Lima's Historic Centre

Lima was the capital of Spanish South America for centuries, and the wealth of that period is concentrated in its historic centre, a World Heritage Site laid out around the Plaza Mayor with the cathedral, the government palace and the archbishop's residence, the last two hung with the intricately carved wooden balconies that are the city's signature. The showpiece is the monastery of San Francisco, whose baroque church holds a superb Moorish-style library of ancient volumes and, beneath it, catacombs where the bones of tens of thousands of burials are stacked and arranged in patterns. Around these sit convents, mansions and the changing of the guard at the palace. Beyond the old centre, Lima's other draw is food: it has become one of the great restaurant cities of the world, and the Larco Museum's collection of pre-Columbian gold and ceramics is a short ride away.

What you actually see

• The Plaza Mayor - the cathedral, palaces and carved wooden balconies.
• San Francisco monastery - the baroque church, old library and bone-filled catacombs.
• The carved balconies - the enclosed wooden galleries along the colonial streets.
• Larco Museum - the pre-Columbian gold, ceramics and textiles, outside the old centre.

When to go

December to April is Lima's summer, the only season with reliable sun; for the rest of the year the coast sits under a low grey overcast called the garúa, which is atmospheric but dim. The historic centre is best in the morning, and it empties in the evening as the city's life moves to Miraflores and Barranco.

Honest expectations

The old centre is a working part of a huge city rather than a preserved quarter, and it is a long way from the coastal districts where most visitors sleep - taxi or bus in rather than walking. Sea fog dulls the light for much of the year. Most visitors sleep in Miraflores or Barranco and visit the centre by day, which is sensible. The catacombs are narrow, low and not for the claustrophobic.

Nearby

Miraflores, Barranco and the coastal cliffs are twenty minutes south; Pachacámac's pyramids lie beyond the city.