LARCOMAR

If you’re looking for a place with excellent restaurants, shops, cultural activities or recreation and a great view, the Larcomar centre is the place for you. Built on a cliff overlooking the sea, it has a magnificent view over the Pacific Ocean from any of its outlets. Easy to get to, the silver ventilation shafts mark its location.

Thanks to its many types of activities for different age groups, Larcomar has become the place of choice for family visits. Thus, while you enjoy - say - and exhibition of photographs or go shopping, the children can play electronic games. Larcomar should not be missed. It is notable for the beautiful sunsets over the ocean.

In the afternoon its excellent restaurants are very popular. Some prefer to go to the cinema, others go bowling and the Internet is available at any time.

Later on there is a choice of bars and the best discos in the city. Larcomar is world-class and in a privileged location. There are services for all tastes and visitors are perfectly safe in this great place for children and adults a like, at the bottom of Avenida Larco.

Elegance, Distinction and Discretion

Lima, capital of Peru, is practically at sea level and has a population of around eight million inhabitants.

More than four centuries have passed since its foundation by the Spanish - when it was also known as the “City of Kings” - but Lima has preserverd it original beauty and charm. For this reason it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Observing the characteristics of its traditional balconies while strolling round the Historic Centre is to go back in time to viceregal Lima, capital of the largest and wealthiest viceroyalty on the continent.

The Main Square

With this in mindd let us start our tour in the beautiful Main Square, flanked by the Presidential Palace, the cathedral, the Municipality and the Club de la Union. In the centre is a fountain dating from the middle of the 17th Century.

The Presidential Palace

The Presidential Palace, residence of the President of Peru is often referred to the Casa de Pizarro as it is where Pizarro lived after founding the city in 1535. on the same site Taulichusco governed the River Rimac valley, his power based on his control of the water which irrigated land throughout the valley. Visits are free of charge but have to be arranged two days in advance.

The Cathedral

Lima’s principal church is as old as the city itself although it was rebuilt after being seriously damaged by earthquakes in the 17th and 18th Centuries. The facade contains statues of the apostles and the central niche holds a representation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Inside, are altars in the baroque, rococo and neoclassical styles, paintings and sculptures from the 17th  Century and 18th Century, as well as a carved choir stalls which are a superb example of colonial Spanish-American art. During the week there are guided tours of the cathedral and its museum, which contains notable art works from the colonial period. The remains or Francisco Pizarro, a number of cardinals and a saint are also jealously guarded within.

Desamparados Station

Leaving the cathedral and walking down the right side of the Presidential Palace takes you to the corner where the city’s oldest bar (1905) “El Cordano” is located opposite Desamparados railway station where a monthly train leaves for the central highlands. Round the corner and a few blocks further on is the convent or San Francisco, better known for its catacombs tha for its collection of colonial-era art. This side of the city has other attractions such as Parque de la Muralla, Peru’s Congress and Chinatown.

Convent of Santo Domingo

The Convent is dedicated to the image of Our Lady of the Rosary and contains the remains of Peru’s most popular saints: St. Rose of Lima and St. Martin de Porres, whose altars are visited by large numbers of the faithful.

Other important attractions: Plaza san Martin, Parque Universitario and the San Marcos Cultural Centre, the Torre Table Palace, The Riva Aguero Institute, The Casa del Oidor and the Aliaga Mansion, the headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition and the convents of La Merced and Santa Rosa.

Museums

Like in the great cities of the World, Lima is home of the most important museums that display the best collections of Ancient Peru art. Two of them are situaded in the district of Pueblo Libre: Museo Nacional de Arqueologia y Antroplogia, with a wonderful display of Pre-Inca and Inca Textiles, ceramics and mummies; and Museo Larco, which holds the most important collection of Gold and Jewelry from Ancient Peru. The two museums are not distant from each other and they can be easily visited by following a pedestrian blue line that connects them. In the district of San Borja ther is the Museo de la Nacion, with a variety of halls displaying representations of Pre-Inca and Inca Cultures, including a life-size replica of the world famous Tomb of the Lord of Sipan. The MALI, in Lima downtown has an extraordinary peruvian art collection.

Burial Mounds

Impressive pre-Inca monuments can be found in the middle of the city, such as Huaca Huallamarca, a pyramidal structure typical of sacred pre-Hispanic buildings on the Peruvian coast; or Huaca Pucllana, built in the 4th Century B.C., as a ceremonial centre of the ancient Lima Culture. These are located in San Isidro and Miraflores.

Miraflores and Barranco

Miraflores and Barranco, with their modern pubs and discos also provide part of Lima’s night life. Apart from its fine parks and squares, Miraflores hosts open-air shows and entertainment centers with a view ot the sea. And as far as Barranco is concerned, its bohemian atmosphere makes it one of the essential destinations for visitors to metropolitan Lima. Its “Bridge of Sighs” is the place for nostalgia and romance.

At your service

If there is anything that characterises Peru apart from the hospitality of its people, its natural marvels and archaeological treasures, it is without doubt its gastronomy. The following is a brief introduction to the many and varied dishes that will assuage the hunger and fill the heart of any visitor.

Eating at home, in a fast food restaurant, eating a chicken broaster or charcoal-grilled with your hands, eating sushi, pasta, a gourmet cebiche or a cebiche out in the blazing sun, eating the dish of the day or something Chinese, but eating, eating, eating. One thing Peruvians cannot complain about is of not having enough variety when you feel like something to eat. Creole, jungle, highland, Chinese, Arab or Italian or a mixture of everything. They are all equally filling and satisfying.

Long live Creole food.

There is no doubt that the finest dishes on the Peruvian coast are those belonging to the so-called “Creoled cuisine” , made from ingredients native to this region of the country. Certain meats such as chicken and fish are commonly used in this style with seafood tending to predominate. So while you are in Lima you can enjoy steamed rice: arroz tapado, fish ‘a la chorrillana’, mussels ‘a la chalaca’ or cream of asparagus soup as a starter, whilst other flavours and recipes come from northerm cities such as Piura, Trujillo and Chiclayo, which are justly famous for their food. You don’t have to be an expert chef  to appreciate a northern-style seco de cabrito, duck and rice, causa from Chiclayo or the typical espesado which are capable of rivaling the Lord of Sipan as a tourist attraction.

Looking south you will fin delicacies such as sopa seca Chincha-style and, further south, in Arequipa, stuffed chili pepper is always good. It would be a crime to miss it.

Jungle Passion

There is one place in Peru where food and mysticism combine it is t he jungle. The dishes of this region not only satisfy your hunger, many people say they have aphrodisiac qualities. Juanes, tha classic among classics of jungle cuisine, tacacho, cecina, fried dorado accompanied by chonta salad or lizard sandwich are the foods of love.

Taste of the highlands

No once can speak of the food of the Peruvian Andes without mentioning its quintessential dish: pachamanca. Its magnetic combination of flavours arising from the very earth is irresistible. Then there are dishes such as guinea pig chactado, trout prepared in a variety of ways, chicharron with mote maize or the exquisite stuffed potato. Ancient crops such as maize and sweet potato make perfect complements to each dish.

Apart from all of these there is always a choice ot “outsider” dishes. Fast food: the familiar charcoal-grilled chicken, sandwiches or the city-dweller’s chicken broth are there for the tasting on every corner. Furthermore, an “airport” that popular Sino-Peruvian dish is one of the things you should try at least once in your life.

The most fashionable

But if it is a gourmet experience you are after, what better than to try Lima’s excellent restaurants which vary from themed establishments to luxurious dining rooms.

Sophisticated surroundings that are perfect for sampling innovative cuisine in which fusion and personal invention region supreme.

The culinary experience in Peru always has more to be said for it, and you, with your hunger satisfied could well be the person to say it.

Most tourist to Peru go south. The scenery in the principal departments captures the hearts of all who go there. Its monuments and natural beauty are unique in aun unbeatable destination.

Cusco is the capital city of tourism. Its buildings and the city itself host tourists from all over the world throughout the year. It doesn’t matter when you go there, the experience is always unforgettable.

Machu Picchu, chosen as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, contains more than one marvel. The positive energy transmitted by the Apus . Andean mountain deities - at this point on the earth’s surface is indescribable.

But Cusco is far more than just Machu Picchu. The fortress and temple of Sacsayhuamán, the Inca city of Ollantaytambo, with its buildings almost intact and the Sacred Valley of the Incas, are among its many captivating attractions.

The City of Puno is an unassuming place and contrasts with is striking scenery and expressions of local culture. The impressive Lake Titicaca and its floating islands, the tower of Tinajani and the “chullpas” at Sillustani, as well as the vitality and variety of its folklore are a singulary fine series of attractions.

South of the city of Ica, the plain of San Jose contains a series of mysterious zoomorphic figures dating from the 6th Century. Known as the “Nazca lines” they consist of furrows no more than 30 cms. deep that trace out almost 500 mtslong.

Studied by Max Uhle in 1901, Toribio Mejía Xespe in 1926 and in 1939 by Paul Kosok, who made them known to the rest of the world, they were preserved by Maria Reiche from 1940 to 1998. Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1994, these lines in the Nasca desert cannot be seen at ground level and can only be appreciated in all their splendour from the air, they show that the ancient inhabitants had a sophisticated knowledge of geometry.

Paracas National Reserve is 22 Km. south of the city of Pisco; it is a rich coastal ecosystem covering 335,00 hectares. The reserve is the home of parihuanas, pelicans, penguins, dolphins, seals and an infinity of fish and crustaceans.