Lima Peru 5 Day Itinerary

Jorge Chavez airport finished a new terminal in 2025 that tripled capacity and moved the pickup zones far enough from arrivals that fares from unlicensed drivers have crept up along with the walking distance. Skip anyone shouting “taxi” inside the hall. Book a transfer in advance or walk to the authorized taxi counter, where a ride to Miraflores runs somewhere around 60 to 75 soles in normal traffic. If you want the cheapest legitimate option, Airport Express Lima runs a coach service into Miraflores for about 15 soles with hourly departures until roughly 10pm, and it beats haggling with a stranger at 1am.

Day 1: Arrival and Miraflores

Base yourself in Miraflores. It is the district every guidebook recommends for a reason, well lit, heavily walked, close to the coastline, and it has enough hotel and short-term rental stock that you are not stuck paying resort prices. Get breakfast, then walk down to Larcomar, the shopping center built into the cliff face itself rather than perched above it, which makes the ocean view from the food court genuinely dramatic rather than incidental. Follow the Malecon along the bluffs to Huaca Pucllana, an adobe and clay pyramid complex built by the Lima Culture roughly 1,500 years ago, centuries before the Inca even existed as a regional power. It is one of the few pre-Columbian sites you can visit within a ten minute walk of a modern shopping mall anywhere in South America.

For lunch, ceviche at a Miraflores spot tied to the Acurio restaurant group is the safe, reliably good choice. In the evening, walk to Parque del Amor for the cliffside sunset before dinner. Do not hail a taxi off the street after dark here; use a rideshare app instead, since express kidnapping schemes targeting late-night street taxis in exactly this district have been documented repeatedly in recent years.

Day 2: Historic center

The old Plaza Mayor downtown is a different Lima entirely, colonial architecture, the Government Palace, and the San Francisco Monastery with its catacombs holding the remains of an estimated 25,000 people beneath the church floor. Go early. Fake plainclothes police occasionally target tourists in this part of the city, claiming to investigate counterfeit bills and asking to inspect wallets. A real officer never needs to hold your cash to do that job, so decline and walk toward a crowd if approached.

If a splurge dinner is on your list, know what you are paying for before you book. Astrid y Gaston, one of the most decorated restaurants in Latin America, runs two tasting menus in the 550 to 600 soles range per person before drinks, not a casual affordable lunch stop, so reserve well ahead and budget accordingly. For something lighter, a sandwich counter downtown will run a fraction of that and still be memorable.

Day 3: Barranco

Barranco is Lima’s bohemian district, all pastel houses, street art, and the wooden Bridge of Sighs that locals insist you hold your breath crossing for good luck. The Pedro de Osma Museum has one of the best small colonial art collections in the country and rarely feels crowded. Spend the evening here rather than rushing back to Miraflores, since Barranco’s bar scene along the clifftop streets is where a lot of Lima’s actual nightlife happens, not the more polished but sleepier Miraflores strip.

Day 4: Museums and gold

The Museo Larco holds one of the largest pre-Columbian gold and ceramic collections anywhere, plus the gallery of erotic pottery that draws its own curious crowd, and its garden cafe is a legitimately good lunch stop rather than a tourist-trap afterthought. Pair it with MALI for a contemporary counterpoint in the same afternoon. Both sit close enough together that a single taxi or rideshare loop covers them without much backtracking.

Day 5: Day trip south

Huacachina, the desert oasis ringed by towering dunes about four hours south, is the classic sandboarding and dune-buggy day trip, though it is a long round trip for a single day and better as an overnight if your schedule allows it. Pisco, closer at around two and a half hours by bus, trades dunes for vineyards and pisco tastings and suits travelers who would rather sit through a slower afternoon than bounce over sand at speed. Either way, arrange transport the night before; same-day bookings during high season sell out.

A few practical notes before you go. The sol is the currency, cards are widely accepted in Miraflores and Barranco but cash still matters at markets and smaller eateries. Tap water is not safe to drink anywhere in the city, stick to bottled. Lima’s coastal fog, the garua, keeps the city gray and cool for much of the southern hemisphere winter from June through September, so pack a light jacket even if the calendar says you are near the equator. Metro and rideshare apps cover most of the city well; save street taxis for daylight hours only.