The Sea
Lima is the only South American capital facing the sea, and the city’s privileged location informs residents’ outlook, its celebrated gastronomy, and more. The Pacific coast is an indelible part of quotidian life at various points in the city, popular with natives and visitors alike: Larcomar, the entertainment and shopping complex; the Malecón, or boardwalk in Miraflores; the artsy seaside residential neighborhood of Barranco; La Rosa Nautica and other restaurants that take advantage of their prime locations on the coast; Ghandi Park, known for its paragliders that soar above Miraflores on windy afternoons; surfers along the so-called “Green Coast”; the beautiful beaches just to the south of Lima; the wildlife on the San Lorenzo (Palomino) islands and near Pucusana; and the southern resort areas where Lima’s elite escape to on summer weekends.

The Historic Centro
Lima was founded in 1535, and its rich colonial history is on ample display in the city’s historic core, which is steadily being revitalized. Lima’s status as the Americas’ wealthiest and most important colonial city is evident in its classic corners, which include: the main square (Plaza de Armas); La Plaza San Martín; the catacombs of the San Francisco convent; Santo Domingo, with its superb museum and icons of Peru’s most important saints, Rosa de Lima and Martín de Porres; El Jirón de la Unión; its stately colonial mansions and palaces, such as Casa Riva-Agüero, Casa Aliaga, and Palacio Torre Tagle; Chinatown, known for its chifa restaurants, Buddhist temples and shopping; and the San Cristóbal hilltop, appreciated for its sunsets. An especially good time to visit the Centro, after you’ve already had a chance to see some of its churches, mansions and plazas, is during early evenings, when many historic buildings are illuminated and traffic is restricted in the area.

Markets
Lima is a shopper’s paradise, and the shopping experience runs the gamut from the country’s finest handcrafts shops, featuring high-quality wares from across Peru, and chic malls like Jockey Plaza to some of South America’s most picturesque fishers’ markets and even some of the world’s largest contraband markets. Also of great interest to visitors are popular markets, such as Chorrillos or Magdalena, where the slice of Peruvian life on view is palpable. Lima has the greatest variety of Peru’s famous indigenous handicrafts (artesanía), at all price ranges. Inexpensive, machine-made items are found in hundreds of market stalls, but higher-quality goods are found in specialty shops that feature both traditional artisans and modern designers using Peruvian tradition as the foundation for their innovative designs.

Museums
Lima is home to South America’s finest museums, with excellent exhibits of pre-Columbian art and archaeology. The Museo Arqueológico Rafael Larco Herrera possesses the largest private collection of pre-Columbian art in the world, concentrating on the Moche Dynasty (A.D. 200–700) and its splendid ceramics, among an estimated 45,000 pieces. Museo de la Nación, the National Museum, is one of the most important in Peru. It shows highlights of Peru’s complicated, overlapping cultures, presented largely through their architecture, ceramics and textiles. Also worth a visit is the huge Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú, which covers Peruvian civilization from prehistoric times to the colonial and republican periods in the 19th-century Quinta de los Libertadores mansion (once lived in by South American independence heroes San Martín and Bolívar). Also of great interest, but overlooked by many visitors, are small private collections, such as: pre-Columbian and colonial art at Museo Enrico Poli; exquisitely displayed textiles and ceramics at the Museo Amano; colonial art in a spectacular mansion at Museo Pedro de Osma; and the Museo de la Cultura Peruana, celebrating Peru’s popular art (arte popular).