Downtown Lima is distinctly Spanish with a colonial feel. The streets follow a checkerboard pattern surrounding the Plaza de Armas, flanked by the Palacio de Gobierno, the cathedral and other important buildings. Street names can be confusing here due to a mixture of old and new names. The pedestrian thoroughfare Jiron de la Union contains many shops and is a good place to wander. There are some parks and gardens towards the southern end of downtown surrounding Plaza Grau. The most pleasant downtown places are those around the major plazas (Plaza de Arms, Plaza San Mart?n, Parque Universitario and Parque Italiano). These places have striking buildings and are quite safe during business hours due to a large police presence.

Peru’s incredibly rich and compelling archaeological heritage and its great natural beauty-remarkable even in a continent renowned for its exotic vistas--draw tens of thousands of visitors each year. Almost all make a stop at Lima, which is Peru’s cultural and business center. Lima runs at a slower pace than many South American metropolises; its rhythm is more traditional, and its people reflect a steadier, calmer constitution. Lima’s unusually amenable inhabitants give the metropolis the feeling, at times, of a cluster of smaller towns.

Lima’s physical atmosphere is slightly dreamlike, mostly because of the garua--a mist that settles over the city between May and October. Under its blanket, Lima’s inhabitants meet at the penas (bars offering folk and Creole music), shop at the open marketplaces, and dine at Lima’s celebrated restaurants. Several museums display and preserve Peru’s golden past, including most notably the internationally famed Museo Nacional de Antropologia y Arqueologia.

South of Lima, long white beaches washed by the cold waters of the southern Pacific stretch away in an uninterrupted string, backed by row upon row of huge, brilliant white sand dunes. In contrast to the tourist beaches of warmer climes, these shores have few amenities other than small restaurants and cafes. One of the best of these remote beaches, as if to confirm its tranquillity, is known as El Silencio. Like Lima itself, these beaches seem to exist in an eddy of time, pleasantly removed from the relentless pace of more frequented destinations.

One of the best things about travelling around Peru is to experience daily Peruvian life, which revolves around its plazas (squares). Lima’s plazas are no exception. They are the social hub of town, and each town or city has a Plaza de Armas, or main square. Lima’s Plaza de Armas (also called Plaza Mayor) was the old heart of Lima and its foundation place. The only original parts of it are the central old bronze fountain built in 1650 and the building (Casa del Oidor) in the corner of the Government Palace and the Archbishop’s Palace. Be sure to catch the changing of the presidential guard here at 11.45am daily.

Lima has more than 50 museums, but most visitors will be restricted to visiting just a handful. In that case make sure you don’t miss the Museo de Oro del Peru. This building is actually two museums rolled into one. Its massive Gold Museum will blow you away with thousands of gold pieces, each uniquely sculptured into something different from ear plugs to clothing decorations. This is very high up on most visitors’ must-see list. The Arms Museum at the top of the building is one of the world’s best with thousands of ancient firearms from all over the world. It’s beggars belief that some of these clumsy looking old guns were once quite effective.

The San Francisco church and monastery is known for its stunning baroque architecture and catacombs. Built in the 17th century, this church has cloisters with the famous Sevillian tiles, a good library containing thousands of antique texts, Jos? de Rivera paintings, a museum of religious art and the well-visited catacombs, which are said to contain the remains of 70,000 to 90,000 people.

Tag: Lima