The main tourist attractions of the city are: Main square which is one of the urban centers of the city. It has in its perimeter three of the most important buildings of the colonial period: The Cathedral, the Palace of the Viceroys -present Palace of Government known as the House of Pizarro- and the Town Council. The Cathedral is located at the Main Square, it is in the same place as the original building of 1555. There are two interesting churches; the Church and Convent of Saint Francis, one of the best architectonic colonial complexes of the 17th century, formed by the small square, the convent and the church. It has cloisters, an interesting Museum of Viceregal Art with a valuable collection of artwork, and catacombs that are more than 300 years old. The second is the Church and Convent of Saint Dominic which began its construction with the foundation of Lima and was finished after the 16th century. The church has three areas, it has interesting choir stalls which are carved in cedar, as well as the dome. You will also want to visit the Los Descalzos Convent which is located on the right bank of the Rímac River, at the end of the Alameda de los Descalzos, a promenade of 18th century Lima. This convent was found at the end of the 16th century and in its quiet rooms there are priceless pictures of Quito and Cuzco Art School. All of these historical sites are accessible with help and are all located in the downtown area of Lima, where you will be able to walk or roll from one to another of these sites. There are curb ramps in almost all the main intersections, though some of these ramps may have steep slopes.

Lima has a wealth of interesting museums where one can explore the rich culture and history of the region. All of the museums mentioned are wheelchair accessible with assistance. There are currently no public accessible restrooms in any of the museums featured. If you are interested in viewing valuable collections of ceramic vessels, gold and silver items as well as jewels from pre-Incan cultures, the National Anthropology Archaeology and History Museum exhibits important collections of such items as does the National Museum and the Amano Museum. The Gold Museum hosts the private collection of Mr. Miguel Mujica Gallo as well as a large weapon collection, with items dating from the 16th century The Huaca Huallamarca and The Huaca Pucllana or Juliana are both pre-Inca temples of pyramidal shape. Both locations have small museums that exhibits items found there during the excavations.

Public transportation in Lima is not wheelchair accessible and there is no accessible taxi service for the moment. Therefore you must make your transportation arrangements in advance and for this purpose you have Peru Mundo Travel (Email: info@flightsperu.com, they offer van service for tours around the city and also for outside Lima. These vans are equipped with portable ramps and can hold two wheelchairs in each van.

The main tourist attractions located at the outskirts of the city are: The National Reserve of Lachay, located about 1.45 hours by car from the city of Lima. This park has interesting microclimates, there is a lot of vegetation and wild animals, as well as archaeological areas belonging to pre-Hispanic cultures. Marcahuasi is located 3 Km to the east of San Pedro de Casta in the Andes of Lima (12906.8 feet above sea level). From San Pedro one must travel 3 hours by horse or 6 hours walking to arrive to this plateau with an extension of 4 Km2. There you can find enormous eroded rocks because of the weather, rising up to 85 ft high; many of them have animal shapes. Camping equipment and a strong sense of adventure is a must. Pachacamac is an Archeological site located at about 45 minutes by car from the city of Lima. It was the first ceremonial center of the Peruvian coast. The importance of this complex decayed since the 15th century A.D. when Inca Tupac Yupanqui conquered the area. Between the constructions, the Temple of the Sun and the Acllahuasi are the most important and were both built during the Inca domination. The Lunahuaná Valley is located at about 2 hours by car from Lima. The road lies along the Cañete river, where one can see archaeological pre-Hispanic remains surrounded by huge mountains and exuberant vegetation. The colonial church of Lunahuaná that dates from 1690 is remarkable. This area is good for practicing canoeing, fishing, hunting, kayaking, paragliding, mountain cycling and other adventure sports.

Peru is very well known for the excellent cuisine, the mixture of flavors that come from the combination of culinary cultures makes Peru an excellent place if you really want to hunt for new flavors. Typical dishes are: cebiche, carapulcra limeña, cau-cau, anticuchos, lomo saltado, and seco de ternera. There are many delicious deserts and the traditional beverage is chicha morada. You will find a great variety of restaurants, some accessible, some accessible with help, though only a couple of them will have accessible public restrooms.

As far as lodging is concerned there are a few hotels that are totally accessible. The Sheraton Lima Hotel and Casino has two designated accessible rooms and both the El Olivar Sonesta Hotel and the Posada del Inca San Isidro are accessible. The Lima Marriott Hotel has three rooms designated accessible and is the only hotel to have rooms with roll-in showers. There are other hotels that are making great efforts towards becoming accessible, one of them is the Sol de Oro Hotel, which has recently remodeled one of their junior suites.

In future articles we will give you information about the cities of Cusco, Aguas Calientes (the city you have to go through on your way to Machu Picchu), Trujillo and Iquitos. In all of these articles we will include and update as much information about places that have accessibility features. For any other information you can get in touch with Alessia Di Paolo from Prom Peru at adipaolo@promperu.gob.pe or directly to us (info@flightsperu.com).