Lima with Kids: Ceviche, Conquistadors, and Coastal Cliffs

Plaza Mayor de Lima

Start your trip at Lima's grand central square, where the Presidential Palace, Cathedral, and Archbishop's Palace all face each other across a fountain kids love to circle. Arrive around 9am when it's

Convento de San Francisco de Lima and Catacombs

This 17th-century convent contains an extraordinary library and, most memorably for kids, a network of underground catacombs holding the bones of roughly 70,000 people arranged in geometric patterns.

Tanta Restaurante (Jr. de la Unión)

Gastón Acurio's casual all-day restaurant on the pedestrian street near the Plaza Mayor is the ideal first Peruvian meal for families, with a broad menu that covers classics like lomo saltado and caus

Huaca Pucllana

An ancient adobe pyramid built by the Lima culture around 400 AD sits in the middle of a residential Miraflores neighborhood and can be toured with a bilingual guide in about an hour. The site has an

La Lucha Sanguchería (Miraflores branch)

This beloved Lima sandwich chain makes towering chicharrón and roast pork sandwiches on freshly baked rolls, and the Miraflores location near Parque Kennedy is easy to reach on foot. Order at the coun

Parque del Amor and Larcomar

Walk the clifftop Malecón de la Reserva to Parque del Amor, a mosaic-covered park overlooking the Pacific where paragliders launch regularly and kids can watch from the grass. From there it's a short

MAC Lima (Museo de Arte Contemporáneo)

Lima's contemporary art museum in Barranco has a rotating collection of Latin American work displayed across bright, open galleries that don't feel overwhelming for kids with shorter attention spans.

Puente de los Suspiros and Bajada de Baños

Barranco's Bridge of Sighs is one of Lima's most photographed spots and is surrounded by colorful colonial houses, street art, and small plazas that reward slow wandering. Walk down the Bajada de Baño

Amor Amar Heladería Artesanal

This small artisan ice cream shop in Barranco uses Peruvian ingredients like lúcuma, chirimoya, and cacao from the Amazon to make flavors you genuinely cannot find anywhere else. Go after your morning

Santuario Arqueológico de Pachacamac

About 40 minutes south of Miraflores by taxi or private transfer, this massive pre-Columbian ceremonial complex predates the Inca and includes multiple temples, plazas, and a museum with excellent art

Playa Arica or Playa San Pedro (Lurín Coast)

After lunch, stop at one of the calmer southern beaches near Lurín for an hour of beach time before heading back to the city. The water is cold year-round due to the Humboldt Current, so most kids end

Restaurant El Sauce (Lurín)

A short drive from Pachacamac, this large family-style Peruvian restaurant is a local institution known for its fried fish, rice dishes, and fresh ceviche at prices well below what you'd pay in Mirafl

El Mercado Restaurante

Chef Rafael Osterling's relaxed seafood-focused restaurant in Miraflores is one of the best places in the city to eat ceviche in a setting that feels comfortable for families, with outdoor tables and

Mercado de Surquillo No. 1

Just over the border from Miraflores, this working market is where Lima chefs actually shop and is one of the best places in the city to see the full range of Peruvian produce, from forty varieties of

Cooking Class at Peruvian Flavors Lima

This small cooking school near San Isidro offers family-friendly afternoon classes where kids and parents make ceviche, lomo saltado, and pisco sour (juice version for the children) together with a lo

Café del Museo Larco

The museum's on-site restaurant serves elevated Peruvian lunch dishes in a garden courtyard filled with pre-Columbian pots and flowering plants, making it one of the most beautiful settings for a meal

Fly Adventure Paragliding (Miraflores Cliffs)

Tandem paragliding launches from the clifftops in Miraflores and is available to kids as young as 5 who meet minimum weight requirements, with flights lasting 8 to 15 minutes over the Pacific and the

Museo Larco

Set in an 18th-century mansion in Pueblo Libre, the Larco houses one of the world's finest collections of pre-Columbian gold, ceramics, and textiles, and its garden and café make it an easy half-day d

Central Restaurante (or La Mar for a more relaxed farewell)

For a truly memorable final dinner, Central by Virgilio Martínez requires booking months in advance but is one of the world's great restaurants and offers a tasting menu that tells the story of Peru t

Parque Kennedy

Miraflores' central park is home to dozens of cats that live among the benches and flowerbeds, which younger children find completely irresistible, and the surrounding streets have good ice cream shop

Mercado Indio (Indian Market, Miraflores)

This large indoor artisan market near Avenida Petit Thouars is the best one-stop shop for Peruvian textiles, alpaca goods, ceramics, and carved wood at negotiable prices, with hundreds of stalls sprea