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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