Must-see attractions in Lima

  • The Larco Museum in Lima, Peru

    Museo Larco

    Lima

    In an 18th-century viceroy’s mansion, this museum offers one of the largest, best-presented displays of ceramics in Lima. Founded by pre-Columbian…

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    Iglesia de Santo Domingo

    Lima

    One of Lima’s most historic religious sites, the Iglesia de Santo Domingo and its expansive convent are built on land granted to the Dominican friar…

  • Fountain at night in Park of the Reserve, Lima

    El Circuito Mágico del Agua

    Lima

    This indulgent series of illuminated fountains is so over the top it can’t help but induce stupefaction among even the most hardened travel cynic. A dozen…

  • Fundación Museo Amano

    Lima

    The well-designed Fundación Museo Amano features a fine private collection of ceramics, with a strong representation of wares from the Chimú and Nazca…

  • Peru, Lima, Museo de Arte, facade

    Museo de Arte de Lima

    Lima

    Known locally as MALI, Lima’s principal fine-art museum is housed in a striking beaux-arts building that was renovated in 2015. Subjects range from pre…

  • Monumental Callao

    Lima

    Superstar graffiti artists are helping to revive the rough neighborhood surrounding Casa Ronald, a 1920 architectural masterpiece. Now a center for…

  • Interior of La Catedral de Lima

    La Catedral de Lima

    Lima

    Next to the Palacio Arzobispal, the cathedral resides on the plot of land that Pizarro designated for the city’s first church in 1535. Though it retains a…

  • Plaza San Martín

    Lima

    Built in the early 20th century, Plaza San Martín has come to life in recent years as the city has set about restoring its park and giving the surrounding…

  • Museo de Oro del Perú

    Lima

    The now notorious Museo de Oro del Perú, a private museum, was a Lima must-see until 2001, when a study revealed that 85% of the museum’s metallurgical…

  • Iglesia de la Merced

    Lima

    The first Latin Mass in Lima was held in 1534 on a small patch of land now marked by the Iglesia de la Merced. Originally built in 1541, it was rebuilt…

  • Monasterio de San Francisco

    Lima

    This bright-yellow Franciscan monastery and church is most famous for its bone-lined catacombs (containing an estimated 70,000 remains) and its remarkable…

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    Palacio de Gobierno

    Lima

    To the northeast of Plaza de Armas is the block-long Palacio de Gobierno, a grandiose baroque-style building from 1937 that serves as the residence of…

  • Fortaleza del Real Felipe

    Lima

    In the 1820s the Spanish royalists made their last stand during the battle for independence at this historic fort, which was built in 1747 to guard…

  • Plaza de Armas

    Lima

    Lima’s 140-sq-meter Plaza de Armas, also called the Plaza Mayor, was not only the heart of the 16th-century settlement established by Francisco Pizarro,…

  • Iglesia de las Nazarenas

    Lima

    One of Lima’s most storied churches was part of a 17th-century shantytown inhabited by former slaves. One of them painted an image of the Crucifixion on a…

  • Iglesia de San Agustín

    Lima

    This church has an elaborate churrigueresque facade (completed in 1720), replete with stone carvings of angels, flowers, fruit and, of course, St…

  • Huaca Pucllana

    Lima

    Located near the Óvalo Gutiérrez, this huaca is a restored adobe ceremonial center from the Lima culture that dates back to AD 400. In 2010 an important…

  • Panteón de los Próceres

    Lima

    Located inside a little-visited 18th-century Jesuit church, this monument pays tribute to Peruvian battle heroes, from Túpac Amaru II, the 18th-century…

  • Lugar de la Memoria

    Lima

    An ambitious state project to preserve the memory of victims of violence during Peru's tumultuous period from 1980 to 2000. This new postmodernist museum…

  • Museo Central

    Lima

    Housed in a graceful bank building, the Museo Central is a well-presented overview of several millennia of Peruvian art, from pre-Columbian gold and…

  • Museo de Historia Natural

    Lima

    One block west of cuadra 12 off Av Arequipa, south of the Parque de la Reserva, the 100-year-old Museo de Historia Natural, run by the Universidád de San…

  • Museo Pedro de Osma

    Lima

    Housed in a lovely beaux-arts mansion surrounded by gardens, this undervisited museum has an exquisite collection of colonial furniture, silverwork and…

  • Museo Andrés del Castillo

    Lima

    Housed in a pristine 19th-century mansion with Spanish tile floors, this worthwhile private museum showcases a vast collection of minerals, as well as…

  • Casa de Oquendo

    Lima

    The cornflower-blue Casa de Oquendo is a ramshackle turn-of-the-19th-century house (in its time, the tallest in Lima) with a creaky lookout tower that, on…

  • Palacio Torre Tagle

    Lima

    The most immaculate of Lima’s historic casonas was completed in 1735, and features an ornate baroque portico (the best one in Lima) and striking Moorish…

  • Museo de Arte Italiano

    Lima

    Just north of MALI, the Museo de Arte Italiano exhibits a tepid collection of 19th- and 20th-century Italian art. Its best attribute is the glittering…

  • Puente de los Suspiros

    Lima

    A block west of the main plaza, look for this renovated, narrow wooden bridge over an old stone stairway that leads to the beach. Especially popular with…

  • Choco Museo

    Lima

    Housed in a historic 16th-century building where liberator of Peru General San Martín once slept, this cacao museum, with other outlets around the city,…

  • Parque del Amor

    Lima

    Protected from the ocean breeze by a colorful wall of mosaics, this park in Miraflores is the ideal place to walk hand in hand with that special someone…

  • Bosque El Olivar

    Lima

    This tranquil park, a veritable oasis in the middle of San Isidro, consists of the remnants of an old olive grove, part of which was planted by the…

  • Palacio Arzobispal

    Lima

    This landmark building is the residence of the Archbishop of Lima, and the administrative headquarters of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lima. No…

  • Parque de la Cultura

    Lima

    Originally known as Parque de la Exposición, this revamped park has gardens and a small amphitheater for outdoor performances. Two of Lima’s major art…

  • Parque de la Muralla

    Lima

    During the 17th century, the heart of Lima was ringed by a muralla (city wall), much of which was torn down in the 1870s as the city expanded. However,…

  • Palacio de Justicia

    Lima

    The stately neoclassical Palace of Justice is the seat of the Supreme Court of Peru.

  • Museo de la Nación

    Lima

    In a brutalist concrete tower, this museum provides a cursory overview of Peru’s civilizations, from Chavín stone carvings and the knotted-rope quipus …

  • Espacio Fundacion Telefonica

    Lima

    This cultural center focuses on the arts, particularly technology and digital formats. Though it's part of the largest Spanish multinational and housed on…

  • Convento de los Descalzos

    Lima

    At the end of the attractive Alameda de los Descalzos, all but forgotten is this 16th-century convent and museum, run by the Descalzos (‘the Barefooted,’…

  • Cerro San Cristóbal

    Lima

    This 409m-high hill to the northeast of Lima Centro has a mirador (lookout) at its crown, with views of Lima stretching off to the Pacific (in winter…

  • John Lennon Memorial

    Lima

    Sculpture artist Fredy Luque, a native of southern Peru’s city of Arequipa, helped bring a touch of The Beatles to Lima when his statue of rock legend…

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