🇵🇪Lima
A grey-skied capital of ten million on a desert cliff above the Pacific, and — genuinely — one of the best places to eat on earth. Most people transit through it. That's a mistake.
Mid-range figures, per person
Per person, no flights — those are just below. The mid-range figure is researched; budget and comfort scale it, so treat the two as rough. The trip calculator and hotels below break the day down properly.
Fares are into Lima. Cusco and Arequipa add a domestic leg, usually $40–100 each way on LATAM or Sky. Ranges are typical fares booked 1–3 months out, checked mid-2026 — school-holiday peaks run higher, and patient shoppers beat the bottom end.
Prices checked · how we work these out
Is Lima expensive to visit?
It's about average: a mid-range day in Lima costs $55–110 per person, and its $83 midpoint is 8% below the $90 median across all 127 cities here. Within Peru it sits right at the $80 average of our 3 Peru guides. That makes it pricier than 56 of the 127 cities, with a cheap meal at $3–6 and a mid-range hotel at $45–95 a night.
How much does a trip to Lima cost?
| Trip length | Budget | Mid-range | Comfort |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 days | $105–195 | $165–330 | $300–600 |
| 5 days | $175–325 | $275–550 | $500–1,000 |
| 7 days | $245–455 | $385–770 | $700–1,400 |
| 14 days | $490–910 | $770–1,540 | $1,400–2,800 |
Per person and before flights, 3 days in Lima costs $165–330 mid-range, five days $275–550, a week $385–770 and two weeks $770–1,540; a week costs about $245–455 on a budget and $700–1,400 travelling in comfort.
Per person in US dollars, flights not included. Each total is a daily range from the band above multiplied out: mid-range is the guide's researched figure and already includes a mid-range room; budget and comfort scale it by 0.6 and 1.8, so treat those two as rough. The trip calculator lets you set your own days and group size.
Entry & visa
No, for most Western passports. US, UK, EU, Canadian and Australian citizens get up to 183 days visa-free as tourists, granted on arrival. Passport valid six months. Keep your entry record — you may be asked for it when leaving.
Visa rules turn on your nationality and change often — always confirm the current requirement for your own passport with an official government source before you book.
Quick facts
Money & what things cost
Cards are widely accepted in Miraflores, Barranco and San Isidro, less so in the centre and the markets. Withdraw soles from bank ATMs inside branches or shopping centres rather than street machines, and ask for smaller notes. US dollars circulate in some tourist businesses at unfavourable rates, and damaged or torn dollar bills are refused outright across Peru. Lima is cheap by international standards and expensive by Peruvian ones — incomes here run roughly double the national median, and prices follow.
What locals earn
| Earnings | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Lima average monthly salary | ≈ S/3,500 ($940) | Roughly double the national median; Lima concentrates the country's formal employment. |
| National average | ≈ S/2,200–2,700 ($590–720) | For comparison — the gap between the capital and the rest is enormous. |
| Minimum wage | S/1,130/month ($301) | The national floor as of 2026. |
| Typical service wage | S/1,200–2,000 ($320–530) | Restaurant, retail and hotel staff. |
Food & drink
| Item | Local price | ≈ USD |
|---|---|---|
| Menú del día (set lunch) | S/12–22 | $3.20–5.90 |
| Ceviche at a cevichería | S/25–45 | $6.70–12 |
| Casual restaurant, per person | S/35–65 | $9.30–17 |
| Mid-range dinner, per person | S/80–160 | $21–43 |
| Tasting menu at a top restaurant | S/450–900 | $120–240 |
| Coffee | S/8–15 | $2.10–4 |
| Pisco sour | S/22–40 | $5.90–11 |
Transport
| Item | Local price | ≈ USD |
|---|---|---|
| Metropolitano bus | S/3.20 | $0.85 |
| Combi / micro | S/1.50–2.50 | $0.40–0.67 |
| Taxi / app ride across town | S/15–35 | $4–9.30 |
| Airport → Miraflores | S/50–90 | $13–24 |
| Flight to Cusco | S/200–500 | $53–133 |
Sights
| Item | Local price | ≈ USD |
|---|---|---|
| Larco Museum | S/45 | $12 |
| Huaca Pucllana | S/15–20 | $4–5.30 |
| Catacombs at San Francisco | S/20–30 | $5.30–8 |
| Malecón cliff walk | Free | Free |
Where to sleep & what it costs
| Tier | Per night | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hostel dorm | S/30–60 ($8–16) | Concentrated in Miraflores and Barranco. |
| Budget hotel | S/90–160 ($24–43) | Small hotels in Miraflores; better value slightly inland. |
| Mid-range hotel | S/170–360 ($45–95) | Miraflores, Barranco or San Isidro. These are the districts to stay in. |
| Luxury | S/600–1,600+ ($160–425+) | Clifftop hotels above the Pacific in Miraflores. |
Been recently? Check our prices
One tap per figure. Check-ins reset whenever this guide is re-priced, so they only ever vouch for the numbers you see here.
Trip cost calculator
$83 per person per day · 4 nights of lodging (Mid-range hotel)
A rough estimate, not a quote. The daily budget already includes a room, so one traveler pays exactly days × that budget; lodging is the room’s part of it, priced from the hotels below but never more than 45% of the trip. Extra travelers share the room and add only their own spending. Flights use the midpoint of the Getting there ranges above.
Getting around
- From the airport
- Jorge Chávez is in Callao, 45–70 minutes from Miraflores depending badly on traffic. Use the official airport taxi desks, a pre-booked transfer, or the Airport Express bus. Do not take an unbooked taxi from outside the terminal — this is the one piece of Lima transport advice every local gives.
- Taxis & ride apps
- Use Uber, Cabify or InDrive. Street taxis are unmetered, you negotiate before getting in, and app rides remove both the haggling and the safety question. Fares across the city are S/15–35.
- Metropolitano
- A fast bus-rapid-transit line on a dedicated corridor running north–south through the city for S/3.20. Genuinely useful between the centre and Barranco, and it bypasses the traffic that ruins everything else.
- Combis
- Privately run minibuses with a shouted destination and no fixed stops. Cheap, chaotic and how most of Lima moves. Fine if you're confident with Spanish and the geography.
- On foot
- Miraflores, Barranco and the historic centre are each walkable within themselves, and the Malecón clifftop path connects Miraflores to Barranco in a lovely 40 minutes. Between districts, take a car — this is a very large city and drivers are assertive.
Map
Drag to look around, or open Google Maps ↗ · Apple Maps ↗
Neighborhoods to stay in
- Miraflores
- Clifftop parks above the Pacific, the best concentration of restaurants and hotels, safe and walkable. The default and a good one.
- Barranco
- The bohemian district next door — colonial houses, street art, bars and the best nightlife. Smaller, prettier, increasingly the smarter choice.
- San Isidro
- The financial district: quiet, leafy, expensive, less atmosphere. Good for business, dull for a short visit.
- Centro Histórico
- The colonial core with the plazas and churches. Worth a day; most visitors don't sleep here, and after dark it empties out.
Things to do
Food
History
Coast & neighbourhoods
Tipping & etiquette
- Lunch is the main meal and runs 1–3pm. Ceviche is eaten at lunch, not dinner, for the straightforward reason that the fish is freshest then.
- Pisco sour is Peru's drink and its origin is genuinely disputed with Chile. Attributing it to Chile in a Lima bar will start a conversation.
- Limeños are formal in address — 'usted' with strangers and anyone older, and titles like señor and señora matter.
- Don't flag street taxis. Use an app. This is the single most repeated piece of local advice and it's about safety, not price.
- Punctuality is looser than in northern Europe for social occasions; being 20 minutes late to dinner is normal. Tours and buses run on time.
- The garúa mist is genuinely permanent from May to November. Locals find visitor complaints about it funny.
How to spend a trip to Lima
In a city of ten million the traffic is the real distance, so each day below stays inside one part of it — the historic centre, or the coastal districts of Miraflores and Barranco, which a clifftop path joins in about forty minutes on foot.
One day is enough to understand why people who live here are fond of it. Do the centre in the morning and the coast in the afternoon, and eat lunch like a limeño.
- MorningThe historic centre: Plaza Mayor, the changing of the guard, and the bone-lined catacombs under San Francisco.
- MiddayA cevichería, because ceviche is a lunch dish here and the good places sell out by mid-afternoon.
- AfternoonThe Larco Museum, which is the best introduction to pre-Inca Peru anywhere, storeroom included.
- EveningThe Malecón at sunset, walking south into Barranco for dinner and a pisco sour.
Two full days is this guide's answer and it holds. A third buys you either a day trip or a restaurant booking you made months ago.
- Day 1The historic centre in the morning, the Larco Museum in the afternoon.
- Day 2Miraflores and Barranco: Huaca Pucllana sitting in the middle of the suburb, the Malecón, the Bridge of Sighs, and the bars behind it.
- Day 3Mercado de Surquillo early, then either the Pachacámac ruins or the tasting menu, depending on which sort of day you want.
Five days is more than Lima asks for — two is the honest figure, three with a day trip. The useful version of five is to stop sightseeing and start eating, then fly on, because Lima is where the rest of Peru connects.
- Days 1–3The three-day plan: the centre, the coastal districts, and Pachacámac or a long lunch.
- Day 4Food as the point rather than a break from it: the market in the morning, chifa or nikkei at midday, a cevichería somebody local recommended, and a paraglider off the Miraflores cliff in between.
- Day 5Fly. Cusco is where most people go next, though Arequipa is the kinder landing — it is around a thousand metres lower, and going straight from sea level to Cusco is what makes people ill.
Safety & common scams
Lima requires more street awareness than most cities on this site, though the districts visitors actually use — Miraflores, Barranco, San Isidro — are well policed and comfortable to walk by day and evening. The real risks are opportunistic theft, phone snatching from open windows or pavements, and unlicensed taxis. Use ride apps, don't walk with a phone out on a main road, and don't wear obvious jewellery. The historic centre is fine by day and thins out uncomfortably at night. Political demonstrations are frequent and can close central streets; they're generally announced in advance. Peru also sits in a seismically active zone — check your hotel's evacuation notice.
Scams to know
- Unlicensed airport taxis — the classic and most serious one. Use the official desks inside the terminal, a pre-booked transfer, or an app. Never a driver who approaches you.
- Phone snatching — from café tables, pavements and open car windows in traffic. Keep it away in the street.
- Counterfeit soles — check S/100 and S/200 notes for the watermark and raised print, particularly from taxis and markets.
- Torn dollar bills — refused everywhere in Peru. If you bring dollars, bring pristine ones.
- The 'spilled' distraction — someone marks your clothing then helpfully cleans it while a second person works your bag.
Emergency numbers: 105 police · 116 fire · 911 general. There is a tourist police unit (Policía de Turismo) with English speakers in Miraflores.
Phone & internet
Good 4G and 5G across the city. Claro, Movistar, Entel and Bitel sell prepaid SIMs for S/10–30 with generous data; you must show a passport to register. Wi-Fi is standard in hotels, cafés and restaurants in the main districts. Coverage in outer Lima is fine; it's the traffic, not the signal, that will slow you down.
First-timer FAQs
Is Lima worth stopping in?
Yes, and most people underrate it because they only see the airport. It has the best food in South America, an outstanding pre-Columbian museum, a colonial centre and six kilometres of clifftop park above the Pacific. Two days is enough to see why people who live here are fond of it.
How many days do I need?
Two full days: one for the historic centre and the Larco Museum, one for Miraflores, Barranco and eating properly. Three if you want a serious restaurant booking or a day trip to the Pachacámac ruins.
Is it safe?
With sensible precautions, yes. Stay in Miraflores, Barranco or San Isidro, use ride apps rather than street taxis, keep your phone out of sight on the street, and don't wander the historic centre late at night. Violent crime against tourists is uncommon; opportunistic theft is not.
What's with the grey sky?
Lima sits in a coastal desert under a permanent low cloud layer called the garúa from roughly May to November. It almost never actually rains — it just stays grey and damp. If you want sun, come between December and April, which is also when the beaches work.
Should I eat ceviche?
Absolutely, at lunchtime, at a proper cevichería. The fish is cured in lime juice rather than cooked, so freshness is everything and reputable places sell out by mid-afternoon. It's the national dish and Lima does it better than anywhere.
Similar cities to consider
🇬🇷Thessaloniki
GreeceGreece's second city: Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman layers stacked on a seafront promenade, a student population that keeps it up late, and the best food in the country. Almost no tour groups.
🇹🇷Bodrum
TürkiyeWhitewashed Aegean glamour — a crusader castle guarding the harbor, gulet sailboats bobbing in the marina, and Greek islands close enough to see from the beach club.
🇯🇵Hiroshima
JapanA city that rebuilt itself into one of Japan's most livable places, anchored by a memorial that asks to be visited quietly, and a floating torii gate an hour away.
Lima or…?
Side-by-side cost comparisons with other guides.
Or weigh it against the other Peru guides and its rivals abroad: