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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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