Lima Travel Guide

By plane

Jorge Chavez International Airport (also called Jorge Chavez Airport Lima-Callao). Flight information - ☎ +51 1 511-6055, is in the harbour city Callao and within metropolitan Lima.

The airport is well connected with most cities in South America. There are regular flights to Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Newark, Atlanta and Houston in the US. There are daily flights from Amsterdam, Madrid, Miami, Bogotá, Medellín, Quito, Santiago de Chile and Toronto.

Lima is the hub for many regional domestic flights and is served by LAN Peru, LC Busre, TACA Peru, and Star Peru.

You can find free wifi in the Starbucks located in the services area.

Airlines and destinations

Arrival

Arrival at the airport can be chaotic. Most flights from overseas arrive in clumps either early in the morning or very late at night, which means that getting through immigration and customs can be tremendously time consuming; the difference between arrival at the gate and exiting customs can range from 20-90 min.

The area immediately outside of customs is typically crowded, full of people waiting for arriving passengers. It's not uncommon for entire families to show up to greet a returning family member and the crowd is further swelled by pre-booked car and taxi service drivers holding up signs with passengers' names; in recent years, a large area where passengers can stand freely and scan the crowd to look for people and not be accosted has been cordoned off in front of customs exit.

Airport transit shuttles

The airport is a 20-40 min drive from San Isidro or Miraflores. Some hostels and hotels offer free airport pickup; check with your hotel regarding this service. Don't worry about standing outside the airport alone for this; it's well-lit at night and security guards are prevalent, but never go to the street to take a taxi.

Taxis

Be wary of the taxi drivers at the airport: if you need transportation at the airport you should avoid using the informal taxis outside of it that will accost you, and either hire it inside the customs reception area (at somewhat inflated fees, as these companies, currently Green Taxi, CMV, and Mitsui, pay a premium to locate their desk there), or book taxi service ahead of time online with a reputable company such as Go Airport Taxi Lima. Its best to use a Certified Ground Transportation supplier so you can always be on the safe side. That being said, once you leave the grounds of the airport things get much cheaper rather rapidly and a trip to Miraflores shouldn't cost you any more than 25 soles but it is obviously not as safe and secure.

Express airport bus

There is also an Express bus to Centro and Miraflores leaving from the Arrival hall; ask at the airport information desk.

Car rentals

Car rental is available at the airport via Hertz, Budget, and National, but unless you have experience driving in extremely challenging environments you should avoid driving yourself in Lima. If you're set on driving yourself, take cabs for a day or so and see what navigating Lima traffic is like before making that decision.

By bus

Unlike many other cities in Peru, Lima doesn't have a central bus terminal for interlocal traffic. (The one currently is for transportation within the Lima area). Most companies have their terminal in La Victoria, not Lima's nicest neighbourhood. However, many are just on the outskirts of La Victoria (Av. Javier Prado and Paseo de la Republica), which is better. There you find some of the more reputable companies like Cruz del Sur, Tepsa, Ormeño, CIAL, Linea, ITTSA, Movil Tours, Flores, Civa.

Regular buses run up and down the Panamerican Highway and inland:

Companies and terminals

Some bus companies and the locations of their terminals are:

The most popular company with tourists

Ormeño is in the Guinness Book of Records for the longest land route (Caracas to Buenos Aires via Lima)