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Travel bucket list idea:

Last updated: 31 March, 2024
Expert travel writer: Alex Robinson

If you want to see ancient Peruvian art and artifacts then MALI and LARCO are Lima’s two must-see museums. While LARCO is a 15-minute cab ride from anywhere, MALI is easy to visit on a walk around the colonial centre.  

There’s a lot to see – with more than 7,000 pieces dating from the time of the Paracas desert people in 800BC (ancestors of the Nazca civilisation) to the present day. There’s some fabulous indigenous-painted Cusco art and the collection is housed in a lavish art-nouveau-meets-neoclassical palace sitting in shady, lawned gardens.

Don’t miss

Among the museum’s highlights is a collection of amazingly preserved 2,800-year-old weavings from Paracas.

Logistics

Price from: £2
Minimum age: Any
Age suitable: 18+
When: All year around

Getting there & doing it

The museum is located just to the southwest of the historic centre, in Exposition Park. English-speaking guides are available for a small additional fee.

There’s an arty cafe restaurant serving snack foods and decent coffee.

When to do it

Open all year round, Tuesday-Sunday. Closed Monday.

Destination guides

2

Destination guides including or relevant to this experience

Lima

Lima Region, Peru

Pale yellow painted cathedral in Lima, viewed from below

Peru’s capital, while not the most appealing of cities, does offer stately colonial architecture, fascinating museums of Peru’s empirical; history and world-class dining.

Peru

Peru

Peru

A land of spectacular deserts, high mountains and rainforests that teem with wildlife, Peru is also home to an array of dramatically situated pre-Colombian ruins, including Machu Picchu.