Small town near Lima
 

First trip to Peru. We only have five days. We plan to spend the first couple of days in Lima. We would like to spend three days in a smaller town within a 2-3 hour drive from Lima. My wife is prone to altitude sickness so we need a location 2,000 m or less. We are not interested in tourist sites on this trip. We mainly want to relax in a small hotel/bb within walking distance of restaurants (not fine dining). We want to experience the local culture and cuisine. Tickets to Lima have been bought and we travel the latter part of August.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

You might consider the oasis of Huacachina near Ica.

Do a research of Lunahuana, a small town with good cozy hotels, in a valley south of Lima. Altitude is 480mt, so sunny days are guaranteed and no altitude sickness!!
If season permits, you will find good shrimp food. Plus there are several outdoor activities, including rafting, trekking.

Ica and Huacachina are also an alternative. It's not far from Paracas, but within the dunes and not near the shore (Paracas is in the shore and august could be too humid, cloudy and cold).

Yeah, but poster said 2-3 hours. I was thinking Chosica, it sort of fits the bill of what the OP described. All walkable, some food choices and some local flavour on display. Not touristy in August. (861 m)

If you want to see a neat little town that's out of the way, try Canta. It's, ummm, quite rustic, and a good place to get a flavor of the Andean culture. I think the elevation is under 2,000 metres.

I think Lunahuana can be reached in 3 hours (180km). Huacachina/Ica is more far, 300 km.

Canta is 151 km north of Lima, and yes it's a beatiful town (you must include Obrajillo, near Canta). But keep in mind that if you stay in Miraflores, Barranco or San Isidro, you will cross the whole city to reach the Chillon valley, you must depart very early to avoid heavy traffic of north Lima districts.

Oh, Canta is 2.819 mt altitude. It can be a bit hard (it used to be hard for my mother, she suffered a mild soroche)

Thanks to all for your suggestions. Keep them coming. I had about decided on Lunahauna. What would be the drive time to Lunahauna? We would like private transport at up to $200 US each way. Canta looks very interesting but at 2,800 m is a little too high. Chosica looks appealing and I will start research on that one.

Thanks Villavic. Our posts crossed. I said 2-3 hours travel time wanting to keep the private transport costs each way under 200USD. Do you think I could get private transport to Lunahauna each way for $200? We will be departing from Miraflores.

Thanks for the help. Lunahuana was exactly what I was looking for. We spent a pleasant 5D/4N with only rest & relaxation. The drive was 3 hr. Miraflores/Lunahuana and 3 hr. 45 min. back to the airport. There were many local restaurants within 15 min. walk from our hotel. The only English speaker we met in 5 days was the owner of the local Pisco Pollo Restaurant.