Lima, Peru: Complete Travel Guide + Best Things to Do!
Lima — the vibrant capital of Peru — is a city that often gets overlooked as just a stopover, but it deserves way more attention. We ended up spending a few days here at the end of our Peru trip since our flight home was from Lima, and we were so pleasantly surprised by how much we loved it!
Fun fact: Lima is actually the second-largest city in the world built in a desert, after Cairo in Egypt. What’s wild is that it doesn’t feel like a desert at all — with its stunning Pacific coastline, beaches, and bustling neighborhoods — until you drive just 20 minutes outside the city and the desert landscape suddenly appears.
We spent about 3 days exploring Lima (including a day trip to Paracas and Huacachina), so keep reading for our top things to do and see in Lima, Peru!
Where to Stay in Lima
Most people chose to stay in the neighborhoods of Miraflores or Barranco. We chose to stay in Miraflores and loved it! The location is perfect and in walking distance to almost everything we wanted to do and see. We booked nearly all of our accommodations while traveling on Expedia, so click here to find stays in Miraflores!
How to Get Around Lima
We chose to either walk or use Uber to get around Lima. Ubers were very affordable in the city, but it was really nice to walk whenever we could. Most things within Miraflores are in walking distance, and you even walk from Miraflores to Barranco if you want (we did)!
Best Things to do in Lima
Love Park
Dedalo, Barranco
Kennedy Park
Naval Lighthouse
Huacachina
Isla Balletas
Walk the Malecon (coastal walk) - The Malecon is a beautiful coastal walk along the pacific ocean that goes from Miraflores to Barranco. Along the walk you’ll pass public parks, the Naval Lighthouse, as well as surfers on the beach. We absolutely loved this walk and think it’s a must-do while in Lima!
Day trip to Paracas and Huacachina - Probably our favorite thing we did in Lima! We booked a tour to Paracas and Huacachina and it’s an entire day trip. We left at like 5AM and arrived back at 11pm. Paracas is a seaside town known as the gateway to Isla Balletas, what the locals call “The Galapagos of Peru” where you can do a boat tour and see tons of amazing wildlife like penguins, sea lions, and more! Then we headed to Huacachina which is a desert oasis that made us feel like we were in the movie Dune! On our trip we did dune buggys and sand boarding which was so epic! We highly recommend doing this tour if you’re in Lima, it was amazing!
Kennedy Park - a beautiful park in the center of Miraflores where you can pet stray cats! The park takes care of the cats (there’s houses for them and they are properly fed) and there are even signs to adopt if you’re interested!
Explore Barranco - known as the arts & craft neighborhood of Lima. Here you will find ton of local shops, craft gifts, cafes, restaurants, etc. We loved visiting Dedalo, a craft store in Barranco and Plaza del Armas, the city square.
Check out the Marine Lighthouse - a beautiful, picturesque lighthouse along the Malecon.
Visit the local shops in Miraflores - our favorite was called Pulga, a local thrift/vintage store with amazing items!
Hit up a local market - We passed tons of local markets while walking in Lima. One was along the Malecon and was more of a craft market, and there are tons of food markets as well. If you visit any of the food stands or markets, make sure you try Picarones - local donuts made fresh with spiced syrup!
Book other tours & activities to do in Lima here on Expedia!
Where to Eat & Drink in Lima
La Recontra
Amateur Cafe
Ukaw
vegan salchipapa at Seitan Urban Bistro
La Recontra (Miraflores) - vegan fast food
Seitan Urban Bistro (Miraflores) - vegan Peruvian food
Amateur Cafe (Miraflores) - vegan pastries & coffee
Alter Coffee (Miraflores) - coffee stand
Oiga (Miraflores) - vegan Peruvian food
LALA (Miraflores) - local food & Italian style pizzas
Anonimo Bar (Miraflores) - Speakeasy & delicious cocktails
El Jardin de Jazmin (Miraflores) - vegan
Ukaw Chocolate (Barranco) - cafe
If you want to see everything we did in Lima, make sure to check out our Lima YouTube vlog of our trip!
As always, all opinions are honest and our own. Some links on this post are affiliate links of which we receive a small commission, but the price is the same for you.