The incomparable Museo Larco (Av. Bolivar 1515. Tel: 011- 511-461-1312 or 011-511-461-1835. www.museolarco.org), Lima’s showplace of pre-Columbian artifacts, celebrated an official relaunch last September, having more than doubled its size with a major renewal and expansion of its installations. The museum now houses more than 50,000 objects, including the always tourist-glee-inducing erotic collection, with its clear evidence (emphatically and phallically so) of early homosexuality, mostly in pottery from the Moche and Chimu peoples. The superb onsite Café del Museo (www.museolarco.org/cafedelmuseo/museo.htm) is not to be missed, serving up a scrumptious and very reasonably priced line-up of Peruvian favorites, all in a serene setting surrounded by award-winning gardens.
Another big Lima visitor draw, the fifth-century mid-Miraflores Amerindian wonder of Huaca Pucllana (Calle General Borgoño, block 8. 011-511-445-8695. pucllana.perucultural.org.pe) also boasts one of the city’s best and most famous restaurants onsite, the aptly-named Restaurant Huaca Pucllana (Calle General Borgoño, block 8. Tel: 011-511-445-4042. www.resthuacapucllana.com). The eatery, overlooking these ancient ruins that are at once quite plain and totally mesmerizing, is owned by Arturo Rubio, who’s also the former president of the Committee for the Promotion of Peruvian Cuisine. If you want to try cuy (traditional Peruvian guinea pig), this is the place to do it. And if you need to wash it down, there’s over 600 wines from which to choose.
For gayer libations and frolicking, the huge Downtown Vale Todo (Pasaje Los Pinos 160. Tel: 011-511-444-6433 or 011-511-444-6436. www.peruesgay.com/downtownvaletodo) in Miraflores is still Lima’s gay disco of choice, pulling in a cute and diverse young crowd with a lively slate of event nights and a solid roster of strippers and drag queens. Not far away, Legendaris (Berlin 363. 011-511-446-3435. www.gayperu.com/legendaris) is the city’s other main gay club, often pulling a younger and more female-centric crowd (especially for lesbian nights on Fridays), but there’s a cross-section here as well. Rounding out Lima’s gay dance club triad is La Cueva (Av. Aviación 2514. 011-511-225-1413. www.gayperu.com/lacueva), a bit farther afield in the San Borja neighborhood, but easily reachable by taxi. It’s smaller than the others, but it’s always lively (with very popular drag shows), and Limeño bears reportedly love it here (not for nothing: Its name translates to The Cave).
For many years, Lima’s accommodation roster has included some excellent choices. The fabulous and excellently located Casa Andina Private Collection Miraflores (Av. La Paz 463. Tel: 866-220-4434 or 011-511-213-9739. www.casa-andina.com/peru/hotels/miraflores-hotels/private-collection-miraflores/hotel.php) was fully renovated in 2008, and is the perfect pick for those who want to explore the area’s shopping (like the cliff-top Larcomar, www.larcomar.com, the city’s top upscale mall) by day, and its gay scene by night. Just east of Miraflores, the tony San Isidro neighborhood is home to some of the city’s best properties, from the old world luxury of the Country Club Hotel Lima (Los Eucaliptos 590. 011-511-611-9000. www.hotelcountry.com), named one of the World’s Best Hotels by Forbes Traveler in 2009, to modern favorites like the posh Sonesta El Olivar Hotel (Pancho Fierro 194. 011-511-712-6000. www.sonesta.com/Lima). And coming to the ‘hood this winter is a new Westin Lima hotel, which will not only have the city’s biggest spa, but will become the city’s tallest building.
Another major factor poising Lima for world travel greatness is LAN Airlines’ (www.lan.com) development of the city a major South American hub – good news for Americans, who might otherwise have had to venture farther down the continent to Santiago to experience this marvelous Chilean-born but now pan-continental airline. New LAN routes ushered in last year now fly direct from Lima to both Easter Island (deep in the Pacific) and Iguazu Falls (on the Brazil/Argentina border). From the U.S., a new direct route to Lima from San Francisco (in addition to other gateways Miami, New York and Los Angeles) also makes getting here incredibly easy. Bonus that Lima’s excellent Jorge Chávez International Airport is involved, since a 2011 a Skytrax survey named it Best Airport in South America for the third year running (in 2010, the airport’s Sumaq VIP area also nabbed the world-topping Lounge of the Year designation from Priority Pass). Further bonus that LAN is a strong supporter of the LGBT community, having even been a sponsor at San Francisco’s 2010 Pride.
