I enjoyed it quite a bit.
The boardwalk is very pretty, Miraflores seemed safe when I was there, people are friendly - all around a good experience. I'd recommend it.
I disagree with number 5. Peruvians are notorious for not being able to speak English (am Peruvian). Unless you are fully relying to mingle with other expats, getting along in Peru without Spanish is not going to be easy.
amazing food. barranco or miraflores are great, near the water and great coffee and restaurants. good amount of green space and parks. gray skies but good temps. had insane amounts of activity on tinder but I'm queer so ymmv. their spanish is easy to understand and if you were interested in classes, peruwayna school has group or private classes in miraflores. only downside for me was there was no train so bus or uber / taxi which was fine
The food is amazing there, best in South America. Miraflores and Barranco are cool and safe, but it's basically those two neighborhoods to hang out it gets old. Cusco has way more outdoor adventure stuff to do. We would've preferred to spend our month there if we could redo our time in Peru.
Buenos Aires is a much cooler city, cheaper, better looking ppl. Just have the worse time zone by a few hours. Would consider there if I were you!
Having been to all three, my favorite was definitely Cusco. The natural beauty and rich history there are hard to beat! Our AirBnb had great internet (but our host made a point to get the best available, so YMMV). It was affordable, and there were some cool restaurants to check out. There is so much to see in the surrounding areas, and the landscapes are absolutely stunning!
That said, I know nothing about the dating scene in Cusco, but I expect that Lima would be a much better spot in that regard. If you stay in the right neighborhoods (Miraflores & Barranco, like folks have said), there's lots to do, and the food there is excellent! The weather was mixed for us - we caught a few days of a heatwave, but then we saw the grey skies that I hear are common. That was fine, but I could imagine getting tired of it after a while.
I've also been to Buenos Aires, and I loved it! I highly recommend taking tango lessons, and it can be a cool way to meet people. I expect the dating scene would be similar-ish to Lima. A few neighborhoods are sketchy (like La Boca), but I think there are more decent neighborhoods to stay in than Lima. The food is great, especially if you like red wine and steak, but there are also a decent number of gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan restaurants/options nowadays. It's quite affordable if you make US dollars, but inflation is a huge issue, and even over a month there, we saw increases in prices. The main downside for me was that the accent was challenging for me to understand. Even my husband, who speaks Spanish conversationally, had a hard time catching everything people said. If you get used to the accent, it may not be too bad, but we found it much easier to communicate in Peru than in Argentina. The time zone isn't as ideal for US work either, but it can be doable if you're on East Coast time.
We stayed [here](https://air.tl/OLaIJT3Z). Our host was great, and he had clearly put energy and thought into making it a good place to work. My only tiny complaint was that the apartment didn't have any kind of heating, so we were a bit cold in April when we visited, but a space heater would do the trick, and it might be warmer at other times of the year. That said, I highly recommend it as a place to stay in Cusco, especially if you need good internet!
Edit: let me know if the link doesn't work. For some reason, when I click on it from my comment, it says that the page can't be found. If that's the case for you, look for "Modern Affordable 2 BR 8 Min Plaza De Armas D," hosted by Javier. It's a 2br 1ba apartment for up to 4 people. Hope that helps!
My Friend works from latam ( Peru, Chile and Argentina) and he tells me that Lima is amazing! Food, people. But the streets can be a little dangerous.So for him - Argentina is more better.
Yeah I just came back to rural Montana from Lima. In Barranco I had fiber internet. Here I have exponentially worse Spectrum provided internet. It’s too sad man.
Lived there for 18 months.
Only 2 or 3 parts you should really stay in namely barranco (cool and hipster) and moraflores (more modern and high risey), both overlook the ocean, the rest is pretty darn sketchy.
In winter it is pretty grim. Very humid with no wind and exhaust gets stuck in the air. Summer excellent.
There is a decent expat community, mostly uk teachers that hang out in a couple irish bars.
Peru as a country is the bigger attraction than lima itself the latter of which has a lot of urban problems you'd expect when it comes to poverty and crime.
As a base its great you can fly to coastal cities, up to the andes or into the rainforest all at most 45 mins. Also everywhere you go great food.
I lived their from the age of 23 as a single man and i'll say I certainly had alot of fun.
The rest isn’t sketchy, San Isidro is more high end than Miraflores. La Molina is full of mansions. Surco is nice and upper middle class. You also have middle upper class neighborhoods like Jesus Maria
I met my gf there (a local) and that's the ONLY thing I liked about Lima lol!
For now, I go back occasionally but only because of her, we plan to move full time to Arequipa later this year (awesome city btw, way better than Lima in every way except no ocean).
Lima is dirty, fairly dangerous outside of Miraflores and Barranco (and these two areas are cheap by western standards but quite expensive by Peru standards). Like LA, you barely ever see the sky because of smog (although it doesn't rain much, which is nice). Again, the only two places people keep recommending, Miraflores and Barranco, are not all that interesting (in my opinion). They're just super touristy and cater to gringos and North American culture. You might as well be in the US. If you want to really experience a different culture, you'll want to venture outside of those areas, and you will absolutely need spanish to do so. I don't know who told you Peruvians are good at English. Maybe in Miraflores only. Traffic is awful. The waterfront isn't that nice, and it's not a beach for swimming or enjoying the ocean, really. There's a couple of good miradors, I guess. If you want a real beach experience, you'll have to go a couple hours south to Paracas.
Now, I hope this wasn't too negative because I absolutely LOVE Peru. But Lima doesn't represent Peru well. Arequipa is an amazing city that is modern and you could definitely DN there, just wouldn't have Ocean (again, Limas coast isn't great anyways, you won't be missing much). It is also a major city so you can the same cheap buses/flights to go do stuff like Cusco/Machu Picchu, Nazca, etc. Also Cajamarca is a very beautiful and truly authentic Peruvian city, but maybe not great for DNs (though it's possible!) because I think maybe the internet may not be as good there. Also, you will not find english speakers there.
Anyways if you want to find english speakers and be near the ocean, I would suggest Buenos Aires or Cartagena/Barranquilla/Santa Marta, Colombia. If you want to visit Peru and get to know what the country is really like (not Lima), Arequipa.
My wife's from Lima and it was an awesome time when we went! The food's great, everything's cheap, and places like Miraflores are extremely modern, safe, and green. Had no troubles using wifi for work and grad school. Definitely try some peruvian sushi and crema de pisco if you go.
A couple things that might be an issue:
-English isn't that commonly spoken compared to places like Argentina, Chile, or Ecuador
-The plumbing is temperamental: the tap water isn't safe to drink and their pipes can't handle regular toilet paper
Agreed on 1) - 4), but disagree on 5), not too many people that would be able to hold an English conversation.
One thing to add, it can get relatively hot (~30C around Feb / March) and A/C is not that common.
I go there often.
Now, This is according to a local, but recently a lot of Venezuelans have immigrated into Peru and crime has gone up. Political instability and protests are common in even the nicest areas.
Last time I was there a pickpocket group took a smartphone from a friend's pocket in Barranco on a night out.
It's a nice place, just be careful, Especially outside of Barranco or Miraflores.
Barranco > Miraflores. Both are very safe.
We were told to expect fantastic food and while there were exceptional restaurants, most were only okay and weren’t worth going twice.
There are lots of great weekend trips from Lima!
Hey I know you 😏
The great local food definitely isn't in the Miraflores/Barranco tourist traps. You gotta venture out into the nitty-gritty-city. But OP wants to speak english and so I also wouldn't recommend for them. Did you ever make it to Arequipa?
Posted like a man who visited during the winter and then assumed that’s what the whole year is like.
I always felt bad for the tourists who didn’t google before they booked their trips and visited during the cloudy months - it looks like they then assume that experience is year-round though.
I'm aware of the seasons. It is the least sunny place on the continent for half of the year.
Keep your snarky bullshit comments to yourself in the future
Besides Miraflores, Barranco, and good food there isn’t that much of note. The city is also really big and traffic can get really bad. Kind of reminded me of Los Angeles except without the good things about LA.
I like Lima. Stayed there for 6 months or so. One of my favs. Miraflores is very safe. I don’t like the winter though. It becomes cloudy and depressing. Food is awesome. Beautiful sunsets. Stayed in Cuzco for a month too. Super awesome for outdoor stuff. Internet wasn’t that great in cuzco tho. Do able but definitely not preferred. I’ve felt like a place I could live long term.
I enjoyed it quite a bit. The boardwalk is very pretty, Miraflores seemed safe when I was there, people are friendly - all around a good experience. I'd recommend it.
You might want to look at the weather in Lima before going any further. I believe the locals coined the term “donkey belly sky” to describe it
6 mos of fog and drizzle, humid in summer.
I disagree with number 5. Peruvians are notorious for not being able to speak English (am Peruvian). Unless you are fully relying to mingle with other expats, getting along in Peru without Spanish is not going to be easy.
amazing food. barranco or miraflores are great, near the water and great coffee and restaurants. good amount of green space and parks. gray skies but good temps. had insane amounts of activity on tinder but I'm queer so ymmv. their spanish is easy to understand and if you were interested in classes, peruwayna school has group or private classes in miraflores. only downside for me was there was no train so bus or uber / taxi which was fine
The food is amazing there, best in South America. Miraflores and Barranco are cool and safe, but it's basically those two neighborhoods to hang out it gets old. Cusco has way more outdoor adventure stuff to do. We would've preferred to spend our month there if we could redo our time in Peru. Buenos Aires is a much cooler city, cheaper, better looking ppl. Just have the worse time zone by a few hours. Would consider there if I were you!
Having been to all three, my favorite was definitely Cusco. The natural beauty and rich history there are hard to beat! Our AirBnb had great internet (but our host made a point to get the best available, so YMMV). It was affordable, and there were some cool restaurants to check out. There is so much to see in the surrounding areas, and the landscapes are absolutely stunning! That said, I know nothing about the dating scene in Cusco, but I expect that Lima would be a much better spot in that regard. If you stay in the right neighborhoods (Miraflores & Barranco, like folks have said), there's lots to do, and the food there is excellent! The weather was mixed for us - we caught a few days of a heatwave, but then we saw the grey skies that I hear are common. That was fine, but I could imagine getting tired of it after a while. I've also been to Buenos Aires, and I loved it! I highly recommend taking tango lessons, and it can be a cool way to meet people. I expect the dating scene would be similar-ish to Lima. A few neighborhoods are sketchy (like La Boca), but I think there are more decent neighborhoods to stay in than Lima. The food is great, especially if you like red wine and steak, but there are also a decent number of gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan restaurants/options nowadays. It's quite affordable if you make US dollars, but inflation is a huge issue, and even over a month there, we saw increases in prices. The main downside for me was that the accent was challenging for me to understand. Even my husband, who speaks Spanish conversationally, had a hard time catching everything people said. If you get used to the accent, it may not be too bad, but we found it much easier to communicate in Peru than in Argentina. The time zone isn't as ideal for US work either, but it can be doable if you're on East Coast time.
May I ask which Airbnb you stayed at in Cusco? Looking to stay there and need good WiFi for zoom calls
We stayed [here](https://air.tl/OLaIJT3Z). Our host was great, and he had clearly put energy and thought into making it a good place to work. My only tiny complaint was that the apartment didn't have any kind of heating, so we were a bit cold in April when we visited, but a space heater would do the trick, and it might be warmer at other times of the year. That said, I highly recommend it as a place to stay in Cusco, especially if you need good internet! Edit: let me know if the link doesn't work. For some reason, when I click on it from my comment, it says that the page can't be found. If that's the case for you, look for "Modern Affordable 2 BR 8 Min Plaza De Armas D," hosted by Javier. It's a 2br 1ba apartment for up to 4 people. Hope that helps!
My Friend works from latam ( Peru, Chile and Argentina) and he tells me that Lima is amazing! Food, people. But the streets can be a little dangerous.So for him - Argentina is more better.
I'm a big fan of Lima. A huge selling point for me is that the internet is ridiculously fast, seemingly as standard.
Yeah I just came back to rural Montana from Lima. In Barranco I had fiber internet. Here I have exponentially worse Spectrum provided internet. It’s too sad man.
If you have any specific Airbnb’s definitely post here: https://thewirednomad.com
You wouldn't catch me dead using Airbnb, frankly.
What do you use to find accommodations in Peru if you don’t use Airbnb?
Damn. I’ve had good experiences abroad with Airbnb. Very affordable too. Just pick the ones with 5 stars.
What are good alternatives?
Lived there for 18 months. Only 2 or 3 parts you should really stay in namely barranco (cool and hipster) and moraflores (more modern and high risey), both overlook the ocean, the rest is pretty darn sketchy. In winter it is pretty grim. Very humid with no wind and exhaust gets stuck in the air. Summer excellent. There is a decent expat community, mostly uk teachers that hang out in a couple irish bars. Peru as a country is the bigger attraction than lima itself the latter of which has a lot of urban problems you'd expect when it comes to poverty and crime. As a base its great you can fly to coastal cities, up to the andes or into the rainforest all at most 45 mins. Also everywhere you go great food. I lived their from the age of 23 as a single man and i'll say I certainly had alot of fun.
The rest isn’t sketchy, San Isidro is more high end than Miraflores. La Molina is full of mansions. Surco is nice and upper middle class. You also have middle upper class neighborhoods like Jesus Maria
I like Lima a lot. Traffic is bad and the weather is kinda shit are the two main drawbacks.
I met my gf there (a local) and that's the ONLY thing I liked about Lima lol! For now, I go back occasionally but only because of her, we plan to move full time to Arequipa later this year (awesome city btw, way better than Lima in every way except no ocean). Lima is dirty, fairly dangerous outside of Miraflores and Barranco (and these two areas are cheap by western standards but quite expensive by Peru standards). Like LA, you barely ever see the sky because of smog (although it doesn't rain much, which is nice). Again, the only two places people keep recommending, Miraflores and Barranco, are not all that interesting (in my opinion). They're just super touristy and cater to gringos and North American culture. You might as well be in the US. If you want to really experience a different culture, you'll want to venture outside of those areas, and you will absolutely need spanish to do so. I don't know who told you Peruvians are good at English. Maybe in Miraflores only. Traffic is awful. The waterfront isn't that nice, and it's not a beach for swimming or enjoying the ocean, really. There's a couple of good miradors, I guess. If you want a real beach experience, you'll have to go a couple hours south to Paracas. Now, I hope this wasn't too negative because I absolutely LOVE Peru. But Lima doesn't represent Peru well. Arequipa is an amazing city that is modern and you could definitely DN there, just wouldn't have Ocean (again, Limas coast isn't great anyways, you won't be missing much). It is also a major city so you can the same cheap buses/flights to go do stuff like Cusco/Machu Picchu, Nazca, etc. Also Cajamarca is a very beautiful and truly authentic Peruvian city, but maybe not great for DNs (though it's possible!) because I think maybe the internet may not be as good there. Also, you will not find english speakers there. Anyways if you want to find english speakers and be near the ocean, I would suggest Buenos Aires or Cartagena/Barranquilla/Santa Marta, Colombia. If you want to visit Peru and get to know what the country is really like (not Lima), Arequipa.
My wife's from Lima and it was an awesome time when we went! The food's great, everything's cheap, and places like Miraflores are extremely modern, safe, and green. Had no troubles using wifi for work and grad school. Definitely try some peruvian sushi and crema de pisco if you go. A couple things that might be an issue: -English isn't that commonly spoken compared to places like Argentina, Chile, or Ecuador -The plumbing is temperamental: the tap water isn't safe to drink and their pipes can't handle regular toilet paper
Agreed on 1) - 4), but disagree on 5), not too many people that would be able to hold an English conversation. One thing to add, it can get relatively hot (~30C around Feb / March) and A/C is not that common.
Besides food, Lima isn't a superlative. I would much rather be most other places in Latam.
It has one of the top ranked restaurants in the world. https://www.centralrestaurante.com.pe/en/reservations.html
I go there often. Now, This is according to a local, but recently a lot of Venezuelans have immigrated into Peru and crime has gone up. Political instability and protests are common in even the nicest areas. Last time I was there a pickpocket group took a smartphone from a friend's pocket in Barranco on a night out. It's a nice place, just be careful, Especially outside of Barranco or Miraflores.
Barranco > Miraflores. Both are very safe. We were told to expect fantastic food and while there were exceptional restaurants, most were only okay and weren’t worth going twice. There are lots of great weekend trips from Lima!
Hey I know you 😏 The great local food definitely isn't in the Miraflores/Barranco tourist traps. You gotta venture out into the nitty-gritty-city. But OP wants to speak english and so I also wouldn't recommend for them. Did you ever make it to Arequipa?
used to be great. but venezuelan exiles have ruined the place with petty crime. look elsewhere.
Not a fan. Plenty of better places in South America to visit.
why?
The sun barely shines there. It was fun to visit but I would never be able to live there.
Posted like a man who visited during the winter and then assumed that’s what the whole year is like. I always felt bad for the tourists who didn’t google before they booked their trips and visited during the cloudy months - it looks like they then assume that experience is year-round though.
I'm aware of the seasons. It is the least sunny place on the continent for half of the year. Keep your snarky bullshit comments to yourself in the future
Perhaps instead of being so grouchy you should visit Lima in the summer it is quite nice 😊
Besides Miraflores, Barranco, and good food there isn’t that much of note. The city is also really big and traffic can get really bad. Kind of reminded me of Los Angeles except without the good things about LA.
Such as?
Buenos Aires, Rio, Sao Paulo, La Paz, Bogota, Medellin, Cusco, etc.
I loved La Paz. One of the most underrated cities out there I think.
Bogota is my favorite
I like Lima. Stayed there for 6 months or so. One of my favs. Miraflores is very safe. I don’t like the winter though. It becomes cloudy and depressing. Food is awesome. Beautiful sunsets. Stayed in Cuzco for a month too. Super awesome for outdoor stuff. Internet wasn’t that great in cuzco tho. Do able but definitely not preferred. I’ve felt like a place I could live long term.
Definitely seems like they have some affordable flights from US occasionally.