I remember big protests last year in the news.
I’m thinking of heading to Lima for the first time in January. Are things back to normal now?
My general tip, as you are a first timer: do not get your accommodation in the city center!
Make miraflores (or baranco or san isidro) your homebase.
If you need to know anything (i live here 6 months per year), feel free to DM.
Thanks. Was 100% gonna do Miraflores and almost never leave hahaha. Judge if you must, fellow redditors
Theres other districts that are perfectly fine to visit. Even center of lima during day is harmless if you stay in the busy areas.
Thanks. I didn’t think it’d be dangerous elsewhere, just less pleasant
Ask a local if in doubt. Many areas are perfectly fine.
- intense judging stare *
Even if there were protests now, it would only be down in the center where you likely wouldn’t be staying. Miraflores and Barranco (the nice neighborhoods) are really far from the center and quite peaceful. Also, I think that the protests in Peru in general were blown way out of proportion like the media usually does. At least this is what I gathered from talking to people there. This year in June and July I spent one month in Lima and one month in Cusco. Everything was just fine.
I was in Lima the day of them declaring a state of emergency and ousting the president. The issue was mobility. The protests would shut down roads and Cusco was largely shutdown for weeks. In Barranco where i was it was just another day.
I was there in August. More police presence in the city center but the nomad/tourist neighborhoods of Miraflores, Barranco, and San Isidro are unchanged.
For what it’s worth, Arequipa and Cusco are also very safe.
Was in Lima 3 days back. Everything was fine.
Is Lima safe in general? Would love to slowmad there
Areas like baranco and miraflores are totally harmless. Areas like plaza norte and callao… not so much.
It’s still South America as in you should be careful about phone snatchings, but it’s on the safer side for sure and violet crime is not an issue in Miraflores & Barranco.
When I was there in 2018, I was using phone to navigate in the evening. An elderly woman stopped me to warn me about criminals snatching my phone. Very sweet of her. But had no issues with crime anywhere in Peru. (Or Chile for that matter.)
Was there recently. I thought it was very safe. But practice proper precaution as usual.
I was there in July & August. Lima, Cusco, and Arequipa are all known to be fine. Most of the north is also fine. There was a protest when I was in Cusco but it was not a big deal. Nobody expects it to be as bad as it was earlier. The only place I heard to to exercise some caution is Puno, but it’s more of a logistical concern than a safety one.
I’m in Lima now. It’s fine.
I was there a few weeks ago (female, 20s) and felt perfectly safe. The city center was quite crowded though, so just watch your personal belongings.
Thanks!
The protests are never anything significant and they never affect tourists.
When there is protests, it stays condensed in the historic city centre. Tourists stay around Miraflores, San Isidro, Barranco… which is far from there.
January is a good time. It will be summer.
They were fine even during the protests, Lima is incredible go for it