We went from pondering where these lil snowbirds would spend January to very quickly booking our monthlong stay in another South American haven, Peru.
Cusco’s wonder of the world & Lima’s coastal foodie goodness drew us in. The Amazon’s jungle fun was just a cherry on top, and we’ll take that southern hemisphere summer all. dayyy.
Huzzah! Sudamerica, we’re comin (back) for ya.
Quick facts
1. Weather – Cool AMs & nights in Cusco, with perfectly sunny days (think high 60s/70s) & tiny bouts of rain, esp en las montañas.
Jungle fun – hottttt. And humid, as you would expect.
Lima – Perfectly temperate. Gorgeous high 60s/70s & sunshine every. single. day. Huzzah!
2. People & language – back to my Spanish roots! People are lovely & oh so nice. English is present in touristy areas. Def helps to rock that español.
3. Getting around – Flavio! In/around Cusco. Uber in Lima, even for our wknd adventures. Way more common when escaping the city? Bussing around.
4. Time zones – During our time there, eastern (otherwise, central). Easy. Peazy.
How to get there.
We booked Delta’s premium select for a steal, at 121k Chase Ultimate Rewards points plus ~$2k total RT for the two of us. The new Reserve sign up bonuses def crushed it for us. Welcome to the heavy plastic, Jon 🤠
Relatively easy to book, with a flight into Cusco’s CUZ and out of Lima’s LIM. The only kicker is having to go through Lima on the hop over to Cuzco, putting us at 2 stops on the way in. Not ideal but def survivable, esp flying over the Xmas holiday.
Amazon flights
Mid-trip, we had flights into Puerto Maldonado’s PEM for our Amazonian adventure, and out of PEM into LIM. We booked Latam Air flights through Chase travel as well, at 14k points/RT for each of us (translating to ~$250/pp total for both flights).
We opted to do the highest seat level to avoid any baggage issues & b/c it seemed insanely reasonable, esp using points. Highly recommend to sail through if you travel light but only carry on like we do, and to get nice roomy seats.
Runabout tips:
- You know we’re all about multi-city searches. Perfectly perfect to say our Peruvian goodbyes directly from Lima.
- Download the app for each airline you’re flying with, regardless of what site you use to book (Chase Travel, etc.). Hugely helpful for access to boarding passes, seat selection, potential upgrades, and more.
- Flying out on Xmas Eve was perfect, and that too overnight, putting us bright eyed in Cusco at a mere 9am. A full Xmas day to explore the city, woo!
- Delta Premium Select on the way home, again overnight, was perfect. On the way to Cusco, we scored first class. What. a. glorious. experience.
- Latam – a Delta partner in crime – rocks. Timely, great service, and damn did this girl relish in that first class goodness. Heads up that other internal Peruvian airlines (think Sky & JetSmart) are notorious for canceling flights on a whim, while Latam is in full operation to the same destinations. That said, we fared well on Sky when hopping over to Uruguay from Brasil.
How to get around.
After about 5 minutes of searching, it was clear that people do not recommend renting a car in Peru. With transportation so cheap and easy (read, Uber is all over the country and oh so affordable), made sense to us. So, no Skyscanner rental searches this trip.
I’ll admit I was originally a bit turned off by Peru because I’d heard that every place you visit (inc our beloved hikes) requires a guide, tour, you name it. None of that is the jam for this quick moving duo.
We managed to get super lucky traveling independently of tours with just a bit of digging.
Cuzco
Within the city, we got those steps in! Uber is easy (& cheap) for everything else. The airport to our hotel ran us $5 USD with Flavio before hitting up an ATM.
For the hikes a few hours out of Cusco proper, our private ride to the Red Valley in Flavio’s SUV ran us 450 soles (~$130 USD), inclusive of a generous tip. Wellll worth the adventure and zero hassle.
And finally, the train to Machu Picchu & back really is an adventure in an of itself. There are 1 million options with respect to timing, cabin level, and stations to go in and out of. After tooling around a bit, we opted to do PeruRail (v. the other option, Inca Rail) because this company had trains in & out of Cusco proper at San Pedro station, to save us the hassle & time of taxing to another station.
From there, we chose the Vistadome cabin, offering panoramic views through its giant 360 windows, snacks on board, and live music + dancing. I know, Peruvians do it right. The price varies depending on timing and may fluctuate depending on when you buy.
I did look into the famous luxury Hiram Bingham Belmond train (run by PeruRail) but this didn’t fit the bill in terms of where to leave from and when. Not too beat up about it either, at ~$500 a pop each way. I will say a luxury train is on our list of musts to repeat (pretty spectacular experience training from St. Petersburg to Moscow, with a butler in the VIP cabin to boot. One of Jon’s fave travel experiences. So much so that he lost his pantalones… ?!)
Our tickets were just shy of $100 each way/pp. The train is approx. 4 hours each way and has a decent signal at times but obv as you cruise through the mountains, internet gets spotty.
The Amazon!
We set up airport transfers with our lovely eco-hotel for a mere 35 sol, or ~$10/each way. Made more sense after seeing how insanely close Kapievi is to the airport and do recommend a transfer to get acclimated to PM’s culture & way of life.
To get around surprisingly bustling Puerto Maldonado, you can easily flag a taxi or more commonly (w/o luggage), tuk tuk or rickshaw. 10-15 soles (~$3-5 USD) will get you an easy, cheap & quick ride around town.
Jungle fun was had by hiking and boating around. Simply glorious.
Lima
Super easy to grab an Uber from the airport, and our driver rocked. The ~30 min ride – sans tráfico on NYD – ran us less than $20 USD. Our host had offered a transfer for $40 USD, but we tend to bust out airports at superhuman speed. Uber was perfect.
After a decent amt of poking around, we opted to Uber to Huacachina (~$85 USD, ~4 hours south of Lima) and back from Paracas (about the same $ for a shorter ~3 hour stint). Pricier than PeruBus or its slightly more luxurious counterpart Cruz del Sur that frequent these parts & run about 70 soles/pp depending on the bus line, journey length & seat, but at the exact pace we wanted & w/o the hassle of bus stations.
Runabout tips:
- Make a friendly taxi driver from CUZ airport your buddy and see if you can grab him for a half or whole day to explore amazing hikes outside of Cusco. Feel free to contact our buddy Flavio via Whatsapp! Hit us up for his digits.
- Looks like no Bolt in Peru just yet, as I type this. It’ll prob make it’s way over Mexico & Ecuador tho.
- Download Yango! Growing in popularity & competitive with Uber.
- Taxis do not use meters in Peru, so if you taxi around, negotiate the far prior to the ride kicking off. Having precise mula is always a good idea. Our Lima airport Uber driver provided a wealth of info. on foreigners getting ripped off by both taxistas & when renting a car, cops. He seemed a lil jaded, but maybe stick to Uber (or Yango) where you easily can.
- Sign up with CityBike Lima to very easily (& cheaply) cruise around the city & better, along the malecon! Be sure to check out where docking stations are tho, if you’re one-waying it. These seemed to be most prevalent in the Miraflores hood.
- Check out Peru Hop! Seems like a fantastic concept, decent use of your time (wifi, what!), and you’ll likely pocket a few likeminded friends along the way.
Where to stay.
Finding the right spots to recharge took a bit more effort this trip due to the options galore and wide array, from caliber to price.
Hotels with gyms were not terribly easy to find, but the tried & true process again did us well.
Cusco
We landed promptly at 9am on Xmas day at the the brand spanking new Hampton by Hilton in Cusco’s city center after a short 15 min ride from CUZ airport. Service is bomb here.
At ~$200/night inclusive of a lovely breakfast, we ended parking ourselves here after experiencing the glory of Machu Picchu as well. Huzzah! Was awesome to leave our single suitcase with the hotel for the few day trek, and we were equally happy to crush the work week at this spot before heading to the jungle.
It was near impossible to find a good hotel w/ a gym in Cusco. Enter Victory Gym, legit next door and at a whopping 15 soles/day (~$4), we were experiencing Kosovo-esq prices (& very not Brasil-esq!).
Location? Perfect in this very walkable city. Cannot recommend this hotel enough for a new, clean joint that’s well perched.
At $128/night inclusive of breakfast, another steal, particularly with the place a rapid 2 min walk from the train station and perfectly placed in the middle of the Aguas Calientes action.
Talk about price variance. I stumbled across a # of options before the lovely folks at Kapievi Ecovillage. The incredible reviews, raved about menu, and wait for it – gym, in the middle of the jungle – sealed the deal for this girl.
At ~$80/night for our 2-night stay, this place was an absolute gem. Don’t get sucked in by the $500+/night joints that feign to offer anything better. You cannot beat Kapievi, esp at this value.
Some of the friendliest hosts we’ve had (jungle creatures mos def included 
), and the surroundings were stunning. Heyy Almendra!
I searched a bit for the best hood to stay in, and after our Uruguayan paradise, we were committed to being near the water for daily beach walks.
After a bit of digging that opened our eyes to Eco 28, what seems to be once a premier building in Lima’s treasured Miraflores hood, we searched for something very near on Airbnb & stumbled upon this gem. The host of this guest favorite sealed the deal by agreeing (oh so graciously) to put in a desk for us.
At ~$1,600 for the 3+ week stint, with a gym, pool, 2bd/2ba to boot, this duo was jazzed. The cozy furnishings were more than a cherry on top after our Uruguay stint in a brand new pad but one that lacked any kind of homey feel.
In direct contrast to Montevideo, Lima lacked a focus on well built out gyms and did not have a single spot (that I easily came across, anyway) with a sauna.
From the rooftop pool & gorgeous sunset views to the proximity to the oceanfront and kind door people, this place did the trick.
Ahhh the desert’s Duna Camp. Worth every penny of the total $190/pp cost for a luxury tent, complete with a campfire dinner, vino, and wait for it… sand boarding, whipping around in ATVs, and tubing around those desert sands.
We could go on for days about our perfect glamping experience. Get over to Duna!
Paracas
The Atoq Paracas Reserva boutique hotel was a perfect pre & post dive spot, running a mere $140/night with breakfast to boot.
Truly gorgeous scene right on the water, kayak & paddle board your lil <3 out, and be sure to grab piscos for sunset.
- In Cusco, we came across many hotels with a more local feel, at insanely low prices. With work on the horizon (& the strong gym affinity, let’s be honest), we stayed at larger spots with stronger amenities. The folks at the Hampton were oh so kind, and we could not recommend the hotel more.
- Go to the jungle. Stay at Kapievi.
- Quite obv, do not snooze on Huacachina & do yourself a favor and stay the night @ Duna. You can skip the dinner and/or the overnight, but highly encourage coupling both with the sand dune fun. If you can’t stay the night, def indulge in the dinner by a private chef that comes out to hang with the group.
- If you can, stay a second night in Huacachina to simply chill out. And get your baile on in the evening to AM hours!
- We loved Paracas as a beach vaca & recommend it before heading back to the city with a lil sunkiss (those rays are spicy!). Check out Hotel Paracas for a lil luxury in your life. With a million games & activities on its gorgeous property, great for families.
- If you have time, check out Playa Asia (Asia beach). We heard great things & you might find an awesome rental for a more homey feel.
How far does your mula go?
Def get cash out as soon as you’re able, for markets, street food, vendors, and the like.
As I write this, 3.34 Peruvian soles to $1 USD.
How far your dinero stretches totally depends on where in the country you are & in what type of establishment.
Food & drink can reach US prices, or get close (again, totally dep on where you frequent), but is oh so fresh & tasty.
Hit up those mercados for delish, muy local & super economical treats! Esp. in Cusco proper.
Similar deal for street food. Oh so inexpensive (we’re talking sandwiches for less than $1 USD & depending on the spot, fire.
What to do.
Cusco, Aguas Calientes/Machu Pichu y Valle Rojo.
Stun. Ning. At every turn, the vibrant Peruvian landscape offers majestic montañas & greenery for days.
What to do
Cusco city center
- Hike up to el Mirador desde Christo Blanco – stellar views of the city & a nice treat at the top. Bring coins to take pics with the lovely ladies & their llamas at the top!
- Trek over to San Cristobal church for (more) awesome views.
- Hit up the awesome Mercado Central de San Pedro – just wow. Tons of awesome souvenirs, so. many. food. (& snack) options. Cheese for days! Local eats like traditional soups, a vast array of smoothies stalls, and so so much more. What a treat inside the market & the hustle and bustle outside of it. Lovely.
- Stroll the San Blas hood for an artsy, bohemian feel. Pop into a massage spot or grab an awesome alpaca clothing item (love Florencia y Fortunata & the shop just as you enter!).
- Hit up the San Blas market – Smaller than Mercado Central & equally eye popping (fave is Central tho).
- Check out the plazas! Plaza de Armas, Plaza de San Francisco, and so many more, each with a different vibe.
A few hours out…
Machu Picchu!
- See How to Get There above for how to trek over. Or book a tour of course.
- We hiked Waynapicchu (or Huayna Picchu), MP’s tallest point. And survived las escaleras de la muerte (stairs of death). Awesome, awesome experience.
- Best to buy MP entrance tix in advance because the # of tix is limited to avoid overcrowding. We chose circuit 3 to hike Waynapicchu & opted for the earliest 7am spot.
- For the single night we spent there, Aguas Calientes was perfect. Many people stay in Ollantaytambo, a ~2 hour train ride from AC. We’d recommend the closer of the two simply to hike bright & early.
- If you’re not with a tour and need bus tix from Aguas Calientes to the Machu Picchu starting point, you can buy these online. About ~$23/pp RT for the ~25 min ride. Tickets are avail. a week or so prior to departure.
- Get a post-hike (or pre-hike, heck) massage! Samay rocked & the value is oh so good.
- Peruse the Aguas Calientes giant Mercado Artesanal! Grab art from Americo Ccala & awesome souvenirs all over the market.
- What a spectacular sight. About 3.5 hours from Cusco, Flavio rocked the largely treacherous drive to Valle Rojo, particularly for his first time there (you read that right. We showed our local guide a new spot!).
- Once you arrive, you can grab an ATV for 100 soles (just under $30 USD) & go about 10 min further. Then, hike up to the top. Insane views all around.
- Vinicunca – The original Rainbow Mountain. Hit up Flavio for a private ride that runs you about 3 hours outside of Cusco. Like Red Valley, the elevation is no joke. Much higher than Machu Picchu!
- Hunamantay Lake – Gorgeous lake with views at the end of few hour hike.
- Salineras de Maras – Natural salt mines!
- So so many more. Peru’s nature is simply off the chain.
Where to eat & drink – Cusco!
- Kushka – musts: ceviche! The shroom pate was also tasty.
- Micaela but really The Library speakeasy in the back. So. much. pisco. Heyy Victor!
- Garibaldi – best bar in Cusco. Hiii Cheryl!
- Local – holy cheesy goodness. Ironic name given the eclectic menu & not to be missed. Musts: empanadas of any sort, ravioli, mushroom goodness in a bowl.
- Molly’s Irish pub – live music & car bombs, anyone?! Heyy Sanj & Nik!
- Mare – Creative & super cute, but (we) missed the mark a bit ordering pulpo. Pisco was delish tho. Juan Carlos is the best mesero out there.
- Rey Kebab – Great late night (or anytime) eats.
- Eat en los mercados! So many options & what people (& chaos) watching, love it.
- Similarly, there are tons of street vendors at each corner. Grab a churro o chicharron & have at it.
Runabout tips:
- Should you do a tour (like most ppl)? If you want everything planned for you, have a good chunk of time, and want to keep the price low, prob a good bet. I love the search, and we are hell bent on keeping our own timing (never know how much pisco the night prior will hold), so we did our own thing. And. loved. every. minute.
- Avoid doing Machu Picchu in one day & stay at Aguas Calientes for the night prior instead. Hike Waynapicchu if you’re up for it!
- Highly recommend the Vistadome cabin on PeruRail to get to wondrous MP.
- For the bus/train to MP/Aguas Calientes, don’t worry too much about which option to choose. We happened to take a bus despite going for the train only option (there’s a story there…), and it worked out well in that the Wanchaq bus station was a 2 min walk from our hotel, and there are a ton more times to choose from.
- Choosing your excursions may seem overwhelming. MP is a must, and work in Red Valley if you can! You can prob do Rainbow Mountain & Red Valley in a solid day when leaving the city early. You can’t go wrong, but do work in a day or 2 to enjoy Cusco proper!
- If something at the Aguas Calientes market catches your eye, grab it! The alpaca sweater I bought is a 2025 fave & a few items we had our eye on were nowhere to be found in Cusco’s (or Lima’s) market scene.
- Was the altitude really that bad? We felt it when getting those ejercicios & hikes in, for sure. No negative effects other than a few raging hangovers given Cusco’s funnn nightlife.
Puerto Maldonado – The Peruvian Jungle
Worth it? Hell yes. We had never really trekked through the jungle before. Being surrounded by largely untouched wildlife is insane.
What to do.
- Our hosts at Kapievi hooked us up with Tambopata Experience for jungle adventuring. Out of a handful of options that vary from early AM to spotting creatures in the evening darkness, we chose the afternoon hike coupled with a sunset boat ride on Lago Sandoval, for $115/pp.
- Hike the area’s trails!
- Hit the casino. You heard that right. Slots only tho, ppl. So, maybe a skip other than for Blackjack Restaurant?! You read that right. Wt…
- Hit the disco. Plenty to choose from, and Amazon Discoteca did not disappoint. Bring on the New Year!
- Cruise Plaza Mayor (main square) for tons of action and ppl watching for days.
- When you’re all worn out, grab a massage in Kapievi’s gorgeous grounds.
Where to eat & drink!
Just wow. Much like the surprise of discoteca row, we were not expecting a culinary delight.
- Eat at Kapievi! Hopefully, you’re already nestled in a lil cabina there. Breakfast was super fresh & tasty. Dinner? Even better. Creative, delish, and great value for the freshness and quality.
- Cacao Center – Damn that lomo was worth the wait at this slow paced, relaxed outdoor joint. Awesome wall art to boot. Oh so not pricey.
- Burgos – the paco (local fish) in a banana leaf is where it’s at.
- Meysis Garden – sopa criolla to die for. More insane value. There’s a theme here.
- La Doncella – great vibe & awesome carne a la parrilla (grilled meats).
- Combinado Limeño – bomb ceviche & paco.
Runabout tips:
- Don’t snooze on PM! La selva (the jungle) fun is in a class of its own. Relatively easy to reach for such pristine nature.
- Book with Jhon, our stellar super fun guide, directly! Contact Jhon Ramirez on Whatsapp (+51 914 961 849).
- Look no further than Kapievi for your lil love nest in the jungle.
Lima!
Perfect weather, the world’s best food at your fingertips, and a gorgeous malecon lining the Pacific Ocean to stroll daily. A lil slice of heaven. Throw in sprawling desert sands, pristine island adventuring, and a lil underwater fun! What Chi winter?!
What to do!
- Quite obv, eat your lil heart out. Barranco was our fave hood for grubbin it up, altho it is impossible to go wrong in Lima.
- Hit the hoods! Miraflores boasts the awesome Parque Kennedy & its resident cats, tons of grub joints & bars, the seemingly never ending malecon, and lovely residences to boot. Our home in Lima & you will spot many extranjeros.
- Visit Parque Kennedy not only for a nice stroll in Lima’s perfect temps but also for a lil street grub and on the wknds, awesome street art. Just yum on the butifarras (Peruvian sandwiches w/ jamón del país), picarones (amazingly fresh donuts), and schwarma/kebabs.
- Barranco’s bohemian feel, unending stellar eats, and surprise pop up handicrafts market rock. Super easy & lovely to traverse all of these parts on foot.
- Don’t snooze on Surquillo, a short walk from Miraflores. Hit up the Mercado de Surquillo for veggies & cheese if you’re around Lima for a bit. If not, indulge in the local eats, yum!
- For a totally different market (ish) experience, check out Mercado San Martin in Miraflores for a variety of street food vendors selling Mexican, Chinese, Spanish, Middle Eastern… you name it eats. Cute bar towards the back & lit up nicely. All outdoor!
- As you do this, hit up the oh so cute coffee shops at every corner, nook & cranny. Puku Puku (Cafe Larco) in Miraflores & Caleta Dolsa in Barranco were Jon’s faves.
- Stroll the malecon after for gorgeous views of the Pacific and tons of surfer-watching. Don’t miss Parque del Amor to sprinkle in a lil romance, or the lil area with tons of mariposas (butterflies)!
- Head to the Ciruito Magico del Agua (Magic Water Circuit) for an awesome evening display & Parque de Olivar any time of day, just two of Lima’s stellar to hit once you’ve maxed out the malecon (im. possible.)
- Get your Pilates on with Mary Ann!
- The gym culture isn’t quite Brasil-esq (yet) but B2 Miraflores was bump. ing. the first Monday del nuevo año.
- Play, stay, and enjoy awesome bites y vino in the desert! At Duna Camp (see Where to Stay).
- If you have time, chillax in Huacachina’s town, grab tons of yummy street food, and dance your lil heart out until the wee hours. Party party.
- Go diving! Paracas Diving, run by Jhuneor & his awesome sidekick Alejandro, gave us a solid day of diving at Isla Blanca (heyy, Carolyn!), complete with a cruise past Las Ballestas and Candelabro, an insane geoglyph that has withstood time. But why?
- Contrary to what you would think… pisco distilleries are found in Ica, about an hour south of Pisco. Next time, we’ll hit Bodego Lovera for a distillery with a more local feel.
- We booked a flight over the Nazca Lines, but weather prevented in from going out. After a day of diving & catching a glimpse of Candelabro, we were plenty satisfied. You can book with Alas Peruanas directly, and that from Pisco Airport to save hours.
- Bike the Reserva! And catch a stunning sunset while there.
Awesome grub spots in Paracas
- Cristina – awesomely seasoned octopus & oh so cute.
- Waiki Pizza Bar – so fun! And tasty. We treated our server to a shot, and he was so appreciative. Heyyy Isi & fam! Chilean pisco 4life.
- Villa Guzman – great local grub in a lovely local setting. Our first run at tiradito & the calapulcra was an instant fave. Try both!
- El Galeon 2 – best seafood soup of the trip.
Runabout tips:
- Strong rec not to rent a car in Lima, or Peru for that matter. Uber (or Peru’s many bus options) work well for long distances. For us, Uber was a giant time saver. If you go the Uber route, be sure to communicate well w/ your driver for long hauls, to ensure they’re in for the drive. Just leave a lil time for 1-2 potential cancelations, but you’ll get someone to take you.
- Bambú in Miraflores for massages! Incredible value, cute place, and awesome service.
- Peruvians head to the beach often in the summer. Check out Playas Asia, Costa Del Sol, or Puerto Viejo, to name a few beach towns just a few hours from Lima.
- For the Nazca Lines, even when booking directly with Alas Peruanas, a transfer to/from your accommodation is included.
- Staying in Miraflores is nice for convenience & more modern residences. We’d recommend Barranco too tho, and it’s very well our fave Lima hood. I know, that shines thru.
Where to eat & drink in a food capital of the world – Lima.
Miraflores.
- Maido – simple, not at all stuffy, and every bite melts in your mouth. Giant pro tip – do the a la carte menu if you’re not looking to break the bank. Insane value, and if you’re very lucky like this duo, you might even be able to sneak in reso-less. If you’re set on going, secure a reso well prior. 1000% worth a visit!
- Rafael – Perfect ambiance, every bite is delectable, and yet this spot is super approachable. Def date night material. Musts: scallops in any form, meat in any form, seafood in any form… there’s a theme here. The grilled calamar & tuna steak melted in our mouths. And hearts.
- El Mercado – just wow. Super chill & lovely outdoor ambiance. Every bite is fresh, tasty, and gorgeous. Perfect Friday afternoon bite.
- La Preferida – completely popped in by happenstance on a Friday crawl. Perfect indulgence in pisco, vino tinto & bomb ass sánguches (sandwiches), all on a poppin (but still wonderfully chill) rooftop.
- Ezzem – ridic tasty, creative, & cute spot next to the Pullman hotel. Even better? The service. Hiii Giuliana! Grab a spot at the bar, keep the pisco flowing & don’t miss out on those baos!
- Dhaasu Cocina Delhi – very near El Mercado & prob one of the cutest Indian restaurants we’ve seen. Super tasty, great variety, and hit the spot.
- Pescados Capitales – clever name & bomb chicharron de mariscos. The breading & fresh seafood made for the best chicharrones of the trip.
- Primos – ridic good chicken. And piqueos & burgers & shakes & fries. Super tasty.
- Alegría Picantería – Funnn, tasty, and… funnn. The seco (stew) is off the chain. Brunch. it. up.
- La Mar – a ceviche staple. Not open too late & no resos at this joint. Get over there!
- Punto Azul – our first foray into parmesan scallops. No complaints, altho the octopus was the star. Casual yet nice, and lively.
- Alfresco – every bite, from the carne to the papas, was delectable. Lovely ambiance that feels fancy but not stuffy.
- Panchita – stellar meats, including the steak & tongue (lengua).
- Manolo! yumyumyum. Best churro of my life.
- Helarlte – prob the cutest ice-cream/sweets spot I’ve seen. Just adorable. Worth a visit but may not be a constant w/ all of Lima’s glorious treats. At. Every. Corner.
- Intro bar – cute pisco sour presentation, super cute bar, and great company! Heyy Calam & Ígor! And… back for round 2 – of far too many pisco rounds – w/ Kiyomi! Blast.
- Saha bar – great pisco shots & get your baile on!
- Rosa Nautica – on the water & somewhat surprisingly, recommended by a good # of locals.
- Parque Kennedy street food! A must.
- Tokuyo Nikkei – Bomb gyoza, sushi, and decent ramen. Must – tuna tiradito. Ambiance is lacking, but the sake made up for it.
- Mantra – Excellent Indian food & bit of a treat to get recs straight from Chef while chillin w/ him.
- La Lucha Sanguchería (Miraflores) – Despite rave reviews for the papas fritas, ours were… not good. Sandwiches (& the fresh jugo) are def worth a visit.
- Piso 21 – Excellent spot to kick off date night & sip pisco while the sun gorgeously sets. Lil bites were solid too.
- Amankaya – super cute & in a lil gated area. The arroz con mariscos was bomb, as was the causa starter. Bold flavors & cute for a lil date spot.
- Osaka – Miami meets Peru. Great Japanese bites.
Barranco
- Siete – truly lovely lunch delight. Do the tasting menu your first time in and enjoy the outdoors.
- La Perlita – just adorable. And delish. Super cute spot for date lunch! We were torn b/w 2 mains & the joint helpfully simply halved em & gave us both. Problema resuelto!
- Pan, Sal, Aire – holy shit. The house bread is off the chain. Adorable spot & the pizzas did not disappoint either.
- Juanito – stellar big beer & best sandwich of the trip for under $15. A must repeat. And that we did.
- Canta Rana – super chill, local feeling lunch that’ll put you back in time a few decades. Felt a lil Cuba-esq to us. In the best way.
- Isolina Taberna – awesome langostinas, good ceviche, and a perfect rustic ambiance. Would not recommend the giant plate of ribs, but the group enjoyed it. For a week.
- El Gato Tulipan – super fun & cute vibe on the rooftop! Heyy Gabi.
- Ayahuasca – really fun bar! Giant mansion w/ great DJs. Lots of tasty pisco…
- Antichuchos Betty – bomb grilled meats & open late.
- El Chinito – bomb sánguches & also open late.
- Caleta Dolsa – super super cute coffee shop w/ excellent cafe.
- Demo – another adorable coffee locale. Modern yet rustic & makes you wanna grab a pastry and hang. oooout.
- Ancestral – seems wildly popular & is cute but did not do it for us. Take a peek, and if you like what you see, maybe opt to do brunch outside where the action is.
Surquillo
- Mercado de Surquillo for local, oh so not pricey eats.
- Do a lil crawl to these joints – La Picantería & Piedra – then hit Al Toke Pez on your way back to Miraflores. All are not open too late & have awesome vibrant yet chill vibes.
Awesome PedidasYa (like DoorDash) finds
- Lima Thai – holy smokes, Batman. Some of the best Thai curry we’ve had. Full stop.
- La Vaca Loca – bomb steak, empanadas, gnnochi, and alllll the meats. Yum.
- Inmerso burgers – move over, Billy Goat! Creative & tasty. Great papas fritas as well.
- Yusha – stellar, fresh sushi & you cannot beat these prices.
Runabout tips:
- PedidosYa – Peru (& Latin America’s) DoorDash. Perfectly perfect for long work days, oh so easy to use, and so much more economical than in Chi.
- Do you need resos? As you can expect, if you’re dead set on a fine dining place, jump on Whatsapp or Mesa 24/7 & grab a spot to avoid any regrets. Otherwise? Muy tranquilo. We fared well walking up to nearby spots post-gym or stroll & grabbing a reso for that same evening. Or, just mosey on in!
- When staying in Miraflores, Vivanda is clutch for groceries & Tambo for convenient snacks & such. Bloom is super cute & awesome for those manis. Insane value compared to the States.
Top 5 magical moments.
- Huacachina’s glorious sandboarding, sand tubing, glamping & company. Heyy Candela!
- (surviving?) Waynapicchu’s Stairs of Death.
- The unreal Valle Rojo.
- Sunday Barranco bar (& grub) crawls!
- Ballestas/Isla Blanca boat ride filled w/ all kinds of ocean creatures even before (& after!) diving. Dolphins, sea lions & penguins, galore. Wowowow.
- Honorable mention?! 7am pilates w/ MA followed by glorious malecon strolls & Barranco’s best cafe. You knew I would go there.
