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…

  • Lima, Peru: Santo Domingo Monastery; Shutterstock ID 134781179; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; GL account no.: 56530; Netsuite department name: Online Design; Full Product or Project name including edition: Digital Content/Sights

    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…

  • 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,…

  • 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…

  • Impakto

    Lima

    Located on the 1st floor of a towering and dark office building, this contemporary-art museum has a glass facade that reveals just enough of the stark…

  • 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…

  • Government Palace in Lima Peru; Shutterstock ID 91332674; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; GL account no.: 56530; Netsuite department name: Online Design; Full Product or Project name including edition: Digital Content/Sights

    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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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 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…

  • 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,…

  • 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…

  • Museo Mario Testino

    Lima

    Though quite small, this is a wonderful museum dedicated to the work of world-renowned photographer Mario Testino, a native of Peru and a barranquino. The…

  • Museo de Arte Contemporaneo

    Lima

    The permanent collection at MAC is a quick study but visiting exhibits, such as a David LaChapelle retrospective, are major draws. There's also a good on…

  • Iglesia de San Pedro

    Lima

    This small 17th-century church is considered to be one of the finest examples of baroque colonial-era architecture in Lima. Consecrated by the Jesuits in…

  • Santuario de Santa Rosa de Lima

    Lima

    Honoring the first saint of the Americas, this plain, terracotta-hued church on a congested avenue is located roughly at the site of her birth. The modest…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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 …

  • 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,’…

  • Casa Aliaga

    Lima

    Innocuously tucked on a side street by the post office, Casa Aliaga stands on land given in 1535 to Jerónimo de Aliaga, one of Pizarro’s followers, and…