When traveling to Lima, one thing that came as a surprise to me during the planning process was how many different ‘districts’ Lima has. During my trip I spent two days in the Miraflores area and then two days staying in the Historic center. However, there are several other areas that I could have just as easily stayed in and explored. The other important thing to be noted is that in my opinion, as someone who is definitely an advocate for walking when traveling, is that walking between these ares, especially if you are carrying a backpack, really isn’t ideal.
For example, taking a cab from Miraflores to the Historic Center probably took 20 minutes.
So when I first arrived in Lima I spent my first two days in the Miraflores area, which a lovely little area right on the coast. The are itself feels super trendy, and I would say would be a good destination for something who was interested in international travel but at the same time liked the idea of seeing things that still felt familiar.
Anyways, after leaving the airport my taxi ride to the hotel was close to an hour but the cost only came to about 33 USD. I ended up staying at the Hilton Miraflores, which typically would have been very far out of my means, however, with my employee discount, the price was too good to pass up. Like I said, typically I would rather stay in some sort of hostel but at the end of the day, this property did also offer me several other added conveniences, and was truly the nicest hotel I have stayed in my entire life.
The biggest change when I arrived in Lima was that it was noticeable warmer than Bogota. In fact, as soon as I exited the airport I was already beginning to sweat.
I will admit, my initial first impression of Lima from landing in the plane to driving to the hotel was not as grand as it was in Bogota. In fact, I was almost a little weary thinking to myself that I should have just stayed in Bogota. Nevertheless, this all changes once I got to my hotel and began exploring.
Once I was checked in and settled a bit, I ventured out and walked to the Miraflores boardwalk area to enjoy a lovely walk along the Pacific Ocean. As soon as I started walking out I was immediately struck with serious Miami vibes. I think that’s why the Miraflores area had such a comfortable feel.
Once I reached the boardwalk I was caught my major surprise. I feel like every picture I looked up before hand of this walking area made the whole thing look super underwhelming. This was all wrong. The walkway was well trafficked with locals and other travels all enjoying the lovely views of the Pacific Ocean, the sun on our shoulders, and some good company (unless your traveling solo like me… the sunset was my company).
The cool thing about Lima is that it is on top of a massive cliff, so you actually have to walk down a series of steps if you actually want to dunk your toes in the Pacific. This is kind of nice because it makes the walk even more scenic. You have nicer views of the Ocean and some of the surrounding areas along the water. As well, when the sun sets, the view is simply that much more amazing.
The first major thing I passed was the Larcomar. Once again, this completely took me by surprise because it is literally a massive shopping mall with all the trendy stores and a whole bunch of cool restaurants built right into the cliff. Nothing like shopping or eating and staring into the Pacific Ocean. Thanks to the view this also ended up being where I ate a few times.
I continued down the Boardwalk and next approached the Love Park. Basically this park is famous because there is a huge, low key explicit sculpture of a couple kissing. The beauty of this park though is that surround the sculpture there is a circle of benches and seating all completely covered in mosaics, which was giving me serious Barcelona vibes.
Once again, I continued on to see the Miraflores lighthouse, which was nice, but also nothing super special. The really spectacular thing about all of these monuments was that it was backdropped by the beginnings of a golden sunset over the Pacific Ocean.
Afterward I turned around and then began to head down what ended up being the pathway to get down to the actual ocean area, so I could stick my feel in the Pacific Ocean. At this point, the sunset was really in full bloom. Every time I thought to myself how beautiful the sunset was it just kept getting better and better. I think I literally stopped to take more photos every 20 steps.
Once down by the water I noticed one of those little rocky piers nearby so I went over there and climbed the rocks just to get a couple different views of the area. On the way back up the steps to the Boardwalk, the sky had switched to a pinky purple color until it was just a stripe of red separating the dark sky and the darkness of the ocean.
As I was passing back through the Larcomar I stopped at a restaurant called Mangos where I was able to grab a seat for one at the bar, sit outside, and enjoy the night views of the Pacific Ocean.
I wanted to try Peruvian food and drink so I grabbed a ceviche with the catch of the day and tried a Pisco Sour drink. Pisco is the national drink of Peru, which is made from Pisco Grapes that grow in the Ica Region, south of Peru. One of the men working the bar was actually nice enough to explain a lot of this to me since I was very curious.
When my meal came out I had a massive bowl full of fresh and tasty ceviche, which include the fish, onion, sweet potato, and corn. I will say that during my entire stay in Peru this was the best ceviche I tried.
While eating I looked up to see the bartender lookin at me kind of strangely. At that point I noticed I had for some reason started to get a bloody nose. I quickly went to the bathroom to fix myself but it made sense– I spent my morning on top of a mountain in Colombia and ended my day sitting oceanside by the pacific ocean. I started thinking about how amazing it was that in the span of one day I was on top of a lush green mountain, and ended my day dipping my toes in the Pacific Ocean. Even thinking about it now brings a sense of peace and joy to me.
Anyways afterward I walked back to my hotel and briefly went back to my room. It was later but still not too late, and I was not ready for this day to be over yet so I went downstairs to the hotel restaurant to sit on the patio and enjoy another drink and another plate of ceviche.
Afterward I called it a day as I would have to wake up the very early the next morning for a day trip to the Ica region.
My next day in the Miraflores area happened to be the day after I was in Ica and just so happened to get some sunburn. Nevertheless, I put on a long sleeve shirt under a dress and headed back out for to walk along the Miraflores Boardwalk again. I wanted to go down stick my feet in the ocean again, and just take in the lovely views of the Pacific Ocean.
My first stop was in the Larcomar for breakfast at a restaurant called Tantas. Nothing beats enjoying your breakfast with a view of the Ocean.
Funny story, once I was back down by the water I went to just put my toes in. Well as I walked toward the water, I kept going in deeper and deeper so I could have my feet in instead of just my toes. Of course once I was in until my ankles the next wave that came literally soaked my up to my waist. This really shouldn’t have been any problem except I had decided to wear not only a dress, but a white dress. So I sat off to the side for a little bit and relaxed listening to the sounds of the ocean. Once I felt like my dress was no longer see through I walked back up the boardwalk. Along the way I stopped at a cute little crepe place, and once again at it with the view of the ocean in the back.
I don’t know what it is but no matter the view of the ocean, no matter where you are, never gets old.
Afterward I headed back to my hotel, grabbed my backpack and took my cab over to the Historic Center.
I had a lovely, relaxing time enjoying the Miraflores area of lima. I am happy that I chose to stay here in addition to the historic area because I felt like I was in two completely different places and enjoyed both for completely different reasons even though at the end of the day both were Lima.
Anyways, have a lovely day!
Xx hann
Hannah On the Go 