Lima :: Miraflores

Miraflores

Miraflores is the most modern one of the central districts in Lima. Its skyline along the green coast (Costa Verde) and upon the cliff is well know. It is also the tourist district of Lima and if you want to meet people from all around the world in Peru, just go to Miraflores. 

Miraflores is also the cleanest district in Lima. They even wash and brush the sidewalks on the beachside and in the parks. Miraflores is a quite European style district and its center around the city hall (Municipalidad) and the Kennedy park (Parque Kennedy) are more or less a copy of any touristic embossed city in the world. It is nice to walk around, to watch the mixture of people from around the world, but it is not the real Peru. The real Peru you can find when you leave the tourist center of Miraflores and go just two or three blocks aside. 

Historical steam tain in "Parque Reducto No. 2"

You can find lots of Peruvian handycrafts in the Artesanian markets in Av. Petit Thouars, which goes parallel to the main road Av. Arequipa directly into the center of Lima. The main road in east direction is the Av. Benavides, which passes through Santiago de Surco until it meets the Panamericana Sur. Follow Av. Benavides just five blocks and you come to a nice park called “Parque Reducto No. 2”. It is beautiful to enjoy a relaxed afternoon in the shadow of big trees, singing birds (there are almost no birds in Lima) and to see a historical steam train.

When following the Av. Larco from the Ovalo Miraflores to the ocean side, you will come directly to the unique shopping center “Larcomar”, which is built into the cliff. Nice cafes and restaurants with a fantastic view as well as a cinema and lots of shops await you there. See an other post for more information about “Larcomar” and the beach side of Miraflores.

At the beach side there are some bigger and fist class hotels. Around the Ovalo Miraflores are also some backpackers hostels with quite good prices. If you prefer to follow your own tracks it is also not too difficult to find cheap hostels (Hostal o Hospedaje) where one can get a room already for about 40 – 50 Soles (about 13 – 20 USD) in all parts of the city and even in Miraflores. This is not much more than in backpackers hostels, but gives you more privacy. 

Skyline of Miraflores at the green coast (Costa Verde)

Usually people say that Miraflores is the most secure district in Lima and thats the reason why usually all tourists prefer to stay there when coming to Lima. Well, Miraflores is surely a quite secure district with a lot of security everywhere, but it is not the only secure district in Lima. Of course, there are some spots where better not to go alone or at night, but if you follow some simple rules you won't get in trouble easily. Compared with other big cities in all parts of the world, for me Lima is one of the most secure city equal where you go. And if one gets in trouble it is mostly not because of being tourist, but Peruvians also get in trouble.

Park Kennedy in Miraflores

The main activities in Miraflores you can find around the Ovalo Miraflores and the Kennedy park. There are lots of cafes and restaurants, but mostly not typical Peruvian style. Nightlife is mostly in the so called 'Pizza street' (calle de las pizzas), which is quite easy to find and in the Calle Berlin, which is on the back exit of the Pizza street. Lots of pubs, discos and - as the name suggests – Pizzerias. There is a nice little english pub in Calle Berlin called “Houlihan's” where they also sell English and Irish beer. It is connected with a backpackers hostel. Concerning the Pizzas in Peru, Europeans should be aware that the pizzas here are not really a hit. You need some luck to find a real good Pizzeria. But it is anyway better to eat traditional Peruvian dishes and especially fish and seafood along the coast.

Most interesting in Miraflores is a walk along the seaside above the cliff or down at the beach, which was completely redesigned a few years ago. More about the beachside you can read and see in the post “Lima, Miraflores :: Memories and impressions of my first days in a new life”.

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Lima :: San Borja

San Borja

One of the most lovely and also rapid changing district in Lima is San Borja. A few years ago it seemed like paralized when the high train was built. I guess it was because of the really terrible dirt everywhere. Lots of former shops and restaurants closed along the Av. Aviación where the high train was constructed. In 2012 the construction was terminated and the train came to service. Since that time the business situation in Av. Aviación came back to regular life and everything seemed to bloom again like a flower. 

San Borja has three main roads, which are the Panamericana Sur in the east, the city highway Av. Javier Prado in the north and the Av. Aviación that passes through. These main connections cause that the district has extremely high traffic. Most of the districts in Lima are kinda city in the city, but maybe San Borja is it just a bit more. With the new built shopping center “Rambla” in San Borja north in the corner of Av. Aviación and Av. Javier Prado and the “Real Plaza Angamos” in San Borja south, they have two big shopping centers. There is also the new national theater (Teatro Nacional), the national museum of Peru (Museo de la Nacion) (free entrance) as well as the national library (Bibliotheca Nacional del Peru). 

Night illumination of the new National Theater in San Borja north

Beside all this official points of interest there are also some beautiful parks. There is a park all along the middle of the Av. San Borja Norte and the Av. San Borja Sur. Lots of flowers, wild grown trees and gym installations guide you along the way. Both roads end in the east at the Panamericana Sur in other fantastic and absolutely worth seeing parks. Av. San Borja Norte ends in the park of the heros of the army (Parque de los heroes del Ejercito) and the Av. San Borja Sur ends in the love park (Parque del Amor), which is really fantastic. There you can take photos with your love on the bench of love (Banca del Amor) like King and Queen.

Between these two parks you can see the building of the General Staff of the Peruvian Army (Cuartel General del Ejercito del Peru). A really majestic building in the green. A real adventure to walk all those parks and see these places, markets and shopping centers, but you won't regret to take the time to visit these places.

In the northeast corner of San Borja is one of the biggest highway crossing in Lima. It divides the Panamericana in north and south and meet the city freeway Av. Circumvalación and the Av. Javier Prado. At this highway crossing also meet three districts, which are San Borja, Ate and Santiago de Surco (Surco).

Park of Love, San Borja Sur

Park of Love, San Borja Sur

To live in San Borja is interesting from my point of view, because beside all these big traffic knots there are lots of traffic closed settlements with more own little parks and lots of green. Quiet spots where you can just simply forget the stress of the streets around. You also can get everything you need very close in traditional markets as well as in supermarkets and little shops at the corner. And if you are looking for an individual grill or smoker one day, you should have a look at the south end of Av. San Luis and Av. Primavera. There you can find many little workshops where they build and sell all kind of grills and smoker.

General Staff of the Peruvian Army

Curious building

Av. Javier Prado at night

A nice little park in San Borja

10 km Jogging trail in San Borja

High train station still under construction

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Lima :: San Miguel

San Miguel

San Miguel is a district at the ocean side. It devides Lima from Callao on the northwest side. The district has already sea level and no cliffs like Miraflores. The main road is Avenida Venezuela, which goes from La Perla, Callao directly into Lima center. Nice to see is the green coast “Costa Verde” and the big park of the legends “Parque de las Leyendas” close to the Av. Venezuela and the National University of San Marcos and the Catholic University of Peru (PUCP). The park itself is kinda mixture between animal zoo and adventure park. Here one can see and learn about culture, history, wild life and nature of Peru. It is quite big and you should bring time to spend a relaxed day in the park.

In the park of the legends (Parque de las Leyendas)

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Lima :: Rimac

Rimac

This district has its name from the river Rimac, which is cutting the city center from the district Rimac. Directly behind the governmental palace passes by the river and over a few bridges you can go from the Central Place (Plaza de Armas) of Lima to Rimac. Rimac is one of the poorer districts of Lima and it is a traffic knot for all traffic going to north on the Panamericana. It is also one of the more dangerous districts. You should know how to behave in these places or better not go there without well known locals or in groups.

On top of San Cristobal

Around the central place (Plaza de Armas) you can get bus tours up to Mount San Cristobal, not far from the city center of Lima. The buses pass through a very poor and dangerous settlement in Rimac, which are like glued to the hill. The road up to the top of the hill is quite adventurous and will give you just a little sample of what you may expect if you go to Andes mountains. Once on top of Mount San Cristobal you will have a fantastic view over wide parts of Lima and Callao.

View from the Lima side over the river to Rimac and Mount San Cristobal

The river Rimac itself was not really a nice place to see over many years. Since 2013 the whole part of the river that passes Lima, Rimac, Lurigancho and Callao is under reconstruction. That means they do a complete redesign of the river bed, the river banks as well as all peripheral parts as bridges, road and parks along this part of the river. Because of this the whole center is a real big traffic chaos. But it will be fantastic when finished. Some parts are already more or less done and you can get an impression how it will be when all work is done. This is the second biggest project in Lima beside the high rail city train. The train project is already done from the center to the southern districts of Lima. From the center to the northern districts is under construction.

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Lima :: La Victoria

La Victoria

La Victoria is one of the oldest grown handworkers districts. Unfortunatly it is also mostly a very dirty district, because most workshops are out on the street. But if you want to know the real Lima you won't be able to pass over La Victoria.

The first and one important reason is, that in La Victoria are situatated most of the biggest bus companies in Lima. If you want to go south or north, into the Sierra or Selva or even travel directly to other latin countries, you need to go to La Victoria. Many of them are directly beside the city freeway “Paseo de la Republica”, just on the opposite side of the national footbol stadium (Estadio Nacional) and quite easy to find. The other half is situated along the east-west main connection Avenida Javier Prado. If you look for a bus for your next stop, please keep in mind that neither the biggest nor the most expensive are the best. I am travelling a lot by bus around Peru, mainly along the coast and for starting in Lima I can recommend the following:

• ITTSA :: All the way north along the coast until Sullana. Best service and very reasonable prices in varios classes. Big new terminal in Trujillo.
• Linéa :: Very good prices in basic and standard class buses for north connecions. Terminal just 3 blocks away from ITTSA.
• Movíl Tours :: Best selection if you want to go to the Selva directly from Lima via the eastern route, but also via the northern route.   
• Soyus / Peru Bus :: Good option for going south until Pisco, Ica, and the beaches in the south of Lima like Asia. Cheap and very frequent connecions, no additional services.

If you plan to travel to Chile or Argentina by bus there is only one connecion from Cruz del Sur having this in the program. I personally cannot really recommend this company for trips within Peru, because they are too expensive combined with a bad service quality in comparison with other buses. For going to Ecuador directly from Lima there is only Ormeño offering this tour. Beside all the named companies there are hundreds of bus companies more in Lima for all kind of connections, prices and personal requirements. For sure everyone can find the right bus for his needs. But you should also keep in mind that most, especially the smaller ones, are not having sites in internet. You will need to go and find.

Gamarra

As already said, La Victoria is a district of handworkers and though you can find whole streets of carpenters, streets of shops with spare parts for cars and trucks and at least big areas of textile production and sales. There is one big market for clothes, shoes, bags and Peruvian traditional clothes in the so called “Polvos Azules”. Here you can find a big variety of backpacks, cases and also all kind of shoes. Another huge area of production and sales is Gamarra. A part of about 45 blocks in La Victoria between the main roads Av. Aviación, Av. México and Av. 28 de Julio. Customized production of all kind of textile. Usually the quality is good and for a reasonable price. Textile products made in Gamarra are sold throughout Peru. Even if you don't really want to buy anything it is quite interesting to walk through Gamarra and see hundreds or even thousands of little shops, sometimes not bigger than a desk. Gamarra is kind of an organized chaos.

When leaving Gamarra on the side of Av. Aviación, you are in an other market where they sell all kind of paper stuff, plastics, school paraphernalia and things like that. All in all, La Victoria is a good choice if you like to walk through markets, shopping and also for travelling.

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The Metropolitan region of Lima and Callao and its Districts

The central place "Plaza de Armas" in the center of Lima with its historical buildings.

While talking about Lima one has to remind that Lima consists of two seperated governmental districts, which are Lima Metropolitana and the province city of Callao. Basically both are independent cities, but mostly are named together when talking about Lima. Correctly one would have to say Lima or Lima/Callao. I don't want to be that rigid in this introduction, because I want to talk about both. Though I mean mainly both as long as not especially seperated.

Lima itself consists of 43 districts, which are divided in historical central districts, south, north and east districts. The province of Callao includes 6 districts. The whole list you can see in the following table. The whole population of the Lima and Callao megacity is around 10 million inhabitants. The last official count was in 2005, though there are actually no correct counts available. But the metropolitan region is growing very fast, especially in times with decreasing economy, which happened during the 'Humalla' government between 2011 and 2016.


The districts of Lima and Callao:

Lima	~ 2.500.000 inh.	Central districts
La Victoria	Rimac	San Miguel
San Borja	Miraflores	Surquillo
Breña	Pueblo Libre	Jesus Maria
San Isidro	Lince	Magdalena del Mar
Cercado de Lima (Lima centro)
	~ 1.900.000 inh.	South districts
Villa Maria del Triunfo	Villa El Salvador	San Juan de Miraflores
Santiago de Surco	Chorrillos	Pachacamac
Lurin	Barranco	Pucusana
San Bartolo	Punta Hermosa	Punta Negra
Santa Maria del Mar
	~ 2.300.000 inh.	North districts
San Martin de Porres	Comas	Los Olivos
Puente Piedra	Independencia	Carabayllo
Ancón	Santa Rosa
	~ 1.800.000 inh.	East districts
San Juan de Lurigancho	Ate (Vitarte)	Santa Anita
El Augustino	Lurigancho (Chosica)	La Molina
San Luis	Chaclacayo	Cieneguilla
Callao	~ 1.900.000 inh.	The city of Callao
Bellavista	Callao (Airport and Harbour)	Carmen de la Legua
La Perla	La Punta	Ventanilla
Lima and Callao total inhabitants:	Aprox. 10.400.000	The listed population numbers are a conservative estimation based on the demographic developments during the last 10 years.

To see each of the districts of Lima and Callao please refer to Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_districts_of_Lima

With the links in the table above you can directly jump to each district (as far as already listed) and back to the table.

Here is a graphical overview of all districts of Lima and Callao.

I will tell you about my personal experiences in this megacity. Some things may not be compliant with other sources, but this is how I personally felt and experienced life in Lima when I was living there. I am already out of the city for a few years now, but I still love Lima. And this while I am really not a city person. Grew up and lived most time outside medium sized cities and countryside. The only big city I ever was and felt in love with. I don't know all the districts, but many of them more or less good and some of them even better than most taxi drivers. I was exploring big parts of the central districts by foot. Though let me give you some personal basics of almost all districts. Some of them I don't know and I will skip them.

People who come as “normal” tourists to Peru arrive at the international airport Jorge Chavez in Lima. They usually stay a few days in Miraflores, which is the tourist district of Lima. Most big hotels are there and also most backpackers hostels. Most tourists are travelling to Cusco, Puno, Macchu Picchu and the Titicaca lake. The south part of Peru is quite well developed for tourism, but the rest not really. Most of the tourists follow in Lima some guide trails into the historical center, but thats mostly all they see in Lima. If you want to see more then usual, you have to do your own investigation in internet and locally with asking around the locals. Lima is an exceptional city in my eyes and there are so many unforgetable things to see, to experience and to learn.

You always should be aware that such big cities are always kinda dangerous. Some districts or parts more, others less. Best is always carry with you what you really need at this time and not more and especially no valueable things like juwels, passport and so on. Only carry a copy of your passport or any other ID card, which is not needed for further travelling. If you move in poor and dangerous areas always hide your camera and carry everything as close and connected to your body as possible. Lima is defenitely not more dangerous than other cities in the world. Most of the people have to blame themselves if they get robbed. Follow simple rules and always be aware where you go, when, with whom and how and you can save yourself a lot of trouble.

Though, don't be afraid of visiting Lima and for sure you will have a great time in this city.

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