Land at Jorge Chavez airport and change dollars for soles (PEN) at an official counter, not before, since the sol trades roughly 3.38-3.41 to the US dollar in 2026 and isn’t easy to source at home. Two days here is a first-timer’s orientation, not a national tour: Day 1 stays entirely in Miraflores , the clifftop neighborhood that’s the safe, walkable base, and Day 2 adds Barranco’s street art plus a Centro Historico half-day for Plaza Mayor and the San Francisco catacombs.

Three days in Lima covers the essentials without wasted motion: Miraflores on day one, Barranco plus a Centro Historico half-day on day two, then the Larco Museum and a food-forward day to close. Everything runs on the Peruvian sol, roughly 3.40 PEN to the US dollar in 2026, not the euro or the dollar itself. Lima sits at sea level, nowhere near Cusco’s altitude, so skip any altitude prep entirely, though the garua fog greys the sky most days from May through November.

Four days is enough to anchor in Miraflores, add a full day for Barranco and the colonial Centro Historico, dedicate a day to the Larco Museum and Lima’s food scene, then close with a half-day trip to the Pachacamac ruins or the street art of Callao Monumental. Shorter on time? See the 3-day version ; more time, the 7-day version adds a longer day south to Paracas and room to fly on to Cusco afterward, as its own separate trip.

Five days lets Lima breathe: Miraflores to open, Barranco plus a Centro Historico half-day next, the Larco Museum and a food-forward day third, a half-day out to Pachacamac or Callao Monumental fourth, then a genuinely long run south to Paracas and the Islas Ballestas to close. That last day is this itinerary’s honest trade, 3.5 to 4 hours each way by road, so weigh it against a deeper food or market day if a full day in a van isn’t the plan.

Six days in Lima runs the full first-timer arc: one orientation day in Miraflores, a Barranco-plus-Centro day, a Larco Museum and food day, a Pachacamac ruins day trip, a long Paracas and Ballestas Islands day, and a sixth day rounding out Callao Monumental or San Isidro before a genuine food splurge. Lima sits at sea level, so none of this involves altitude, that is strictly a Cusco problem. Everything runs on the Peruvian sol, roughly 3.

Seven days in Lima is enough to actually settle in rather than sprint through it: a Miraflores orientation day, Barranco plus a Centro Historico half-day, the Larco Museum paired with a proper food day, a Pachacamac or Callao day trip, a long Paracas and Ballestas Islands day, and a fuller Lima finale with a genuine tasting-menu splurge. Pay in soles, PEN, roughly 3.38-3.41 to the US dollar in 2026, not the Chilean or Argentine peso.

Lima’s real sights aren’t one postcard shot, they’re a pre-Inca pyramid sitting mid-block in a Miraflores neighborhood, catacombs stacked with bones under a colonial monastery, and a restaurant scene that’s twice topped the World’s 50 Best list. The currency is the Peruvian sol (S/), running roughly 3.38-3.41 per US dollar in 2026, and the city sits flat at sea level, so leave the altitude worries for Cusco, that’s not a Lima problem.

Lima runs on the Peruvian sol, not the euro and not the dollar, and it sits flat at sea level, so leave the altitude worries for Cusco. Jorge Chavez International just opened a genuinely new terminal in 2025, three times the size of the old one, and getting from arrivals into the city has one rule that matters more than any packing list: book an official taxi or app ride, never a street cab.

Lima, Peru, is not one place to visit but six neighborhoods worth knowing before you land, each with its own reason to base there and its own way to reach it: Miraflores, Barranco, San Isidro, Centro Historico, Callao Monumental, and Chorrillos. The sol (PEN) trades at roughly 3.38-3.41 to the US dollar in 2026, and Lima sits at sea level, so there’s no altitude to plan around here, that concern belongs to a separate trip to Cusco and Machu Picchu.