Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. Not surprisingly, it consists of many neighborhoods all with their own character. We stayed three days in Miraflores, an up-scale neighborhood thirty minutes south of downtown Lima.
Miraflores
Miraflores borders the Pacific Ocean, and has an abundance of parks, luxury hotels, big apartment buildings, and shopping malls. We highly recommend visiting the seaside shopping mall of Larcomar, located on the cliffs of Miraflores. With plenty of police patroling the streets, the neighborhood is also very safe, even at night.
Downtown Lima
For 1$ one can take the subway bus to downtown Lima. Alternatively, we choose to take a quicker taxi for about 6$, which only took 30 minutes to Plaza Mayor, the center of the historic district. This square is surrounded by the Government Palace, Lima Cathedral, and connects various shopping streets.
Where Miraflores’ shopping malls mainly hold exclusive brands, the downtown shopping area is characterized by small individually owned shops selling everything from clothes to fans. A lot more chaos, and after an hour or two we were happy to go back to Miraflores.
