Departure times
- Departure: 9:00 AM
- Back around 5:00 PM
- The times in the itinerary are approximate and may shift with traffic and the group's pace.
Essentials at a glance
- Duration
- 8 h
- Type
- Private
- Departures
- 9:00 AM
- Pickup
- Hotels in Miraflores, San Isidro & Barranco
- Languages
- English & Spanish
- Cancellation
- Free up to 24 hours before
The experience
Why you’ll love this
With your private guide, begin in Lima’s UNESCO-listed Historic Center and descend into the catacombs of San Francisco. After lunch at Café del Museo, set among the Larco Museum’s gardens, explore one of the finest pre-Columbian collections in the Americas, from ceremonial ceramics and gold to the famous erotic gallery.
Tip: let us know about any dietary needs when you book, and we’ll inform the restaurant.
- Private guide through Lima’s Historic Center
- Descend into the San Francisco Catacombs
- Lunch at Café del Museo
- Explore 5,000 years of art at Larco
Step by step
Your route
Hotel pickup
We pick you up in Miraflores, San Isidro or Barranco and drive down to the historic centre, a Unesco World Heritage site.
Plaza San Martín
Inaugurated on 27 July 1921, for the centenary of independence. Mariano Benlliure's monument shows San Martín crossing the Andes, ringed by white façades.
Jirón de la Unión
The pedestrian street linking the two squares. It was Lima's elegant promenade — wooden balconies, old mansions and shopfronts that are still the downtown's commercial heart.
Basílica de La Merced
Founded in 1535, as old as the city itself. Its baroque doorway is carved in stone, and inside there is almost always a line of limeños waiting to pray to Friar Pedro Urraca.
Plaza Mayor
Lima was founded here on 18 January 1535. Around it stand the Government Palace, the Cathedral and the Archbishop's Palace; at its centre, the fountain inaugurated in 1651, the oldest thing still standing in the square.
San Francisco Monastery & Catacombs
Lima's best-preserved baroque complex: a Mudéjar wooden dome, cedar choir stalls carved in 1658 and a library of 25,000 volumes. Below the floor, the catacombs that served as the city's cemetery until 1810.
Lunch at Café del Museo
Lunch on the Larco Museum terrace, among the bougainvillea and in view of the pyramid and the mansion. A three-course menu with pisco sour, water and a hot drink. We book in advance; if the restaurant is full that day, we choose another of the same standard. Let us know in advance about any dietary restrictions.
Larco Museum
We step into the 18th-century viceroyal mansion built on top of a 7th-century pre-Columbian pyramid. The museum opened to the public in 1926 with the collection Rafael Larco Hoyle brought together.
The galleries
With your guide you go through the Moche portrait vessels, the textiles, and the gold and silver that went into the graves of the lords. Also the visible storage: shelves holding 30,000 catalogued pieces that you walk right through.
Erotic ceramics gallery
In a pavilion of its own, the best-known collection of pre-Columbian erotic pottery in the world. It was not provocation: it stood for fertility and the cycle of life.
Hotel drop-off
We drop you off at your hotel door in Miraflores, San Isidro or Barranco.
Everything taken care of
What’s included
- Private bilingual guide
- Private transport
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Larco Museum entrance
- San Francisco Catacombs entrance
- Three-course lunch at Café del Museo or similar, with pisco sour, water and a hot drink
- Taxes included
Not included
- Additional meals and drinks
- Tips
- Personal expenses
Good to know before you go
Plan your day with confidence
Pickup and return
- Hotels in Miraflores, San Isidro and Barranco
- Elsewhere in Lima? Ask us for a quote.
- We’ll confirm your exact pickup time.
What to bring
- Comfortable walking shoes
- Hat, sunglasses and sunscreen
- Water
- A charged phone or camera
- Cash or card for souvenirs
Important information
- Minimum 2 travelers.
- 50% surcharge on Peruvian national holidays.
- Dietary or mobility needs? Tell us in advance.
- Times are a guide: Lima traffic and each group's pace can move the stops earlier or later.
- Card declined? Ask your bank to enable international online purchases. If it still fails, write to us and we will give you another payment method.
Clear before you confirm
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the tour. This is a private experience for your group only. You’ll receive your confirmation email within 15 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
What does the day look like?
About 8 hours. Pickup at 9:00 a.m., the historic centre and the catacombs under the San Francisco monastery in the morning, then lunch, and the Larco Museum in the afternoon. We drop you back at your hotel around 5:00 p.m.
Can children join?
Yes. Children aged 0–3 travel free and don't count toward the group tier; ages 4–11 pay 20% less than the adult rate of your group's tier, and from 12 they pay the adult rate.
What does the Larco Museum have that others do not?
It is the only museum in Lima with a visitable storeroom: you walk in among shelves holding more than forty thousand ceramic pieces arranged by culture, normally off limits to visitors. It sits in an eighteenth-century mansion built on top of a pre-Hispanic pyramid.
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Ready for this experience?
Book your date online, or message our local team on WhatsApp for help planning your day in Lima.