Peru Guide : Lima

Lima is a great place for shopping, with crafts from all over the country available, often no more expensive than in the places of their origin. Lima also has some very good shopping centres and excellent supermarkets.

Things to take home

Lima produces a lot of high-quality cotton clothing, which can be found in the better clothes stores, often at very reasonable prices. There are some very good jewellers in Lima, with many on Av. La Paz in Miraflores, where there are also a number of good, although expensive, antique shops.

Lima is also a very good place to buy crafts from the rest of Peru, and there are plenty of large craft markets throughout the city. In the centre, there are a few small craft stores, including some at Jr. Conde de Superunda 239. In Miraflores, there are a couple of good craft markets on Petit Thouars, close to the Parque Kennedy. The main crafts markets, however, are located on Av. La Marina on the way to the airport.

Supermarkets

Supermarkets in Lima, unlike in most parts of the world, are often more expensive than smaller shops, charging a premium for a pleasant shopping environment. However, they are also the most convenient place to go shopping, as there are fewer open-air markets than in most parts of Peru, There are three main supermarket chains in Lima ? Wong, Santa Isabel and Metro. Wong and Santa Isabel both have a very large range of food, and most things can be found in one or other of these large supermarkets. They are both very clean, bright and modern, and quite expensive. Metro is a cheaper supermarket, with fewer top brands, although still a very wide range of food. There is a very useful Santa Isabel at Av. Benavides 481 in Miraflores, which is open 24 hours a day.

Markets

Although supermarkets are the most popular places for shopping Lima, there are still a few traditional markets around, and these are often good places to buy good fruit and vegetables, as well as excellent fresh fish.

Shopping centres and clothes stores

Lima has some large, modern shopping centres to rival anything in Europe or North America, The Jockey Plaza (on Av. Javier Prado Este, just past the Pan-American Highway ) is a typical mall, with lots of clothing and shoe-shops, as well as a food court and a good cinema. There are some top international brands here, including Hugo Boss and Bally, as well as two good, large department stores, Ripley and Saga Falabella. Larcomar, on the sea in Miraflores, is more of an entertainment complex than a shopping centre, although there are a few smaller shops selling rather expensive trinkets. Ripley and Saga Falabella are the two main department stores in Lima, Apart from Jockey Plaza, both have branches in San Isidro and in San Miguel, and Saga Falabella also have a shop in the centre of Lima on Jr. de la Unión. Ripley has a store in Miraflores on Parque Kennedy.

Books and maps

The South American Explorers Club (Jr. República de Portugal 146, Breña) is a good place to buy travel-related books and maps, and they have a wide selection of both. These are available for members and non-members, although there is often a discount for members. They also have a small library of fiction, which members can borrow from. There are a few bookshops in Lima, most of which are quite expensive. These do not normally stock English-language literature, although they may have some books on Peru in English.

Photography

There are plenty of photo shops in Miraflores selling films and offering processing. High-speed film, especially slide film, can sometimes be tricky to find, however. The Fuji Centre, at Av. Arequipa 820, sells most Fuji films and offers possibly the best processing service in the city.

www.peru-guide.com - the most comprehensive travel guide to Peru available on the Internet.