Six Free Activities in Lima, Peru
With over 1600 square miles, Lima is one of the most important cities in Peru and is the place you will be staying during your study abroad experience. For the days you have spare time and want to explore without worrying about how much you will spend, we’d like to show you a few things you can do and places you can visit without going over budget.
START YOUR DAY OUTDOORS
If you like starting your day with exercise, or you practice sports back home and want to stay fit during your time in Peru, you came to the right place! Running culture has been growing in Lima. In fact, running and bike paths are being added to our streets every year.
The most known routes are the Avenida Arequipa and Avenida Salaverry, which are two of the longest ones available. Speaking of which, the District of Miraflores, Jesus Maria, and Lima have joined efforts to close Arequipa Avenue in its entirety from 7 am to 1 pm, to encourage physical activity for runners, bikers, and skaters.
EXPLORE THE CITY CENTER
If you like to go on a solo adventure from time to time, Lima’s City Hall has prepared a series of MP3 files you can use as an audio guide to walk around Centro de Lima while listening to information about its architecture, history, and features. This is a wonderful initiative that the Peruvian Government has started as part of its “Marca Peru” program.
RELAX BY EL OLIVAR
If you just had lunch and are in the mood for a stroll in a summer’s warm afternoon, you have to visit El Olivar. Located in the heart of San Isidro, El Olivar is an olive tree forest that dates back to the 1500s, when the first olive trees were brought from Spain. Initially, only three olive trees survived the trip to the New World.
At its highest point, El Olivar contained over three thousand olive trees, with many of them being destroyed when the Spaniards abandoned Lima after Peru’s independence. Today, El Olivar forest has become a National Monument, and it is one of the favorite sites for newly-wed couples to take their wedding pictures.
VISIT SAN BORJA
If you have been in Lima for a few weeks, you’ve probably started to familiarize yourself with the districts of Miraflores, Jesus Maria, Pueblo Libre or San Miguel, where PUCP is located. However, if you head East, about 30 minutes away from Miraflores, you will find the district of San Borja.
San Borja is known for being the district with the most parks and natural landscapes in Lima. This is a result of the district’s efforts to encourage sustainable city building, as well as promoting wellness in its inhabitants. San Borja is also home to El Pentagonito, a now-closed building which formerly was our National Intelligence Service, now repurposed as a military Command Center. Its perimeter, however, is now used in conjunction with the City Hall, as a very popular running and biking path.
Know why we call it Pentagonito? Spanish in Peru uses diminutives quite frequently. And so Pentagonito means Small Pentagon, in reference to our Peruvian version of the U.S. Pentagon.
ATTEND A PERFORMANCE
If you are more of an indoor person and enjoy arts and performance, head to El Gran Teatro Nacional. Also located in San Borja, this is one of the newest theaters that have been built in recent history. El Gran Teatro Nacional is a response to the need for a venue that would replace the loss of the Teatro Municipal de Lima, which was tragically lost in a fire that ended its legacy back in 1998 due to an electrical failure.
In an effort to encourage cultural literacy among students and the general audience, this venue hosts free activities, which range from Classical Music Performances to Contemporary dance and Plays.
ENJOY THE OCEAN VIEW
And to end your week on a high note, pack your bag, a couple of sandwiches, your favorite drink and a blanket, and head to Miraflores’ Malecon. If you fancy a picnic in the morning or afternoon, summer or winter, this is the place to be. You’ll enjoy a meal with an ocean view at no cost at one of the places unlike any other in the world.
If you happen to be in Lima and would like to do something that won’t hurt your budget, give these a try! Peru offers a plethora of activities that will fit your interests, and we look forward to hearing about your adventures in Lima.
Curious about which aspects make Peru so different? Check out our past blog, “Why Study in Peru?” for more details about this unique country!
RESOURCES
Running paths: Learn where the paths are located in Lima here.
El Gran Teatro Nacional: Find out which scheduled activities are available at during your time here.
Lima’s City Hall: Follow this link, select your language and you will be able to download both the route and the audio guide file.