Holiday in Lima, Peru! Things to look out for?

[Minamu]

I decided on a whim basically to take some time off of work and go on some kind of holiday. Lima was as much of a whim to be honest. I have a friend there that I will hang out with some but I'm also curious as to what else to do. I'm gonna be there for 2 weeks, the plane leaves Sweden in ~3 hours.

I know of Machu Pichu and other tourist attractions of course, I will try to visit some of these places. Is there anything else to look out for while in Peru and Lima specifically? Do's and Don't's etc.

Do we have any era members from Lima or Peru in general? :)

 

[Taki]

Are you Swedish? Oh man Peru sounds like it's gonna be quite a contrasting experience to Sweden.

Upvoted because I wanna go to Peru one day too.

 

[Albin]

Went there last year, and you need to book tickets to Machu Pichu beforehand. Look that up asap as it might be to late! MP was amazing and easily the highpoint of the trip. Especially Wayna-Pichu, which is a mountain accessed from MP where you have an amazing view of MP the the surrounding area.

We also visited a small town on our way to MP, called Ollantayambo which I found very cool. Don't bother with Cusco.

And don't plan to stay in Lima for too long, we spent a few days there and that was enough for me.

Our trip was mostly about visiting MP so I dont have many other tips. If I went again I'd try to see more of the rainforrest.

Trevlig resa!

 

[kswiston]

I didn't spend much time in Lima itself, but Cuzco is beautiful, and Machu Picchu should definitely be on your agenda. Just watch your possessions. I know people who had backpacks or purses snatched in Lima. But I guess that advice holds for most huge cities outside of a few very wealthy ones.

 

[Arulan]

I visited Peru a couple of years ago. I'm not sure how useful this will be, but here it is.

• Ceviche is incredible. Make sure to eat your fill in Lima, although these meals (in Lima) will probably be the most expensive of your trip.
• I believe I had to make reservations for Machu Pichu ahead of time. Make sure to look into that.
• It's common for tourists to get sick at some point. Try to stick to bottled water if you can, but be prepared for it. The ceviche may have been what got me, but it was worth it. If you're traveling across the country, the elevation changes might get to you too.
• Don't decide to hike down and up Colca Canyon if you haven't been physically active recently. Heh.
• The Ballestas Islands is great if visiting something like the Galapagos sounds appealing. The Paracas desert coastline is pretty interesting as well.
• Hostels can be a great way to save money, but I wouldn't count on Wi-Fi access or a hot shower (even if they're advertised as such).
• Guinea Pig was worth trying once.
• Sandboarding on the dunes near Huacachina was great.
• I hope you have a large hiking backpack to carry everything with you. You don't want to be carrying suit cases around.
• The bus is a great way to get around. I believe I used Cruz del Sur.

 

[Minamu]

Thanks for the responses so far, great tips. Yes I'm Swedish, this is gonna be a long ass trip haha.

I didn't know about having to book a trip to MP, I'll look into it once I get settled in I think.

My friend is a poker player so I think he'll be able to show me around some interesting venues. Casinos and what not.

I was recently turned single, semi-involuntarily, so Tinder is also running hot already xD A pretty big reason for the trip tbh. The nightlife could be interesting.

 

[Megabreath]

Good stuff, i am hoping to be in Peru myself this year.

For MP, i thought you only needed to prebook tickets if you are doing the inca trial?

 

[FreeMufasa]

Thanks for the responses so far, great tips. Yes I'm Swedish, this is gonna be a long ass trip haha.

I didn't know about having to book a trip to MP, I'll look into it once I get settled in I think.

My friend is a poker player so I think he'll be able to show me around some interesting venues. Casinos and what not.

I was recently turned single, semi-involuntarily, so Tinder is also running hot already xD A pretty big reason for the trip tbh. The nightlife could be interesting.

Click to shrink...

My man

 

[Crispy75]

Aside from all the other great stuff in Peru already mentioned, there's an amazing railway into the mountains from Lima; the Ferocarril Central Andino. Until China built the line to Tibet, it was the world's highest passenger service, reaching 4700m (15,600ft). The views are spectacular and you can go to the saloon car at the rear of the train, order a pisco sour, chew some coca leaves, lean on the open sided window and watch the Andes unfold around you. You end up in Huancayo, a major city of the highlands, from where you can either bus it back to the coast (Pisco/Ballestas or Nazca) or carry on south to Cuzco.

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A highlight of my trip 10 years ago. Was a pain to book tickets - you might be best off looking into it while you're there.

Lima itself is a bit meh. Day or two max.

 

[Minamu]

I haven't made a schedule for what to see yet, but I heard that MP is actually very close to Lima?

I've been here for about 1.5 days and thanks to my friend, I've already been to a huge birthday party that just ended after 14 hours of heavy drinking and dancing with complete strangers xD I've had more vodka and other alcohols than water and food these past 36 hours.

 

[Albin]

MP is not close to Lima. Well, I mean it's closer than Stockholm but it's still pretty far. We flew from Lima to Cuzco, then we took a busride (~2h I think?) to the small town I mentioned, from there we then took a train to Aguas Calientes, which I think is the closest you can get, and from there we took a short busride up to MP itself. I guess you could make the trip in a couple of days, but I would recommend that you spend one entire day in MP.

From my experience, considering how much we planned our trip to MP beforehand, I'd say just skip it this time. Focus on things more accessible and closer to Lima.

 

[Minamu]

MP is not close to Lima. Well, I mean it's closer than Stockholm but it's still pretty far. We flew from Lima to Cuzco, then we took a busride (~2h I think?) to the small town I mentioned, from there we then took a train to Aguas Calientes, which I think is the closest you can get, and from there we took a short busride up to MP itself. I guess you could make the trip in a couple of days, but I would recommend that you spend one entire day in MP.

From my experience, considering how much we planned our trip to MP beforehand, I'd say just skip it this time. Focus on things more accessible and closer to Lima.

Click to shrink...

That's odd, a local girl told me it's 45 minutes away xD She got me excited there since it made no sense based on what I've read myself.

As for planning, we'll see what happens. I was under the impression my friend had lived in Lima for many months, maybe even a year, but it turns out he has only lived here for 3 weeks! So he's basically as new to the sights as I am so we might actually see some stuff together.