Peru travel guide
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I am a know Peru like the back of my hand, that would be a bit too drastic. I was only there for eight days, which was definitely way too short because the country is massive and there are so many different things to discover. But I can definitely tell you a thing or two about the places I did visit and who knows, maybe they can be put to good use if you have a trip to Peru planned.
Lima
Lima is huge and has almost 10 million inhabitants. The city is divided into 43 districts and they all have their own signature. You can kind of compare it to the different arrondissements in Paris. The climate in Lima is rather off; to start off, it’s cloudy for about 8 months and it hardly rains. An occasional drizzle but no real rain.
Barranco district
This used to be a beach city which is visible through all the Hampton-esque mansions you’ll find. Barranco is very lively, full of cool bars and restaurants. We had dinner at Isolina Taberna Peruana and it was definitely one for in the books and highly recommended. Delicious traditional Peruvian dishes for affordable prices. Across from it you will find Ayahuasca, a gigantic joint where you can eat or order a drink from their endless list of cocktails. Personal tip: order the lychee sour. Ayahuasca is the only place in South America that has 7 bars, a room for bottle service and Condé Nast Traveller labeled them as the Best Bar of South America. Long story short, Barranco is perfect for a stroll on the beach followed by dinner and cocktails.
Historic City Centre district
Also referred to as Colonial Lima and perhaps the best place to really see the beauty of the city. The presidential house, the town house, the different ministries and historic city squares. So for anyone with a bit of interest in the cities history, they can sniff in as much culture as they can here. Fun fact: there is a cathedral, the arch bishops palace, the town house and the Clud de la Union on the Plaza Mayor (where Francisco Pizarro placed the first stone on January 18th 1535). Part of these buildings used to be white, but when the Pope dropped by in 1985, these buildings were painted the same colors as the colors on the Vatican flag. I thought this was rather odd.
Miraflores district
We only drove through this city but from what I saw, this place is gorgeous. And what I do know that there is a park, called the Kennedy Park, which is inhabited by cats. CATS! I kid you not. How this happened, no one knows, but the park is filled with street cats. As you would understand, I nearly died when I found out we would only be passing it by.
Paracas
Paracas National Reserve
This is where we dropped by the Paracas National Reserve, a gigantic national park filled with raving cliffs and sloshing waves. Think desert, but then with chunks of cliffs and vast plains. You can pass through it with your own transportation (a car or a mountain bike for example) but there are plenty of tour buses that will take you to the prettiest places. It’s about a four hour drive from Lima.
Ballestas islands
The Ballestas Islands can be found by the Paracas coast, officially also a part of the National Park. Small speedboats take about half an hour to take you to the islands, made up of cliffs and caves filled with dozens of birds, sea lion and penguins. It is breath takingly beautiful and a highly recommended trip to make which will take about two to three hours of your time.
Iquitos
Iquitos is about a half an hour flight from Lima. It’s a city located in the jungle in the middle of nowhere. There are only two ways of getting there: by plane or by boat, and there are roughly half a million inhabitants and 25.000 tuk-tuks. Yep, they have more tuk-tuks than they do cars or scooters. There is one road from Iquitos to Nauta, where we boarded a boat for a cruise. If you want to experience the Amazon, then Iquitos is a must.
