Lima Things to Do Tips by ThiagoRamos

The XVI Century Plaza de Armas is probably the best place to start your visit to Lima.

There you will find the Cathedral and the Archbishop´s Palace next to each other, the Government Palace and many other beautiful colonial buildings that earned Lima´s historical city center the deserved title of Unesco World Heritage Site.

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Directions: Heart of Lima

The construction of the Cathedral began in 1564 and was finished in 1622, but a severe earthquake destroyed it in 1746 and it had to be rebuilt.

The Cathedral combines gothic, neoclassic, renaissance and baroque styles.

Beside the cathedral, on your left side if you look from the plaza, is the Archbishop´s Palace, another fine example of the colonial architecture.

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Address: Plaza Mayor - Lima

The guided tour inside the Cathedral is included in the price of the entrance ticket, but the guide will probably ask you for a tip after finishing his job...

Besides beautiful chapels, paintings and sculptures, the visitor will also see the Tomb of the Spanish Conqueror Francisco Pizarro, the place where the remains of his body were found, the room where peruvian independence was proclaimed by San Martin and a nice exhibition of religious objects.

I´ve enjoyed it!!!

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Address: Plaza Mayor - Lima

The magnificent building of the Government Palace dates from the XVI Century and was known as "House of Pizarro" because the spanish conqueror worked and lived here since the foundation of Lima until his death in 1941.

The change of guard takes place daily at 11:45 AM. I´ve missed it when I visited Lima... shame on me!!!

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Address: Plaza Mayor - Lima

This is the beautiful facade of San Francisco monastery!!! Probably one of prettiest buildings in Lima.

The guided visit also includes the museum of religious arts, the library and the catacombs. Yes... catacombs... the church and the monastery were built over underground catacombs, which were used as cemeteries during the colonial period. The impressive amount of bones in the catacombs is maybe the strongest memory I have of this place...

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Address: Calle Ancash, At The Corner With Lampa
Directions: City Center

Iglesia de La Merced (La Merced Church) is another beautiful colonial church. The splendidly sculptured facade is certainly the most impressive I´ve seen in Lima!!!

The church is located at Jiron de la Union, the most important pedestrian street in the city, which connects Plaza Mayor to Plaza San Martin.

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Address: Jiron de la Union
Directions: City Center

Plaza San Martin is another huge square at Lima´s old city center.

Although it is surrounded by old imposing buildings, this square looked more modern, noisy and alive to me than Plaza de Armas.

A cab driver has told me that this is the preferred site for public manifestations and riots in Peru. Interesting additional info.

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Address: Plaza San Martin
Directions: City center

Also at the old city center of Lima, a few blocks from Plaza de Armas, is the Simon Bolivar Square and the National Congress.

The square is closed by gates and fences and you can only take pictures from behind them.

In front of the square is the National Museum of the Holy Inquisition (you can see it in the second picture, behind Simon Bolívar´s Statue).

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Address: Plaza Bolívar
Directions: Old city center

The Museum Tribunal of the Holy Inquisition works at Plaza Bolívar, at the same building where the tribunal itself worked since 1584.

The museum tells the story of the Tribunal of the Holy Inquisition, created by spanish King Philip II to fight against the heresies, all kinds of "sexual deviations", protestantism and juadaism.

After visiting the Holy Inquisition Museum, with the same ticket you can also visit the Congress Museum (in the same building) that tells the story of the peruvian republic.

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Address: Bolívar Square

Miraflores is the new commercial heart of Lima. Walking around it is almost like being in another city because the difference between its avenues or streets and the ones from Lima is huge.

The tourist attractions however are concentrated in Lima old city center, so there ain´t much to do in Miraflores. The best thing to do is to walk around hurryless just checking out the people, streets, squares and the commerce.

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Directions: Southwest Of The Centrum Of Lima