Lima, the Pacific Coast-hugging capital city of Peru, is the perfect bookend to any Peru vacation. Beyond the innovative cuisine and steady surf-worthy waves, there are ancient and pre-Inca ruins, museums that leave you blushing, and extreme aerial adventures to be had. Though the list of things to do in Lima could literally stretch for pages, we share five activities that should be on every traveler’s Lima trip itinerary.
1. Visit the catacombs at the San Francisco Monastery
San Francisco Monastery
A UNESCO-listed site, the 17th Century San Francisco Monastery delivers that skin-crawling thrill some traveler’s look for when traveling to a historic city. The subterranean catacombs are a series of bone-lined hallways and circular pits filled with carefully stacked and arranged human bones and skulls belonging to an estimated 75,000 bodies. It’s a Lima travel experience that may be better reserved for the not-so-squeamish.
2. Catch a show at Lima’s El Circuito Mágico del Agua
Circuito Mágico del Agua
The young and young at heart will enjoy this nightly display of light, lasers, and music at Lima’s Parque de la Reserva. As the world’s largest fountain complex, there’s a lot to see and experience once you’re inside, including a 38-yard tunnel of water you can walk through, a spectacular choreographed fountain show, and the park’s famous Laberinto de Ensueño, an interactive maze of unpredictable spouting fountains that will leave you soaked if you time it wrong. With three shows a night from Tuesday through Sunday, there’s a good chance that a visit to this fountain-filled park will fit into your personalized Peru travel itinerary.
3. Blush over the Larco Museum’s erotic ceramics collection
Erotic ceramics collection
Tucked away in a separate room at Lima’s Larco Museum, there’s an exhibit dedicated to the museum’s rare collection of pre-Columbian ceramics depicting reproductive and sexual acts. The gallery features everything from humans, divine beings, animals, and even skeletons engaged in erotic encounters. Blush-worthy though it may be, the exhibit is a rare and informative glimpse into the pre-Columbian culture’s relationship with nature, the divine, and each other through the medium of sex. Not your thing? Don’t worry. The rest of the museum is much more family-friendly with exhibits spanning the entire timeline of pre-Columbian cultures in Peru.
4. Tour the 2,000-year-old Huaca Pucllana ruins
Huaca Pucllana ruins
Yes, Lima has ancient ruins. To add to the spectacle, they’re nestled within the framework of the city’s modern aesthetic making for a seriously mind-tripping experience of old meets new. Huaca Pucllana is one such set of adobe-brick ruins believed to have been constructed by the Lima culture sometime between 300 and 700 AD. Once an important administrative and ceremonial site, today it’s on every “Top Things to Do in Lima” list. You can follow up your tour with a meal at the on-site restaurant that overlooks the ruins.
5. Paraglide over Lima’s Costa Verde
Costa Verde
Thanks to its cliff-top perch and steady ocean breeze, Lima is the perfect place to insert a little urban paragliding into your custom Peru travel adventure. The best spot to do so is at Parque Raimondi along the malecón in Miraflores. Strap in, catch a thermal, and soar over the Costa Verde to spectacular views of the coast, city, and sea from a perspective only the daring get to see.
Need more tips for things to do in Lima?
Out team of Kuoda Travel Designers know Lima (and the rest of Peru) like the back of their hands. Jump on a call with one of them today and begin to piece together your perfect, tailor-made Peru holiday.
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