Location: San Isidro
Top Things to do in San Isidro
Things to do in Lima, Lima Region: The Best Sights & Landmarks
Lima, founded by Francisco Pizarro in 1535, is a fascinating city and a treasure trove of history. Explore ancient Incan archeological sites, or stroll through the elegant cathedrals and opulent palaces dating from Spanish colonial times. Downtown Lima is crowded, but you'll enjoy exploring the city's neighborhoods—especially the beachfront areas, which have great shopping and dining and fabulous hotels.
Restaurants in Lima
1. Basilica y Monasterio de Santo Domingo
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,418 reviews
Built by Dominican friars in 1549, this Church and Monastery contains the tombs of Santa Martin de Porres and Peru's other famous saint, Santa Rosa de Lima.
Reviewed By 816maksimm
We have visited a tower of the monastery with a private guide working for donation. There is a collection of church bells of different centuries in there, and the view from the tower gives an opportunity to take great panoramas of the Lima!
2. Miraflores
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 15,580 reviews
This beachfront residential district features many of Lima's excellent shops, restaurants, nightspots and first class hotels.
Reviewed By 2017aajaa
Miraflores is a wonderful part of Peru filled with wonderful restaurants and parks to see! Highly recommend visiting Love Park, the Mall on the Cliff, and Kennedy Park, all areas within walking distance. There’s also mutiple markets in the area that sell beautiful souvenirs as well.
3. San Isidro
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,036 reviews
Elegant and charming residential neighborhood located north of Lima features neo-classic architecture, cobblestone streets, excellent dining, good shopping and the Huaca Hallamarma, a restored pre-Inca pyramid that now serves as a small museum of Indian artifacts.
Reviewed By Chinapjs - Washington DC, United States
Half of the foreign embassies are located here and some of Lima's best restaurants and sports clubs. One of the tonier neighborhoods to live in. One of South America's oldest golf clubs is located right in the middle plus two famous churches, a museum or two and a great park full of hundred year old and older Oliver Trees.
4. Pachacamac
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,591 reviews
Located only 31 kilometers from Lima, these ancient ruins are all that remain of an important religious center that was constructed more than 1,000 years before the Inca Empire.
Reviewed By skyejack - Malvern, Australia
The Pachacamac ruins cover a very large site 31 k south of Lima where a town for 20,000 people was built in 700 AD, pre Inca era. It is a sandy desert with several amazing excavations including a rebuilt house of the chosen women, a granary story of huge proportions, a burial site and a sun temple for adoration of the Sun God. Next door but not part of the site is a Private Hacienda with a 1st class Paso Horse stud.
5. Barranco
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 6,773 reviews
Reviewed By Susanorkide - Fredensborg, Denmark
I absolutely loved this bohemian district close to the ocean with a lot of street art, artists and artisans. Barranco has beautiful and old architecture. I was there, on my last day in Lima, January 1, so it was pretty crowded. Nevertheless, I enjoyed to walk around the neighbourhood, and it’s definitely worth a visit.
6. Centro Historico de Lima
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 5,021 reviews
Lima's downtown center, with its breathtaking architecture and rich history, makes it clear why it deserves to be a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Reviewed By RGSOUNDF - Mercerville, United States
Lima is a huge city. The greater Lima's population exceeds the one of New York City, by a couple million people. However, if you are an average typical visitor to the city, the chances are that you will be staying either in Miraflores or Barranco, and if you came to Lima for business you may be staying in the upscale San-Isidro district (the latter is the home of the famed haute-cuisine restaurant Astrid y Gaston). For a great architecture and interwoven layers of history, you got to head to the Historical Center of Lima. The "centro historico" of Lima is great for a sightseeing tour, anywhere from 2 to 3 hours. It is about 8 city blocks wide and 8 to 9 city blocks long. In the north it ends by Rimac river, next to the Palacio de Gobierno del Perú; in the south it is Plaza San-Martin, Monserrate neighborhood to the west and Barrios Altos in the east. Outside of the confines of the Historical Center, there is not that much to do nor see, these are definitely not "tourist areas" with many if not most of the buildings demonstrating neglect, urban decay or even abject poverty. Particularly exercise prudence and caution when venturing to the east of Plazuela San-Francisco; crossing Avenida Abancay will take you to Barrios Altos, not a neighborhood best-suited for solo walks, especially after sunset. We would recommend you start your tour with Plaza San-Martin (equestrian statue of General San-Martin, the Liberator of Peru and historic Hotel Bolivar) and take a pedestrian shopping street Jirón de la Unión. The shopping per se might not be alluring to a visitor from the US or European countries, for most of the stores look like dollar stores, but there are beautiful colonial-looking houses with their Moorish ornate wooden carved balconies, beautiful Republican buildings (built after Peru gained its independence in 1826) of Beaux-Arts or even Art-Nouveau styles (the latter represented by Casa E. Courret), centuries-old churches and historical monuments. While walking up Jirón de la Unión towards Plaza Mayor, don't miss the Iglesia de la Merced, with some of its parts dating back to the first half of the XVIth century, and the monument to Ramon Castilla, three-times president of Peru in the XIXth century, across from the Iglesia de la Merced, in front of the very interesting building now housing Oechsle electronic store. Next, Plaza Mayor (alternatively known by its previous name Plaza de Armas) offers a concentration of main landmarks of downtown Lima, some are several centuries old and some are stylized in the 1930s and 1940s to look like colonial buildings, such as Palacio de la Unión, Palacio Municipal de Lima, Archbishop's Palace of Lima, Cathedral Basilica of Lima, and Palacio de Gobierno del Perú. From the latter, take a look at Rimac river (or rather what is left of it; nowadays it resembles a half dried up creek with muddy waters). The sort of embankment along it, on the Historical Center side, Alameda Chabuca Granda features many a souvenir shop. Heading back south, don't miss a fantastic covered arcade, with respective entrances on either Jirón Camaná or Jirón de la Unión, surprisingly reminiscent of Parisian passages couverts. We believe it is called (or referred to) as Casa de Correos y Telegrafos Covered Arcade. The area surrounding Plaza Mayor, to the north, presents another pedestrian shopping street Jirón Ancash. We stopped by the wonderful tiny URQU Coffee Shop offering 100% famous Peruvian coffee. Generally speaking, most of the food outlets in the area are definitely not the fine dining establishments LIma is so famous for; they are either fast food or quite down-to-earth eateries. Jirón Ancash starts with Casa de la Literatura Peruana (Peru numbers many great writers, among them a Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa) and opens on the amazing Iglesia de San Francisco de Asís with its famous catacombs and picturesque Plazuela San Francisco. The area to the east of Plaza Mayor includes the shopping streets Jirón Camaná, Jirón Callao, and Jirón Conde de Superunda; the latter offers yet another beautiful cathedral, the pinkish-colored imposing Convento de Santo Domingo. Walking back south down Jirón Camaná don't miss the Convent of San Agustin de Lima with its fantastic facade. Now, of course, there is so much more to the Historical Center of Lima, museums, distinguished houses (XVIth century Casa de Aliaga, on the corner of Alameda Chabuca Granda and Jirón de la Unión, Casa Mendoza on Jirón Ancash, and magnificent Casa de Osambela on Jirón Conde de Superunda, among others) and other worthy points of sightseeing interest, however, to see it all will mandate a dedicated tour of downtown of 2 days or more. To sum it all up: the Historical Center of Lima should be on your top list of priorities when visiting this unparalleled City of Kings.
7. Plaza San Martin
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 785 reviews
Reviewed By hsmomtravels - Vancouver, Canada
General Jose San Martin stands tall and proud upon his horse at the center of this beautiful square. He declared Peru's independence in 1821. Colonial-style buildings surround this square, including Gran Hotel Bolivar - named after Simon Bolivar, another liberator of South America.
8. Antioquia
9. Callao
10. Puente de Piedra
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