Lima’s neighbourhoods: which ones to visit?

Administrative district, lived-in neighbourhood

In Lima, the word “district” refers to a municipality, with its own local council. Some are small and uniform (Barranco, Lince); others are vast and very varied: Santiago de Surco covers 52 km², from the affluent residential areas of Monterrico to modest areas. Finally, Callao is not a district of Lima but a neighbouring province, that of the port and the airport. An address “in Surco” or “in San Isidro” therefore tells you neither the distance to your visits nor the atmosphere of the street: always ask for the exact point on the map.

The neighbourhoods at a glance

San Isidro

San Isidro is both Lima’s main business district, with its office towers, and a residential district of parks and villas. For a visitor, two places justify the detour.

The El Olivar olive grove. In 1560, Antonio de Rivera brought the first olive saplings from Seville; some of the present-day trees are said to come from those first plantings. The grove now has about 1,670 trees over some ten hectares, in the middle of the houses; it has been protected since 1959. It is one of the quietest places in the city for an hour’s walk.

Huaca Huallamarca. A restored earthen pyramid, with a small site museum: organic objects, textiles, ceramics and human remains from funerary contexts, from an occupation running from the Formative period to Inca times. Opening hours and price: Tuesday to Saturday and on the first Sunday of the month, from 9:00 to 17:00; S/ 5 per adult. Less well known than Huaca Pucllana, it is also less crowded.

Good to know: San Isidro is quiet in the evening and at weekends in its office areas. Staying there suits business trips; for a leisure stay, neighbouring Miraflores is livelier.

Magdalena del Mar

Magdalena is a residential and shopping district, between San Isidro and the sea, that shows everyday Lima.

• The Huaca Huantille, built by the Ychsma between 1200 and 1450, before the arrival of the Incas: a central plaza surrounded by benches and a pyramid-shaped façade with walls painted blue, grey and white. Visits: Monday to Friday, from 9:00 to 13:00 and from 14:00 to 17:00.
• The Church of the Heart of Mary, which residents call “La Cúpula”: an octagonal rotunda topped by a dome rising to 50 m, inaugurated in 1957.
• The Magdalena market, one of Lima’s big neighbourhood markets, described in Lima’s markets.
• The Yuyachkani theatre, an experimental theatre company that combines Andean traditions and the performing arts, and craft workshops (azulejo tiles, ceramics, metal sculpture) listed by the municipality.

A morning is enough: the market, the huaca (on weekdays only), a lunch. Come by taxi from Miraflores or San Isidro.

Jesús María

Jesús María, created in 1963, is a residential district organised around large public spaces.

• The Campo de Marte, a former racecourse turned park, declared an inviolable green space in 1968. Here you find the monument to the defenders of the border (the 1941 conflict with Ecuador) and “El Ojo que Llora”, a memorial to the victims of political violence.
• The Parque de los Próceres, inaugurated in 1971 for the 150th anniversary of independence.
• The Natural History Museum of San Marcos University, created in 1918, on Avenida Arenales: collections of the country’s minerals, plants and animals, a good introduction to the diversity of environments before a trip to the Amazon or the Andes.
• The Peruvian-Japanese cultural centre, a reminder of Lima’s large community of Japanese origin, with exhibitions and activities.
• The Residencial San Felipe, a housing complex begun in 1963 to plans by Enrique Ciriani, known to architecture enthusiasts for its duplexes arranged around shared spaces.

Combine Jesús María with Lince or Pueblo Libre, which are close by, rather than with Miraflores.

The Residencial San Felipe and the Peruvian-Japanese cultural centre

The Residencial San Felipe is visited as a neighbourhood, not as a monument: residential buildings around pedestrian paths, large trees that give shade and benches, and a small area of shops and restaurants. The Lima press recommends a few neighbourhood addresses there, including a café, a plant-based kitchen and a Japanese restaurant. The Peruvian-Japanese cultural centre of the Asociación Peruano Japonesa is on its edge, at Avenida Gregorio Escobedo 803; it is home to the restaurant Katana, Japanese and Nikkei cooking. Allow an hour’s walk and a meal; come by day, by taxi from Miraflores or combining it with Lince and Pueblo Libre. The Tanta branch on Avenida Salaverry, in Jesús María, is another nearby option, with a wider menu.

Lince

A small district created in 1936, crossed by Avenida Arequipa and Avenida Petit Thouars, Lince is above all a stop for food lovers: restaurants serving regional cuisines, particularly from the north of the country, have set up here. Parque Mariscal Ramón Castilla is one of the city’s large green spaces. Our address in the neighbourhood: Chulucanas Lima, cooking from Piura. Come for a meal, on the way between Miraflores and the centre or Jesús María.

San Borja

Created in 1983, San Borja is a spacious residential district that brings together several major national cultural institutions around Avenida Javier Prado: the Gran Teatro Nacional, the country’s main performance venue (concerts, ballets, theatre), the National Library of Peru and the Ministry of Culture. The Museo de la Nación building has not housed a permanent exhibition since 2014: it hosts temporary exhibitions, and a large part of the archaeological collections has moved to the new Museo Nacional del Perú, near Pachacámac. The Parque de la Felicidad, with its lagoon and amphitheatre, is popular with families.

People come to San Borja for a specific show or exhibition. Metro Line 1 stops there (La Cultura, San Borja Sur and Angamos stations).

Surco

Santiago de Surco is one of the largest districts in the city. Before the conquest, this territory belonged to the Ychsma domain of Sullco; in colonial times, the village of Santiago de Surco was one of the first Indigenous “reducciones” created by Viceroy Toledo. The district was created in 1929. For a visitor:

• old Surco, around its Plaza de Armas and the Santiago Apóstol parish complex, keeps the look of an old village;
• the Parque de la Amistad, opened in 2001, hosts a pisco sour festival every year;
• large shopping centres, including the Jockey Plaza.

Distances within the district are great: accommodation “in Surco” can be twenty minutes or an hour from Miraflores depending on the area and the time. Do not book on the strength of the name alone.

Chorrillos

South of Barranco, Chorrillos grew out of a fishing village and became a seaside resort in the 19th century. Its name evokes the trickles of fresh water that flowed from the cliffs. It was set on fire by the Chilean army in January 1881, after the Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos, which earned it the title of “heroic city”.

• The Morro Solar, the hill that closes off the bay: a view over the whole coast of Lima, a large illuminated cross, the statue of the Virgin of the Morro, a planetarium and the monument to the unknown soldier. Go up by taxi rather than on foot along the paths.
• The fishing port and its stalls, at the bottom of the hill, where you can watch the fish being landed in the morning and eat a ceviche.
• The Pantanos de Villa, a protected wetland in the south of the district, a refuge for migratory and resident birds. Visits are by organised tour: four tours a day, every day: 8:30, 10:30, 13:30 and 15:30 (two hours each). Bring binoculars.
• The Malecón Grau and Agua Dulce beach, very busy in summer.

Half a day: the Pantanos de Villa in the morning (the best time for birds), a fish lunch, the Morro Solar in the late afternoon.

Rímac

On the other side of the Rímac River, opposite the historic centre, the Rímac district has been part of the World Heritage site since the 1991 extension. You get there over the stone bridge, inaugurated in 1610. Three viceregal ensembles are found there:

• the Alameda de los Descalzos, a promenade laid out in 1611, which leads to the church and convent of the Descalzos;
• the Paseo de Aguas, built between 1770 and 1776 under Viceroy Amat;
• the Acho bullring, inaugurated in 1766.

On the riverbank, the district also includes Cantagallo, Lima’s best-known settlement of Indigenous Amazonian people, where Shipibo-Konibo families from the Ucayali live. You do not go in as you would at a tourist site: you can buy kené embroidery and paintings at events or fairs open to the public, or through associations, with the residents’ agreement.

Good to know: Rímac is visited alongside the historic centre, by day, with a specific route (stone bridge, Alameda, Paseo de Aguas) rather than wandering. The climb up Cerro San Cristóbal is done in an organised vehicle.

La Victoria and Gamarra

La Victoria, east of the centre, is home to Gamarra, the country’s largest textile hub: thousands of workshops and clothing shops in a grid of galleries. It has a page of its own: Gamarra.

In the south-east of the district, towards San Borja, Santa Catalina is a residential area. The guide includes a neighbourhood cebichería there, El Limón, on Avenida del Aire: you go there for lunch, by booked taxi, rather than on a walk.

Carabayllo and the northern lomas

The districts in the north of Lima, such as Carabayllo, are residential areas built on the desert hills that surround the city. There is no reason to make a “tour” of working-class neighbourhoods there. There is, however, a remarkable landscape to discover in season: the lomas, hills that the winter mist covers with vegetation between roughly June and October. The Lomas de Primavera, in Carabayllo, can be explored along a path of about 3.6 km with amancay flowers, shrubs and birds of prey. Visits and walks are organised by a local environmental association: go through them rather than climbing into the hills alone. For a simpler outing, the Lomas de Lachay National Reserve, north of Lima, presents the same ecosystem in a protected area.