Things to Do in Peru

Lima’s Plaza Mayor (main square) is central Plaza de Armas, the city’s historic heart and birthplace.

Landscaped with palm trees, elaborate lampposts, flower beds and greenery, the square’s focus is the 1650 tiered bronze fountain in the center and the statue of Francisco Pizarro on horseback nearby.

Visit at 11:45am to watch the changing of the guard, or visit any time to find an empty seat and watch the world wander by.

There’s plenty to look at, with the cathedral on one side and the beautiful balconies of the Palacio Arzobispal next door. Several other attractive buildings with balconies and arched porticoes line the square, including the City Hall and Government Palace.

With roots dating back 10,000 years, Lima was once the richest and most important city in South America. Today, it boasts over eight-million residents and serves as a primary cruise port for trans-Pacific ships arriving from the Far East, as well as for cruise ships following the South American coastline.

How to Get to Lima
Your cruise ship will arrive at the Port of Callao, about seven miles from the center Lima. Taxis into the city are available at the port and are reasonably priced – the ride to the center should take around 30-45 minutes and cost around $15.

One Day in Lima
Spend your morning exploring Peru’s colonial history in central Lima. The entire area, featuring long, wide streets in a grid-like design, is an UNESCO World Heritage site. Your starting point should be the Plaza de Armas, which is surrounded by the Lima Cathedral, the Archbishop's Palace, City Hall and Government Palace. Note the beautifully restored balconies on the Archbishop's Palace and several other buildings surrounding the plaza.

From the Plaza de Armas, head to the 17th-century San Francisco Monastery and Church. Take a tour of the catacombs, which contain the bones of some 70,000 people, all sorted by body part.

After lunch, visit the National Archaeological Museum for a deeper look at ancient Peru or gawk at the vast collection of gold at the Museo de Oro del Peru (The Gold Museum of Peru). The Rafael Larco Herrera Museum is also well worth a visit, boasting one of the world’s largest collections of pre-Columbian art.

If you still have the time and energy, conclude your visit in the residential neighborhood of Miraflores. There, you will find Lima’s oldest historical site, Huaca Pucllana. This fourth-century mud-brick pyramid pre-dates Machu Picchu by 900 years. Visit the handicraft markets on Avenida Petit Thouars and then make your way along Avenida Larco to the Pacific Ocean. Stroll through the park and then stop at a restaurant in the Larcomar shopping mall to enjoy dinner with a view before returning to your cruise ship.

Port Information
Spanish and Quechua are the official languages in Peru, but English is widely spoken in shops, hotels and restaurants in Lima. The currency is the nuevo sol, but some hotels and shops may take US dollars. ATM's are readily available in the city center, although some may only accept local cards. Credit cards are typically accepted, with VISA cards being preferred.

To help you get your head around Peru’s centuries of history and culture, visit the well-regarded Museo Larco Herrera in Lima, housed in an 18th-century vice-royal mansion, built over a 7th-century pyramid and surrounded by leafy gardens. The chronological overview of 3,000 years of history takes you through pre-Inca cultures and pre-Columbian art, to present-day interpretations of pre-Hispanic ceramics.

The museum is structured in a series of galleries, and its highlight is the fine collection of Inca gold and silver jewelry and artifacts, studded with prized lapis lazuli, turquoise and amethyst. Painted pottery vases and tools are also displayed, along with elaborately fashioned metal ware, cotton and feather textiles. A unique feature of the museum is that visitors are granted access to the storage area, where 45,000 objects are arranged and cataloged.

If you’re looking for high-quality souvenirs, the gift shop sells a selection of reproduction pre-Colombian ceramics, textiles and 18 carat jewelry, as well as luxury alpaca clothing.

Never in your life have you witnessed such an intoxicating shade of turquoise. Here at the mesmerizing Llanganuco Lakes in Huascaran National Park, twin dollops of turquoise water shine brilliantly against the snowcapped spine of Peru’s Cordillera Blanca. The first lake, Chinancocha, has rowboat rentals for enjoying a view of the mountains from out on the water, and the second lake, Orconcocha, has a loop trail that offers spectacular views of the lake and surrounding peaks. The tallest mountain in Peru, Huascaran, is visible from Llanganuco Lakes, which themselves are 12,631 ft (3,850m) where the air can feel thin when hiking. Even if you’re simply just standing by the water, there’s a sense of enchantment and mountain slope magic surrounding these lakes and this valley, where rugged cliffs rise in all directions as they seem to explode from the lakeshore. On tours that depart from Yungay or Huaraz, visitors will also make stops in villages and towns while en route to the lakes.

Downtown Lima’s most lively and colorful street is pedestrianized Jiron de la Union.

Lined with boutiques and stores for window-shopping, restaurants and cafes for bar-hoppers, and thronged with locals for people-watching, taking a stroll along this atmospheric thoroughfare is the best way to experience Lima in a nutshell.

Taking up five blocks of prime city-center real estate, Lima’s most important boulevard was planned by Pizarro back in 1535, when the city was founded.

A walk along this thoroughly commercialized car-free route takes you past City Hall, monuments, squares and the La Merced Cathedral, with its pretty square in front.

Nestled in the Sacred Valley of the Incas is the remote town of Maras, known throughout Peru for its thousands of worked salt pans.

Salt has been collected here since before the time of the Inca, rising to the surface from a subterranean stream and evaporating in the Andean sunshine.

You can gather your own handful of salt or buy some packaged to take home from Maras’ gift store.

The terraced saltwork pools dotting the Andean hillsides look quite stunning, glittering like bright white snow in the sunshine, so bring your camera.

The town of Maras was quite important in colonial times, and you’ll see some out-of-place ornate Spanish homes and the mud-brick colonial church.