Lima

The Plaza Mayor, also known as the Plaza de Armas, located in the heart of the city, is a very historical centre. Some of the highlights to be seen on a Peru vacation surrounding and close to the plaza include the Palacio de Gobierno (the Governor’s Palace), the official residence and office of Peru's president. The changing of the palace guards takes place each day exactly at noon here. The Cathedral was the city’s first church in 1535 and was rebuilt numerous times.  The Archbishop's Palace was originally built during the 1600s.  

The San Francisco Church and Monastery were built in the baroque style of the late 1600s. It is one of the best-preserved in lima. The monastery next to it has an outstanding collection of ancient religious texts, There is also a library plus it has catacombs which once were part of Lima's original cemeteries built under churches. There are around 75,000 bodies buried under the church alone.

Miraflores is a suburb of Lima and an upscale district located on the edge of the Pacific Ocean. It is where many major hotels are located on Peru tours. The Malecon is a 10-kilometre/6-mile stretch of parks situated along the cliffs. You will find statues created by famous Peruvian artists. One of the most popular spots is “Parque Kennedy” known to locals as the cat park, nicely laid out and full of hundreds of cats. The Pucllana Temple or Huaca is an adobe ceremonial centre built around 500 A.D.  

The Larco Museum features pre-Columbian art and is housed in an 18th Century building built over a 7th Century pre-Columbian pyramid. Its galleries provide an overview of 3000 years of Peruvian pre-Columbian history through ceramic, textile and precious metal artefacts. There is a special room devoted to erotic archaeological treasures and a collection of ceramic pots portraying a variety of sexual positions and acts.

The National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology and History of Peru is Peru's oldest state-owned museum. It has a wide display of highly-preserved pre-Hispanic ceramics, textiles and metals. The ceramics alone has over 65,000 objects which mostly originate from archaeological excavations. The textile gallery displays items from every Peruvian cultural period and is considered to be the world's second-most important textile collection.

While it rarely rains in Lima on Peru’s coast, this region experiences two seasons, summer and winter. The summer season runs from December to March with temperatures averaging around 27 Centigrade/80 Fahrenheit while winter on the coast is from May to November. This time of year can be damp and sometimes chilly with temperatures dropping to 12 Centigrade/53 Fahrenheit.