Top 10 Things to Do in Lima That Don't Involve Machu Picchu Planning
Here's what happens to Lima: people fly in, sleep one night in Miraflores, and take a morning flight to Cusco for Machu Picchu. They treat South America's culinary capital like an airport with hotels.
This is a mistake on the scale of flying through Paris to get to Disneyland.
Lima has two of the world's top 10 restaurants. The ceviche is life-changing. You can paraglide off Pacific cliffs. Pre-Incan pyramids sit in the middle of residential neighborhoods. And the bohemian Barranco district has street art, nightlife, and a sunset that makes you forget you were planning to leave.
Stop treating Lima as a layover. Here are 10 reasons to stay.
1. Eat Ceviche at La Mar (But Only at Lunch)
Lima's signature dish: raw fish cured in lime juice with aji peppers, red onion, cilantro, and sweet potato. La Mar, by celebrity chef Gaston Acurio, does the best version I've found — $35-50 PEN (~$10-14 USD) per plate.
Critical detail: La Mar is open for lunch only, 12-5PM. This is not a quirk of the restaurant — it's Peruvian culture. Ceviche is a daytime food. Raw fish. Fresh. No serious Peruvian eats ceviche for dinner.
Alternative: El Mercado by Rafael Osterling ($30-45 PEN). Budget: Surquillo Market cevicherias ($12-18 PEN for a plate that would cost $30+ in any other context).
Pair with a pisco sour. Always.
2. Walk the Miraflores Malecon at Sunset
10 km of clifftop walkway overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Free. The parks along the malecon — Parque del Amor (with its Gaudi-inspired mosaic benches and a massive sculpture of two lovers kissing) and Parque Maria Reiche — catch the sunset in a way that genuinely stops people mid-step.
Rent a bike ($10-15 PEN/hour) and ride from Miraflores to Barranco along the coastal path. The sky turns pink and orange over the Pacific and the paragliders are still in the air at golden hour. It's the most photogenic free activity in the city.
3. Paraglide Off the Cliffs
Tandem paragliding from the Miraflores cliffs: $80-120 USD for a 10-15 minute flight. You launch from a park, soar over the coastline, and see the city from an angle that explains why the Spanish colonizers chose this spot.
No experience needed. The pilots do all the work. You just hold on and try to stop screaming long enough to look at the view.
Multiple operators set up along the malecon. Bargain a little — prices are flexible. Best in the afternoon when thermal winds are strongest.
4. Wander Barranco After Dark
Lima's bohemian quarter. Colorful colonial houses. Street art on every wall. The Bridge of Sighs (Puente de los Suspiros) — a wooden bridge where tradition says you should hold your breath while crossing and make a wish.
During the day, galleries and cafes line Avenida Pedro de Osma. At night, the neighborhood transforms. Ayahuasca Bar is inside a restored mansion — cocktails ($25-35 PEN) served in rooms decorated with vintage furniture and taxidermy. Penas (traditional music bars, $20-30 PEN cover) have live Peruvian folk music.
Allow half a day exploring plus an evening. This is my favorite neighborhood in Lima.
5. See a 1,500-Year-Old Pyramid in the Middle of a Neighborhood
Huaca Pucllana is a pre-Incan adobe pyramid — 1,500 years old — sitting in the middle of Miraflores like someone forgot to build condos on it.
Day tours: $15 PEN (~$4 USD). Night tours (Wed-Sun 7-10PM): $15 PEN. The night tours are far more atmospheric — dramatic lighting makes the clay brick structure glow against the dark sky.
The on-site restaurant, Restaurante Huaca Pucllana, serves upscale Peruvian cuisine with the illuminated ruins as your backdrop. Reservations essential. $80-150 PEN per person. It's expensive by Lima standards but dining next to a pre-Incan pyramid under the stars is a specific luxury.
6. Tour the Historic Center and Its Catacombs
Lima's UNESCO-listed Plaza Mayor has the Government Palace (changing of the guard daily at noon, free), the Cathedral of Lima ($15 PEN), and colonial-era buildings with ornate wooden balconies.
But the real draw: the Monastery of San Francisco ($15 PEN). The underground catacombs hold an estimated 25,000 skeletal remains — bones arranged in circular patterns in dark chambers. It's eerie and fascinating.
Open daily 9AM-8:15PM. 30 minutes from Miraflores by taxi ($15-20 PEN). Visit in the morning — the Historic Center is less comfortable after dark.
7. Eat at Central (If You Can)
Ranked #1 in the world by the World's 50 Best Restaurants (2023). Chef Virgilio Martinez's tasting menu ($750-950 PEN, ~$200-250 USD) takes you through Peru's ecosystems — each course sourced from a different altitude, from Pacific Ocean seafood to Andean grains to Amazonian fruits.
Book 2-3 months ahead at centralrestaurante.com.pe. Lunch is slightly easier to book than dinner. This is a once-in-a-lifetime meal, and I don't use that phrase casually.
If Central is booked: Maido ($400-600 PEN tasting menu, Nikkei cuisine — Japanese-Peruvian fusion) is ranked #5 in the world. Also exceptional.
8. Drink Pisco Sour at Its Birthplace
Peru's national cocktail: pisco, lime juice, simple syrup, egg white, and Angostura bitters. The egg white is essential — it creates the foam. Never ask to skip it.
Hotel Bolivar on Plaza San Martin is called the "Cathedral of Pisco" — it claims to be the cocktail's birthplace. The bar has old-world grandeur and pisco sours for $20-25 PEN.
Also excellent: Gran Hotel Miraflores and Ayahuasca in Barranco.
Never call it a Chilean pisco sour in Peru. That's a genuine insult. The Peru-Chile pisco rivalry is real and deeply felt.
9. Explore Surquillo Market Like a Chef
This is where Lima's top chefs shop. Not a tourist market — a working market where ceviche ingredients come from.
Walk through the seafood section (the variety of fish is staggering), the fruit aisles (try lucuma, cherimoya, and camu camu), and the ceviche stalls in the back. A plate of market ceviche ($12-18 PEN) is made in front of you with fish that was swimming hours ago.
Pair with a glass of chicha morada (purple corn drink, $3-5 PEN) — refreshing, sweet, and uniquely Peruvian.
Surquillo is a 10-minute walk from Miraflores. Open daily from 6AM.
10. Catch Sunset at Costa Verde
The stretch of coast below the Miraflores cliffs, accessible by a road that descends from the neighborhood, has beach bars and restaurants right on the water.
Watching the sun drop into the Pacific while eating anticuchos (beef heart skewers, $5-8 PEN) at a casual spot along Costa Verde is the most Lima thing you can do.
The beach itself is pebbly and the water is cold (16-19°C year-round, thanks to the Humboldt Current). Surfers don't care. You'll see them riding waves while the sun sets behind them.
Pro Tips
Stay in Miraflores or Barranco. Both are safe, walkable day and night. The Historic Center is for day visits only.
Use Uber, Beat, or inDrive. Never take unmarked taxis. Miraflores to Barranco: $8-12 PEN.
Lima's garua fog (May-November) is gloomy but doesn't rain. Pack layers.
Altitude is not a factor. Lima is at sea level — no acclimatization needed.
Budget: You can eat world-class food at every price point. Street anticuchos: $5 PEN. Market ceviche: $12 PEN. Top-10-in-the-world tasting menu: $800 PEN. The range is extraordinary.
