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Museo de Arte Virreynal Pedro de Osma
The privately-run Museo de Arte Virreynal Pedro de Osma has an exquisite collection of colonial art and furniture, as well as metalwork and sculpture from all over Peru. It is housed in one of Barranco's older mansions. Take a combi or colectivo (shared transportation) from Tacna/Garcilaso de la Vega in central Lima or Diagonal in Miraflores.
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Museo de Historia Natural
One block west of cuadra 12 of Av Arequipa, the Museo de Historia Natural has a modest taxidermy collection that's useful for familiarizing yourself with the fauna of Peru.
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Museo de la Cultura Peruana
The small Museo de la Cultura Peruana specializes in items closely allied to popular art and handicrafts. Exhibits include ceramics, carved gourds, traditional folk art and costumes from various periods and places. It also runs classes for Peruvian instruments and dances.
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Museo de la Electricidad
The Museo de la Electricidad has a small exhibit on electricity in Lima, including the electric tramway system that used to link Barranco with Miraflores and Lima. Outside, a restored electric tram runs along rails for a few blocks of Av San Pedro de Osma on weekends.
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Museo de la Inquisición
The Museo de la Inquisición was used by the Spanish Inquisition from 1570 to 1820 and subsequently became the senate building. Visitors can explore the basement where prisoners were tortured, and there's a ghoulish waxwork exhibit of life-size unfortunates being stretched on the rack or having their feet roasted. The university library upstairs has a remarkable wooden ceiling.
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Museo de la Nación
This dominating concrete block houses the best Museo de la Nación in the country to get your head around Peru's myriad prehistoric civilizations. It has excellent models of Peru's well-known ruins and three levels of extensive exhibits about Peru's heritage, all at a much more affordable price than at the private collections.
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Museo de Oro del PerÚ
Museo de Oro del PerÚ . This now notorious private museum was at the top of Lima's 'must-see' list until 2001, when it was rocked by a scandal that claimed between 10% and an incredible 98% of the museum's collection were fakes. The museum was reopened with an assurance that all pieces now on display in its huge basement are bona fide, but the confusion is yet to be completely cleared up.
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Museo Enrico Poli Bianchi
The Museo Enrico Poli Bianchi has a collection of gold textiles, colonial silver and paintings that was featured in National Geographic . Prearranged tours by the owner are given in Spanish only.
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Museo Nacional de Antropología, Arqueología y Historía del perÚ
The Museo Nacional de Antropología, Arqueología y Historía del perÚ traces the history of Peru from the Preceramic Period to independence. Some exhibits have been moved to the Museo de la Nación, but a worthwhile collection remains, including scale models of the big archaeological sites, as well as some of the original stelae and obelisks from Chavín.
Read more about Museo Nacional de Antropología, Arqueología y Historía del perÚ
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Museo Postal y Filatelico
Stamp buffs will want to visit the Museo Postal y Filatelico, appropriately housed in Lima Centro's main post office just off the Plaza de Armas. You can examine, buy and trade Peruvian stamps.
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Museo Rafael Larco Herrera
An 18th-century viceroy mansion built on the site of a pre-Columbian pyramid houses the highly recommended privately-run Museo Rafael Larco Herrera , has one of the largest ceramics collections to be found anywhere.
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Pachacamac
This extensive archaeological complex of palaces and temple-pyramids was once a very important religious monument for the indigenous people of the central Andes. Although it was a significant Incan site and a major city when the Spanish arrived, it had been a ceremonial center about 1000 years before the expansion of the Inca Empire.
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Palacio de Gobierno
The exquisitely balconied Palacio Arzobispal (Archbishop's Palace) to the left of the cathedral in Plaza de Armas is a relatively modern building, dating to 1924. On the northeast side, the Palacio de Gobierno was built in 1937 and is the residence of Peru's president. A handsomely uniformed presidential guard is on duty here all day; the ceremonial changing of the guard takes place at noon.
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Palacio Torre Tagle
Built in 1735, the famous Palacio Torre Tagle is the best surviving colonial mansion in Lima, with striking carved wooden balconies that demonstrate a Moorish influence. It now contains the offices of the Foreign Ministry, so entry on weekdays is prohibited or restricted to the patio. On some Saturdays, a tip to the caretaker may allow you access to the fine rooms and balconies upstairs. More extensive preorganized visits need to be arranged with the oficina cultural.
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Parque de la Cultura
Originally known as Parque de la Exposition, the newly revamped Parque de la Cultura has Japanese gardens and a small amphitheatre for outdoor performances. It's a welcome relief from the crowds and traffic of Lima's boisterous center. Two of Lima's major art museums are in the park.
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Parque de la Muralla
At the northern end of city center are the remains of the muralla (city walls) that once protected the original inner-city precinct. Now protected in the aptly named Parque de la Muralla, the original walls have been excavated to reveal an extensive set of remains.
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Parque de las Leyendas Zoo
The Parque de las leyendas Zoo, between Lima Centro and Callao, is divided into three areas representing the three major geographical divisions of Peru: the coast, the sierra (the Andes) and the Amazon Basin. Up to 210 native Peruvian animals make up the majority of the exhibits, though there are also typical international zoo animals. You might finally get to see those animals and birds you only heard in the jungle! The conditions are OK, and the zoo is well maintained and popular.
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Plaza de Armas
Also called Plaza Mayor, the 140-sq-meter Plaza de Armas was once the heart of Lima. Though not one original building remains, the impressive bronze fountain in the center is its oldest feature, erected in 1650, and its oldest building is the cathedral, which was reconstructed after the 1746 earthquake.
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Santuario de Santa Rosa de Lima
Santuario de Santa Rosa de Lima honors the first saint of the Americas in her hometown of Lima. The church and its garden have been built at roughly the site of her birth, and you can find a modest adobe sanctuary in the gardens, built in the early 17th century for her prayers and meditation.
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