Attractive Neighbourhoods in Lima

Miraflores
Lima's foremost tourist and hotel district is without a doubt Miraflores. This district features spacious modern shopping areas, well-manicured parks and gardens. Miraflores is known for its many flower-filled parks, but is also famous for its beaches, that are part of the "Costa Verde" area, which draw thousands of beach-goers and surfers in summertime. The district also puts on many cultural events at theatres, cinemas and art galleries, and boasts a pre-Inca mud-brick temple called the Huaca Pucllana, one of many archaeological sites still found in Lima. The district teems with cosy cafés, pubs, restaurants and shops, while its freshly remodelled parks and gardens attract thousands of Lima inhabitants every Sunday, who congregate to visit art exhibitions, take in open-air concerts and browse through flea markets.

San Isidro
This is Lima's "garden' district, as it stands out for its green zones and exclusive residential areas. San Isidro also features many of the city's finest restaurants, hotels and concert halls. Despite the building boom, San Isidro has kept something of the aristocratic atmosphere for which this suburb was known for at the beginning of the century. This can be still clearly seen in the area of El Olivar, a centuries-old olive grove that has kept many of its original trees. In recent years, the district has become a major financial quarter as many banks and businesses left downtown Lima to set up their headquarters in modern office blocks. The district features a pre-Hispanic temple, Huallamarca, where concerts and exhibitions area held occasionally.

Barranco and Chorrillos
Together with the neighbouring district of Chorrillos, Barranco, a few decades ago, was the fashionable seaside district for Lima's aristocracy. Today it is Lima's premier Bohemian quarter. Over the past 15 years, Barranco has made a comeback. Its parks and Republican mansions have been refurbished, with frequent concerts and cultural shows along its tree-lined streets. A must-see is the Bridge of Sighs, a favourite hang-out for courting couples, and its seaside drive overlooking the Costa Verde.

Further south lies Chorrillos, famous for beach resorts like La Herradura, featuring restaurants and eateries known as picanterías. The area has had a rich Republican history, that can still be seen today in the sweeping mansions still found there. Chorrillos is also home to the astronomical observatory on top of the hill called the Morro Solar, scene of major battles in the war against Chile (1879-1883). This spot provides visitors with an unrivalled view of Lima's coastline, stretching from Chorrillos to Isla San Lorenzo off Callao.

Rímac and Plaza de Acho
Known as the district "under the bridge", this is one of the most traditional areas of the downtown Lima and features streets that are notably Sevillian in style. Located on the banks of the Rímac river, opposite to the original city centre, Rímac was known in colonial times as the Barrio de Indios San Lázaro (Indians' quarter), and is linked to the city by century-old bridges. The cradle of Creole culture, Rímac is home to some of Lima's best-known Creole clubs, or peñas, and traditional restaurants. The district features some extraordinary spots like the Alameda de los Descalzos, the Paseo de Aguas, the Quinta Presa and several squares and churches. In addition, Rímac is home to the Plaza de Acho (1768), one of the oldest bullrings in the Americas. Every October, Acho hosts the famous Señor de los Milagros bullfight season, which draws many of the world's top bullfighters to participate.

Barrios Altos and Barrio Chino (Chines Quarter)
One of the most traditional quarters of downtown Lima, Barrios Altos was home to composers, intellectuals, musicians and Bohemian types, who took criollismo to new heights. Here one still finds some of the best examples of colonial and republican architecture that includes the Quinta Heeren, an area with its own plaza; the Casa de Trece Monedas, a majestic nineteenth-century residence; the Iglesia de las Trinitarias and the Molino de Santa Clara.

Lima's Chinatown, bordering the Mercado Central, is home to oriental tea rooms, and restaurants serving up exquisite varieties of Chinese food.

Callao and La Punta
Located 14 km west of Lima, Callao is the country's largest port. Founded in 1537 to serve as a site for loading the treasures of ancient Peru on to galleons headed for Spain, Callao features the pentagon-shaped fort of Real Felipe, built in the eighteenth century to fend off attacks by pirates and corsairs. Later, the fort was to play a major role in the war of independence.

Callao tapers off in the district of La Punta, a long peninsula that juts out into the Pacific Ocean and is home to the Navy base, a few pebble beaches, the old beachfront drive and residential areas in vogue in the 1940s and 1950s. A few kilometres off the coast lies Isla San Lorenzo, an island featuring pre-Hispanic burial grounds, and the islet of Frontón, once the site of a maximum-security prison.

Source: Lima, the City of Kings and its surrounding areas. A traveler's guide, by Promperú.