Top Things to Do in Lima

The Wall Street Journal has ranked Lima Peru as one of the world's top cities to visit. Although it just barely made the list at the final rank, you can expect the rising trend of popularity to continue thanks to a host of factors, including a lauded and innovative cuisine and an architectural jumble of modern highrises and colonial buildings dotted with the odd pre-Columbian pyramid shrine.

Unfortunately, many travelers to Peru hop over Lima in their eagerness to fit in all the country's mega-attractions such as Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, and the Nazca Lines. If you're considering making space in your itinerary for a more leisurely exploration, than Lima's overlooked curiosities might be for you.

Our top suggestions are as follows:

Visit San Francisco Monastery

Throughout Peru, a plethora of colonial churches will be vying for your attention. Prioritize the well-preserved San Francisco Monastery. Surrounded by pigeons, this baroque monastery includes a lavishly decorated church, an intriguing library of ancient religious texts, and catacombs which served as Lima's primary cemetery during the colonial epoch. An estimated 75,000 bodies have been interred there, with many of the remains decoratively arranged in circular stone pits. It's open from 9:30am-5:45pm and has an admission fee of about US$2. Tours last about an hour.

Browse the Larco Museum

The best museum in Lima is the privately-owned Larco Museum. Although best known for its collection of erotic ceramics and for allowing visitors access to its store rooms, the library is actually a worldwide authority on the pre-Columbian cultures of the region, lending pieces from its considerable collection to museums all around the world. At the Larco, you can explore 3,000 years of artifacts providing valuable insight into the country's ancient cultures, such as the Moche, Chimú, and Inca. These include textiles, precious metals, stonework, ceramics, and mummies. Although the admission fee is relatively steep at US$11.50, if you are only going to visit one museum in Peru, make it the Larco.

Walk along the Malecón in Miraflores and Barranco

The Malecón is a six-mile walkway which traces along the edge of the city's green cliffs, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. As you walk or bike along the walkway, you will come across famous statues, many parks, the jump-off point for tandem parasailing, and the high-end Larcomar mall and food court. Finally, you'll reach picturesque Barranco district, with its bridge of sighs, near which the path finally and scenically leads down to the sea.