lima peru

Peru’s cuisine has gained worldwide recognition in recent decades. Lima’s Central Restaurant recently earned the title of “No.1 Restaurant in the World” from the prestigious World’s 50 Best Restaurants List. In fact, a whopping total of four restaurants on the 2023 list are located in Lima!

Lima’s Museo Larco, started in 1926 by Rafael Larco Hoyle, is located in a centuries- old colonial house. It boasts an extensive collection of over 45,000 fascinating artifacts from pre-Columbian civilizations and has one of the world’s largest collections of erotic ceramics, created by Peru’s ancient civilizations.

The earliest civilization in the Americas, Caral, was located near Lima in the Supe Valley. Caral is estimated to be at least 5,000 years old. It had the earliest adobe buildings as well as highly developed fishing, agriculture, and construction techniques that were a strong influence on later cultures.

The sport of surfing was likely invented in Lima by the Moche and Chimú cultures, simultaneous with its invention in Hawaii. These ancient cultures used surfboard-like vessels to ride the waves. Peru boasts several world-class surfers, including Sofia Mulanovich and Felipe Pomar, both of whom got their start surfing the waves around Lima.

Barranco is an intriguing neighborhood replete with art galleries, colorful murals, and small shops. The Paseo de los Baños, originating near Barranco’s Plaza de Armas, is a walkway lined with colorful murals and is a great place for people- watching. It passes down a series of stairways to several popular beaches.