district. Around the bridge you already find several paintings, as well as yellow painted churches. Unfortunately a lot of these beautiful old buildings are not well preserved, the church hadn’t a closed roof anymore.
2. Hunting for wall paintings and colorful houses
Being one of the most trendy neighborhoods in Lima, Barranco was once a fishing village outside the city borders of Lima. The area was once known as a spa resort for locals and foreigners of the upper middle class. For those who could afford building a splendid, white or colorful villa in colonial style. Wooden ornate stucco, wooden porches and high ceilings give this district its charm. Lima got bigger and bigger and at some point Lima swallowed the small fishing village. Nevertheless, Barranco developed to a popular artists’ quarter. Walk around and search for all the different wall paintings, detailed villas, old cars and plants on the balconies.
3. Cafés
Of course Barranco has some really great cafés, too! Here you can find the best coffee and pastry! We listed our favorites below, but there are a lot more for sure!
Colonia & Co
Colonia & Co is such a cute café arranged in a modern and boho mix. It’s open from 8am to 8pm.
La Bodega Verde
La Bodega Verde is a green Winery in the Barranco district with a nice outdoor area.
The district Surquillo
Surquillo was founded in colonial times as a suburb for the indios, the indigenous people of South America. Surquillo today is mostly a lower-middle class district, full of small businesses, especially hardware shops, building material supplies and many fresh markets. At the border to Miraflores, you will find the Surquillo Market N°1, where you can buy fresh fruits and veggies, meat, fish and everything needed for a good meal. The surrounding small shops offer anything from household items to clothes.
1. Mercado de Surquillo N°1
Walk through the big hall of the Surquillo market N°1 and wonder about the draped fruit and vegetable stalls. There are different streets for different food. It’s save to walk around in Surquillo, but keep an eye on your belongings, especially at crowded markets.
How to get around? What about savety?
Before you go to Lima search for a map online, showing which districts are save and which are not! For example the district around the airport is classified as “not save” on these maps. Miraflores, Barranco and Surquillo are totally save to walk around. Only visit the classified save areas! When you arrive by plane at the airport, go to the certified Green Taxi company inside the airport building, and book a taxi to Miraflores. You can also book a good rated Uber driver, but it’s not recommended to go with any of the taxi drivers who speaks to you while walking out of the airport building. Also take a taxi directly at the airport, don’t walk around in this district.
In Miraflores, Barranco or Surquillo you can easily book an Uber, it’s very common here. However we also highly recommend to rent a bike or to explore these districts by foot!
Best time to visit?
The weather in Lima is largely determined by the Humboldt Current, which flows off the Peruvian coast. Therefore the average temperature is really high throughout the year. We visited Peru in September, had perfect weather in Cusco, Machu Picchu and Huaraz, but a grey cloudy sky in Lima at the coast.
December to March – The warmer season
Mostly clear sky, almost no rain, hot sun, around 25 degree, hottest month is February, good for swimming, water temperature around 20 degree. Unfortunately it’s the rainy season for the Cusco and Huaraz area and Machu Picchu.
June to Oktober – The colder season
Drizzling rain in the morning, the sky is mostly cloudy and grey, coldest month is August, around 18 degree but cold high humidity, you need a jacket, water temperature around 17 degree. This is the best season for Cusco, Huaraz and Machu Picchu, because the likelihood of rain and cloudy skies is really low. Depending on your itinerary for Peru you will most likely visit Peru in these months for better weather in the mountains.
Is it expensive?
Peru isn’t as expensive as for example Costa Rica or Germany. You can still find very affordable hotels and restaurants in Lima. The gourmet fish restaurants obviously are expensive, but the popular cafés like Raw Café or Pan de la Chola are still cheaper than German standards.
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