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Private Full-Day Best of Lima Tour: Highlights of the Capital City
4.9
125 Ratings
Lima
Experience the best of Lima in just one day! Discover pre-Incan history, colonial architecture, award-winning food, and the iconic Larco Museum on this private guided tour. Book now!
Duration:
8 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
learn more
Highlights
- Plaza San Martin - Our first stop on the historic city-center portion of our tour. Here we recognize one of Peru’s most well-known liberators, Jose de San Martin.
- Museo Convento San Francisco y Catacumbas - Also known as the St. Francis Monastery in English, the church and convent were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1991. The site contains a world-renown library with about 25,000 antique texts and in the catacombs beneath it is estimated that this same number of people were laid to rest. Today you can explore the once hidden passages and observe the uniquely displayed remains of first Limeños.
- Plaza de Armas (Plaza Mayor) - Here we will spend a few minutes in the heart of Lima. The Plaza de Armas is home to the Presidential Palace, Arch Bishop’s Palace, Cathedral and Municipal buildings and can oftentimes be a lively place filled with people and various forms of entertainment.
- Museo Larco - Built atop a seventh century pyramid, this vice-royal mansion is a site to see with its beautifully cared for gardens; you will find yourself snapping photos of the grounds as much so as the relics inside. The portion of the tour consists of captivating history, a 45,000-piece store of antiquities and an intriguing erotic collection (this room can be left out if touring with younger children.)
Afterwards we will have time to enjoy a delicious lunch surrounded by colorful gardens on the outdoor patio of the museum cafe.
- Huaca Pucllana - A brief stop to observe Lima’s most famous solid pyramid used as a ceremonial site for the Lima culture during the years of 200 to 700 AD. A full tour of the site is not taken, only observed from the outside.
- El Parque del Amor - An artistic park located on the sea-side cliffs of Miraflores. Observe the para gliders sailing over head and local young couples strolling along the paths dedicated to lovers everywhere. A great place to snap a quick photo of you and a loved one!
- Miraflores - See the more contemporary side of Lima with it’s ocean side views and beautiful parks. Included in this portion of the tour are stops at the Huaca Pucllana and Parque de Amor (Love Park.)
- Morro Solar - Sitting at roughly 251 meters above sea level, you will get a wonderful view of the Pacific Coastline, Chorrillos Bay an the Shanty towns below. Often overlooked on other tours, this can be the highlight of ours!
What's Included
- Private tour
- Professional guide
- Hotel pickup and drop-off (from districts of San Isidro, Miraflores & Barranco - all others please see Exclusions)
- Transport by air-conditioned car or minivan
What's Not Included
- Lunch consumption at the Larco Museum Cafe
- Gratuities
- When tipping, please do so separately for the guide and driver.
Additional Information
Ideal for visitors with limited time in the capital, this tour brings you the best of Lima in a single day! You’ll get to discover everything from Lima’s ancient pre-Incan history and colonial-era architecture, to its celebrated culinary scene, and a private, guided exploration of Lima’s foremost attraction, the Larco Museum. Your private guide and provisioned transportation mean this tour is not just well-organized and convenient, but also a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the city as you get to know a local friend.
- Comfortable walking shoes are recommended
- The Catacombs portion of the tour is neither wheelchair nor stroller accessible but we can substitute the Cathedral of Lima or other venue if client is unable to participate in Catacombs tour.
- When tipping, please do so separately for the guide and driver.
- At time of booking, Cruise ship passengers must provide the following information at time of booking: ship name, docking time, disembarkation time and re-boarding time.
- Refunds will not be issued if tour/activity is missed due to late or non-arrival of cruise ship.
Location
Plaza San Martin
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(125 Ratings)
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Sleins
Apr 17, 2024
Highly recommended tour - The guide and driver were both fantastic! Our guide Gaby was very knowledgeable about the history of the places we went and was able to answer all our questions. Our driver did a great job navigating the crazy traffic in Lima, and was also knowledgeable about the area and places we went. We asked lots of questions and it was nice to have locals with us to answer them. We are so glad we spent our first day with them to help guide us through the rest of our stay.
Review provided by Viator
Loureniac
Mar 10, 2024
Gorgeous overview of historic Lima - Gabby and Jorge were fantastic. We learned so much and enjoyed all the locations. Highly recommend this tour!
Review provided by Viator
Jennie_f
Mar 4, 2024
Seeing a Whole Different Side of Lima - Marco was a fantastic tour guide. He spoke clearly and was extremely knowledgeable about everything. He could answer all of our questions. He gave ample time at each location. We had taken a different tour the day before, and Marco was excellent at revamping the itinerary, so we didn't do the same things. We appreciated his flexibility. The tour that Marco came up with was superb!
Jorge was our driver. He was very good at his job.
Review provided by Viator
Getaway29958719628
Feb 24, 2024
Tour of Limas - Excellent tour, the guide, Natalli, highly recommended, you could see her high knowledge of the subject, highly recommended to get to know Lima.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Laura_d
Feb 17, 2024
Amazing Tour! - The tour was incredible. We saw all the highlights of Lima and our guide Gaby was incredible. She was very knowledgeable. We would recommend this tour to anyone visiting Lima.
Review provided by Viator
L4980cspeters
Feb 10, 2024
A fantastic way to get to know Lima and Peru. Definitely do this!! Highly recomended. - This day trip was definitely one of the highlights our our trip. Was a great way to see a whole lot of Lima that would have been harder to do by ourselves. Also it is impossible to do get so much out a day without a great driver and guide. Jorge the driver was fantastic. He shared many really interesting bits of information about the culture of Peru and the relationship with Chile. Gabriela, our guide (Gaby) was amazing. She is knowledgeable, personable, patient, attentive, energetic and generous. It was a real joy to be able to share the day with her. She gave us so much of an insight into the wonderful city Lima is and the amazing country that Peru is. Was a very full day and we were blown away by how much we covered in a day. This is a fantastic way to see and get to know the city and is highly recommended!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Janice_w
Jan 16, 2024
Great overview of Lima - Don’t miss the largo museum and lunch there . Our guide Gabrielle was incredible and brought everything to life for us . Our driver was equally amazing
Review provided by Viator
Mark_h
Jan 15, 2024
Historic downtown Lima a must see - Excellent tour guide, very knowledgeable and took time to explain the culture and history of Peru. The historic downtown area has many unique architectural buildings from the 1600’s which are amazing. Definitely recommend this tour.
Review provided by Viator
Judych1967yv
Jan 15, 2024
An amazing day in Lima - An excellent day out. Marco our guide was so knowledgeable and nothing was too much trouble. Our driver Coqui was brilliant and a very good driver. We recommend this tour wholeheartedly.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Thegerman14
Jan 5, 2024
Amazing day in Lima! - Our guide Marco was waiting for us in the hotel lobby and after some quick introductions, we went on our way to explore Lima. Marco and his driver were very professional and made sure that my wife and I were getting the most out of the tour. Marco was incredibly knowledgeable about the history of Lima (Smithsonian certified) and helped us with the so important context in order to be able to truly understand a city like Lima. After he found out that I’m a big sweets person, he took us to the churro’s place where his grandfather and him used to go - it was a lovely, unassuming place but man were the churros good. He then booked us a lovely table for lunch at the Museo Larco, though which he then also guided us and made sure we saw the most important of the ~8,000 pieces there! We had a great time and can’t thank Marco enough for being our guide!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
