Miraflores
Introduction
Miraflores is a district of Lima, Peru, and one of the city's main tourist destinations. It sits south of Lima's historic downtown and is known as a residential and upscale shopping district, one of the wealthiest that make up the city.
Alongside its shops and homes, the district hosts office buildings and flat-roofed, multi-coloured housing, giving it a character distinct from the historic centre to the north.
Getting there
Reaching Miraflores from Lima's airport or bus terminal is straightforward by taxi or bus. Local buses outside the airport run to Miraflores and take about an hour. If you take a taxi, arrange it inside the airport or bus terminal, or ask your accommodation to book one for you. Taxis from the terminals and official airport taxis are the safe options; do not pick up a taxi outside the terminals or airport, as those areas are known for scams and robberies, and the drivers who solicit tourists there are part of the problem. Safe taxi services include Taxi365, Taxi Directo and Taxi Green, and Uber is also readily available in Lima.
Airport Express Lima runs a bus service between the airport and Miraflores, with departures roughly every hour and four stops in Miraflores: Marriott/Larcomar, Tourist Information Center, Parque Kenney and Hotel Boulevard. The buses have USB ports and free Wi-Fi, tickets are sold at their counters inside the airport, on their website and on the bus, and staff speak English and Spanish. Alternatively, your hotel or hostel can order a private transfer for you.
Getting around
Miraflores is a compact, walkable district, and walking is the simplest way to get between its hotels, restaurants, shops and waterfront areas. If you are staying in the district, you can reasonably expect to cover most of your local sightseeing on foot rather than arranging transport for every trip. For longer or later hops, taxis and ride-hailing fill in the gaps, and public transport handles trips to and from the rest of Lima. There is no metro, rail or tram network serving the district, so plan on road-based transport instead.
Local buses are the cheapest way to reach Miraflores from elsewhere in Lima, including a direct connection from the airport, but this is a budget option rather than a comfortable or luggage-friendly one. Taxis are the most straightforward option, though where you pick one up matters a great deal: book ahead where possible, and the safest approach is to book inside Lima Airport or the bus terminal, or to ask your hotel or hostel to book one for you. Avoid unlicensed taxis and do not take a taxi outside the bus terminals or airport, as those areas are notorious for scams and robberies. Safe taxi services include Taxi365, Taxi Directo and Taxi Green, and Uber is also available readily in Lima. For the airport run, choose between the hourly Airport Express Lima bus, which makes four stops in Miraflores at Marriott/Larcomar, the Tourist Information Center, Parque Kenney and Hotel Boulevard, an official taxi booked inside the terminal, or a hotel-arranged private transfer.
Where to stay
Miraflores has a deep bench of hostels, and most of them cluster within walking distance of Parque Kennedy and the clifftop parks along the coast. Pariwana Backpacker Hostel sits right in front of the main Miraflores park with a great view, and offers 24-hour reception, bilingual staff, a full guest kitchen, free breakfast, a TV room, free internet and WiFi, security lockers with built-in electronic outlets, and surfboard and bike rentals. Loki Backpackers Hostel places you between the buzz of Parque Kennedy and the beautiful cliff top parks of the coast, while Kokopelli Backpackers Hostel, founded and run by four guys from Holland and Peru, is a block from Park Kennedy and has a great bar on the roof, a nice hangout area downstairs, multilingual staff, big storage lockers, clean rooms, hot showers, and breakfast at a cafe around the corner. Cirque Hostel is a small but cozy six-room place a few blocks from the beach, local food markets and Huaca Pucllana ruins, with free breakfast and wifi, a kitchen, three common areas (TV-room, terrace, and garden), a bar, airport pick-up, 24-hour hot showers and reception, safety lockers, and bikes for rent — it's also the only hostel in Lima officially providing a camping site, where you can pitch your tent in the garden. Elsewhere, Pirwa Hostel has a good location in Miraflores with comfortable beds, free breakfast, and a nice relaxing garden; 151 Backpackers Hostel B&B occupies a fully renovated 1920s house with private rooms, mixed dorms, an outdoor patio with grill, a full kitchen, internet, TV and comfortable couches; Red Llama Eco Hostel follows sustainable practices and has a rooftop patio; Casa del Mochilero feels more like a flat than a hostel, with a much more at-home and chilled atmosphere and fewer than 20 beds; and Flying Dog Hostel offers spacious rooms, a TV lounge with DVD selection, internet, a kitchen, friendly English-speaking Peruvian employees, and excellent doubles with private bathroom. For something more upscale, the JW Marriott Hotel Lima sits on Malecón de la Reserva, and the Belmond Miraflores Park is also on Av. Malecón de la Reserva. The Thunderbird Hotel Suites & Casino, on the corner of Av. Alcanfores and Miraflores Avenue, is adjacent to Fiesta Casino Benavides, a quality establishment with three floors of gaming space and nightly live entertainment.Food & drink
Miraflores makes it easy to eat well without spending much. For Peruvian cooking at low prices, look to the cluster of basic, tasty spots just off Larco Street on Calle San Martin, where Fuzions and El Estragon both reward asking for the menu, while Punto Azul nearby is a good place to try Peruvian dishes. Mama Olla on Calle Tarata serves satisfying food and great pisco sours, and Tanta on Avenida 28 de Julio is another option for Peruvian cuisine. La Lucha Sangucheria is a well-established sandwich place with good juice, Bembos is the Peruvian take on a burger chain (some burgers come with avocado and banana), and Te Burbuja, a small Taiwanese spot near Parque Kennedy, does fruit salads, bubble tea, juices and shakes. GianFranco Caffe on Angamos Oeste draws a Italian crowd with its ice-cream and pizza, while Tierra Santa on Calle Shell offers kebabs, hummus and other Turkish specialties, plus a waterpipe area, and Rustica on Calle de las Pizzas serves pizza and parilla. EDO sushi bar has locations in Miraflores, San Borja and San Isidro.
At the higher end, Costanera 700 near the beach is among Lima's best, with dishes such as Tiradito Costanera and Chita a la Pimienta. La Rosa Nautica is built over the ocean beneath Larcomar and pairs superb ambience with its cuisine, and Mangos, also at Larcomar, serves Peruvian seafood with sweeping Pacific views and a good Ceviche mixto. Alfresco on Avenida 28 de Julio is a delightful upmarket restaurant known for ceviche, while Las Brujas de Cachiche serves very good traditional Peruvian dishes, Rafael offers Peruvian fusion and haute cuisine (try the Lomo Saltado), La Gloria does Mediterranean-Peruvian fine dining, and La Trattoria de Mambrino at Larcomar is the Italian choice. For drinks, the small street between Parque Kennedy and Bellavista, known as the calle de las pizzas, is a tourist trap but a reliable place to meet other travellers; at the end of Avenida Larco, Larcomar has western-style shops, fast food and views of the beaches and ocean below. Café de la Paz, facing Kennedy Park, serves Peruvian-French food in a trendy, bohemian setting with an excellent Pisco Sour, Jazz Zone on Avenida La Paz is the spot for jazz, and Downtown (Vale Todo) near Kennedy Park is a gay club that tends to close late. Coffee drinkers have several good options, including Coffee time Miraflores on Calle Colon for handmade Peruvian coffee, La Postreria Café for coffee and sandwiches, True Artisan café on Calle Bolivar, and Arabica on Calle Gral Recavarren for premium Peruvian coffee.
What to see and do
Miraflores rewards walking, and much of what you'll want to see clusters around Parque Central. The Iglesia Matriz, also known as Virgen Milagrosa, sits on the park and is the work of architect Ricardo Malachowski, completed in 1930 with a neo-colonial façade and stained glass windows alluding to the life of Christ. Opposite the park, in the municipality building at the corner of calle Virgen Milagrosa and avenida Larco, the Luis Miro Quesada Garland Hall is one of Lima's most popular art galleries, with spacious exhibition rooms showing mainly local artists who often go on to build national reputations. Calle Virgen Milagrosa, also known as Paseo de los Pintores, frequently has art displayed and for sale in the street. A short walk away, Kennedy Park - known as the Cat Park for the many cats that live there - is the centre of the neighbourhood's nightlife, with fast food places, a cinema and many bars; you can get picarones there, and on weekends salsa lessons take place in the park, mostly attended by seniors, and passers-by are likely to be invited to join. For pre-Columbian history, head to Huaca Pucllana on General Borgoño, a huge ceremonial and administrative complex of handmade sun-dried brick rising 22 m high and dating back to 200-700 AD. Guided tours take in the museum, a small park of native flora and fauna, and a craftsmen's house with handicrafts on exhibit and for sale; there is also a restaurant on site with views of the complex, particularly striking at night when it is floodlit. Several small museums are worth your time: the Casa Museo Ricardo Palma, the Museo Amano with its Peruvian textiles, and the Museo Enrico Poli. Cultural centres include Casa Abierta, the Universidad Cayetano Heredia, the Municipalidad de Miraflores and Ricardo Palma. If you want to get above the city, paragliding and hang gliding flights launch from the cliffs next to Parque del Amor, with tandem flights and courses available. Down at Makaha beach in front of the Malecón, Miraflores is Lima's most popular surfing spot, and the beach is packed with surf schools offering lessons and board rental. There is also a skate park and a BMX and mountain bike dirt track with jumps along the Malecón de la Marina.Three days in Miraflores
Day one: Base yourself in Miraflores, the district where most visitors to Lima stay. Reaching Miraflores from Lima Airport is straightforward: Taxi Directo, Taxi Green and Uber all serve the route, and Airport Express Lima is another option. Taxis are generally safe, but avoid hailing one on the street. Once settled, orient yourself at the Tourist Information Center, then walk to Parque Kennedy, the green heart of the district, where you can sit among the trees and watch the city go by. In the evening, head to Larcomar, the clifftop complex overlooking the Pacific, for your first taste of the city's coastal side.
Day two: Start early at Huaca Pucllana, the pre-Inca archaeological site in the middle of Miraflores, and spend the morning learning about the civilisation that built it. Return to Parque Kennedy for lunch at one of the many places around the square. In the afternoon, explore the streets between the park and the sea, dipping into shops and cafes. If you need to check email or plan the next leg of your trip, hostels such as Pariwana Backpacker Hostel, Loki Backpackers Hostel, Kokopelli Backpackers Hostel and Cirque Hostel offer WiFi and USB charging, and staff usually speak both Spanish and English.
Day three: Use your last day to slow down. Take a final walk along the Malecón and through Parque Kennedy, then settle into a cafe or a bench with a book. If you have a late flight, arrange your transport back to Lima Airport in advance with Taxi Directo, Taxi Green or Uber rather than leaving it to chance. For a comfortable final night, Hotel Boulevard and the Marriott are both in Miraflores, close to the action. Alternatively, if you are staying longer, use the day to revisit whatever you enjoyed most, whether that is the archaeology, the food or simply the view from the cliffs.