Lima, Peru With Kids

View from Larcomar in Lima Peru

Lima, Peru is a big city! I'm not talking New York or Los Angeles big, I'm talking 20 million people big. Think New York on steroids! That being said it is manageable, fun with kids and budget friendly. Sometime during your trip to Peru, you will fly through Lima. You may even fly through Lima a few times so it is worth spending a few days here.
Expect to pay 50-60 soles to travel from the airport to Miraflores.
Here's what we did. First, we used airbnb.com for accommodations. As you know, we are a party of 5. In South America, we found many of the chain hotels would not allow 5 in a room. And we prefer to use points or miles which for 2 rooms starts to get expensive. Airbnb.com offered lots of inexpensive options in the upscale neighborhood of Miraflores. We settled on a 3 bedroom/2 bath apartment with laundry facilities. It was nice to have the kitchen, laundry and extra bathroom.

We were actually staying in Lima for 3 nights, but we chose to break up our stay with trip down the coast. The Airbnb agreed to let us pay for 3 nights and store our luggage at the apartment for the 4th night while we were travelling for free. Awesome!

Skulls and bones arranged in a design in the catacombs

While in Lima, we checked out the catacombs at La Iglesia de San Francisco. Not as creepy as they seem on Yelp and really interesting and unusual for the whole family. Cost 10 soles per adult, 5 soles per student and 1 soles for my 10 year old. Be sure to get to the cathedral by noon so you can check it out, but the real highlight here is definitely the catacombs and tour of the convent.Near the church and the Plaza Mayor, there are dozens of small restaurants serving a typical Peruvian lunch for cheap approximately 10-15 soles. I highly recommend eating at one of these just to experience the culture and typical foods.
Another must see sight with the kids is Kennedy Park or "cat park". This park is filled with cats. Locals hang out at the park just to cuddle and pet the cats. At first, I was hesitant to let the kids cuddle the cats, but the cats are very friendly and seem well taken care of. I did hose them off with sanitizer when we left though.

Hundreds of cats in Kennedy Park in Lima 

If you forgot to buy any souvenirs in Cuzco, there is an Artisan market near the park with decent prices. Another must see in Lima is the "Magical Water Show" at Parque de la Reserva.



We took the metro (it's actually an express bus) to the catacombs for 2.50 soles per person each way and then a taxi to water show park. Always negotiate a rate with the taxi before you get in the car.
The Water show costs 4 soles per person for a laser fountain show that rivals Disneyland. Shows are at 7:15pm, 8:15pm and 9:30pm. Leave some time to walk around as well.

Fountain next to the laser water show

Another tip to help make Lima affordable, the big grocery stores have a hot food counter, ceviche and salad bar. Decent prices and the food is pretty good. We found that we would eat a big breakfast and lunch and then just pick up empanadas and fruit for dinner. Another place to visit in Lima is the big shopping center built into the side of a cliff, Larcomar in Miraflores. There is a food court here so if your family is anything like ours and can't agree on one type of food. There is also a Pardos Chicken which has about the best roasted chicken I have ever eaten and it's totally reasonable.

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