Peru - Lima Airport Layover - go into the city?

I have a layover on an upcoming Sunday in Lima from 4PM - 1AM. Is it worthwhile for me to leave the airport and have dinner/explore, or would I be better served staying put in the airport?

I have some friends who have a layover the same day in Lima from 1PM - 11 PM. Ideally I was thinking they arrive ahead of me, go into the city, then when I landed I could head in, meet them for dinner at a predetermined location, and then go back to the airport with them.

Bad idea or feasible?

Feasible, but don't head downtown - head to Miraflores instead. 30-45 mins in a cab, lots of life on the street at night and lots of restaurants.

The airport is OK, but with the time you have, you can easily go into the city.

It is possible, but I assume you have a late evening departure back to the US. If so, you want to be back at the airport no later than about 10:00PM. The check in/immigration out process at LIM can be much longer than expected. I typically arrive about 3 hours before my flights back to the US.

If your flight is on time you can be in Miraflores by 5:00PM. I would plan to be heading back to the airport no later than 9:15-9:30PM. Your friends would need to leave for LIM by 7:15-7:30PM for an 11:00PM flight.

How easy is it to get a taxi FROM Miraflores back to the airport? Any obvious safety issues to consider such as using a radio taxi vs. hailing one on the street, etc?

Everbody had a different view on this.

I would go Downtown for a couple of reasons.

1. It is closer and faster to get to the airport.
2. While I liked Miraflores, I found Downtown to more reflect the vestiges of the old Spanish colonial era of Peru. I loved the grand old buildings near the Plaza de Armas, and the pedestrian shopping street of Jiron de la Union.

Lots of good restaurants in the area, and I found it to be perfectly safe at night.

I personally use a radio taxi if traveling by myself. If with others I will grab one off the street - safety in numbers! If getting one off the street be sure to negotiate the rate before getting in. It can eliminate many issues at the end of the ride; they will always come down from their initial (sometimes outrageous) rate. Although not nearly as prevalent as a couple of years ago, "ATM kidnappings" can still be a problem.

My experience is that the downtown area can be really iffy after dark, especially once you are a couple of blocks off the plaza. I would vote for Miraflores and leave downtown for a daylight visit but YMMV. If you are planning to stay just in the plaza then that is a bit different.

While visiting downtown during the day was pretty and nice, it was pretty hot in late March, and not that many people were out and about. Upon returning later around sunset, the place was much more crowded and lively and fun.

I had two long layovers last time I was in LIM...one day I spent in el Centro, the other in Miraflores. Both are different, but were each fun and interesting.

The good part of a Sunday layover is that you´ll have no traffic; the really bad part is that most of the good restaurants are closed.

I´m assuming you won´t have to check-in in your way back to the airport, so there is no need to be 3 hours prior to the departure of your flight.

My recommendation is to tell your friends to meet you at Larcomar ( www.larcomar.com ) This is a really nice place in Miraflores, about 25 - 30 minutes from the airport. There are some restaurants and nice shops if you are interested in good quality handicrafts. The place is over a cliff and you can see the coastline from there. Tell them to meet you at Gelateria Laritza or Cafe Cafe. These are in the middle of Larcomar and they can watch people go by and have some coffee or ice cream while they wait for you.

From there you can get a cab to downtown Lima to see the main squares (Grau Square, San Martin Square, the cathedral, the Government Palace, etc.) Downtown Lima at night is really nice. Again, since there´s no traffic, this should take you about an hour and a half max. I DO NOT recommend taking any cab in the street, even if you are with other people. Many of them don´t even have a license. Try the Larcomar cabs or you can cross the street and get one at the Marriott hotel (probably they´ll charge you more)....rockdoc is right, by all means negotiate the price before you get in the car...tell the driver where will you be going after downtown so he can estimate the rate. I do not recommend you to stay at downtown on your own, you don´t have a lot of time anyway, so whenever you feel like it ask the driver to stop, get down and take some pictures and then move on.

So say you go to downtown at 6 or 6:30, by 8 you´ll be ready to go to Jose Antonio restaurant and try some Peruvian food. This is a really good restaurant in San Isidro, which is even closer to the airport than Miraflores (20 - 25 minutes). The address is Bernardo Monteagudo 200 http://www.joseantonio.com.pe/ingles/index.php You might want someone in the restaurant to call a radio taxi for you that will take you to the airport. Radio taxis have fixed rates, so you´ll know how much the driver will charge when the phone call is done.

Hope this helps! Good luck! ;)

One more thing, when you are coming out from the airport don´t hire a cab from the first company you see. Their rates are in dollars and very expensive. Try the second cab company you see on your way out. Rates are in soles and they have a chart with fixed prices.

The good part of a Sunday layover is that you´ll have no traffic; the really bad part is that most of the good restaurants are closed. I´m assuming you won´t have to check-in in your way back to the airport, so there is no need to be 3 hours prior to the departure of your flight.
My recommendation is to tell your friends to meet you at Larcomar ( www.larcomar.com ) This is a really nice place in Miraflores, about 25 - 30 minutes from the airport. There are some restaurants and nice shops if you are interested in good quality handicrafts. The place is over a cliff and you can see the coastline from there. Tell them to meet you at Gelateria Laritza or Cafe Cafe. These are in the middle of Larcomar and they can watch people go by and have some coffee or ice cream while they wait for you.

On more than several occasions I have spent TWO HOURS in immigration control to clear to airside. Cut the three hour deadline at your own risk. I speak from more than 30 trips to Peru over the past 4-5 years. I agree that Larcomar is a great area, but there are many other parts of Miraflores with good places to eat.

This is great information. For the return process (immigration/customs before a US flight), most ticket counters dont open until 3 hours before the flight, so Im guessing if Im back at the airport by 9pm for a 12.10am flight, Ill have enough time to check-in, go through customs and enjoy the lounge? Or do LIM ticket counters open earlier?

Also how much is a taxi to downtown or to Miraflores? My hotel (the Sheraton) offered a hired car for 35USD, but I didnt know if a taxi would be more affordable (taking into consideration the 11pm arrival time of my flight as well). Any thoughts?

Right, the ticket counters typically open 3 hours prior to the first departure of the evening. Arrive at the 3 hour mark and you will be one of the first in line. Arrive 2:30 before departure and you may find 100-150 people inline in front of you.

$35 from downtown doesn't sound outrageous to the airport for a reputable hire car but you may be able to negotiate it down a bit.

What should I expect for a regular taxi from the airport to the Swissotel $$-wise?

When I was there (last October) the price of the taxi from the airport was fixed - 45 soles (about $15)
Lima taxis are usually extremely worn out, of the 4-5 taxi rides in Lima, one just stopped after 500m, the driver could not revive it for several minutes and asked us to find another one. Another funny experience - there were police checks at the exit to the airport, and on the way there the driver asked me to borrow my glasses, as his driving licence stated he should wear glasses.

I agree with the others that you should head to Miraflores. Downtown would be lively and fine on a Friday or Saturday night, but Sunday is pretty dead. A regular cab will be about $15, $35 isn't bad for an executive cab (more room, leather seats, A/C sure to work).

I'd vote for the park area back from the sea in Miraflores rather than Larcomar. The latter is just a shopping mall on the water really, while the former gives you more of a feel of Lima and it's people. Lots of restaurants with outdoor seating and it's fun to stroll through the park and by the church.

The MileageAddict clan just did this last week. We arrived into LIM at 215pm and had a 1040pm departure. Taxi into Miraflores was $15 USD and took 45 minutes. Taxi stand on the lower level of the Larcomar shopping center made securing a taxi for the return to the airport stress-free as well. The taxi fare on the return was $15 too and took 40 minutes.

Allow 2 hours for check-in on your return.

Hey guys --

I'm headed to Cuzco later this week. I've travelled a lot in S. America, but this is my first time in Peru. Like others, I have a long layover (currently 3:30 pm until 11:50 pm) on a Tuesday night. I've seen several suggested itineraries, a lot of which suggest a visit to Miraflores. Is that the best thing to do?

We like travelling inexpensively, but don't want any drama during our brief visit to Lima. Is there convenient luggage storage at LIM? And then just go to one of the cab lines and give our destination? It sounds like it's now "fixed price" from the airport -- with different companies perhaps charging different amounts? And then we should get someone to get us a radio taxi for the return trip, find out the fixed price for the radio taxi ride, and plan on arriving 2 hours before our flight?

Any suggestions on how to do this stress-free would be greatly appreciated. I haven't yet had the time to do a lot of research on this.

BTW, I see that LAN now has a flight leaving at 3:30 from CUZ (when I booked, the last one was like 2:15). It's a LANPass award ticket; not sure if they charge for changes. If they don't, should I switch to the later flight? We'd generally prefer more time in CUZ, but if it would needlessly rush my LIM layover, I'll keep what we have.

Thanks for the help!

EDIT: Well, I didn't get any assistance in this thread, but after looking around elsewhere, we decided to hire one of the online taxi agencies that arrange tours for those with long LIM layovers. We paid $100 and got to see a lot of the major Centro and coastal sights. The nice thing about hiring a single driver is you can throw your luggage in the trunk and not have to leave it elsewhere (like at the airport).

Not sure the tour was truly worth $100, but I can definitely say I've "seen Lima." Without a guide, and knowing nothing about the city, one is definitely a bit safer going to Miraflores than downtown. Personally, I would recommend hanging out in Barranco instead of Miraflores, as I found the neighborhood more "real," and also quite safe.

Do you happen to have the name of the agency you used? We also have a long layover in LIma and would love to do something similar? Was it $100 total or per-person? Also, did you have to pay a fee to leave the airport (Reciprocity Fees) in Lima? Thanks!

$100 seems a bit steep to me, I took Taxi Green from the airport to Miraflores a couple of weeks ago and it was S/.45, the driver was telling me that the sharks outside the airport charge dollars for soles.

So S/.45 to Miraflores, then he had to go back again works out about half a sol a minute. On that basis you should easily be able to get a decent tour for less than $100. I'd start the bidding at S/.150 and see what happens.

I have the card of the driver that took me, let me know if you want a scan of it