Lima

Altitude: Sea level
Best time to visit: All Year

Lima, the capital of modern Peru, – known in colonial times as “The City of Kings”–is more than just a gateway to Peru’s fascinating Andes Mountains and Amazon basin. Sitting on top of a cliff overlooking a bay on the Pacific Ocean, the buildings and skyscrapers of modern Lima mix with the colonial palaces and churches of its glorious past making for a colorful and exuberant urban environment. Like its inhabitants, Lima is an intriguing and exotic mixture of races, styles, cultures and traditions. With world-class cuisine, a UNESCO World Heritage City Center, spectacular museums, pre-Inca pyramids scattered throughout the metropolis and a picturesque neighborhood steeped in history, Lima is a city transformed in the 20th century by the massive immigration particularly from the high Andes. As a result of this, it has adopted at present a new diverse and multicultural identity in permanent evolution,

The adventure to Peru is incomplete without a tour of Lima, the fourth largest city in South America, home to a third of Peru’s population, and the hub of culture, politics, and society in this amazing country. Districts such as Lima Centro, Miraflores, and Barranco have distinctive characteristics and flavors, and they each bear the influence of longtime residents as well as newer arrivals, whether internal migrants from Peru or immigrants from abroad. Exploration of these neighborhoods transports visitors around the world and between old and new.

Lima’s city streets buzz with energy, seaside walkways invite leisurely strolls, and terraces with views to the Pacific Ocean are ideal perches from which to enjoy a Pisco sour just as the sun is setting. Travel to Lima to enjoy of its many and diverse offerings. Foodies will delight in Peruvian cuisine, regarded as among the world’s best. Archaeology lovers will have an unending list of places to explore. Art fanatics can visit museums around the city that house outstanding collections of pre- and post-Columbian art and artifacts. Lima offers visitors a unique cultural experience.