A Foodie's Discovery of Peru

Being the capital and largest city in the country, Lima is a frequent stop for those travelling to Peru. A mix of modern developments and colonial architecture makes it a fascinating place to explore. It’s a cosmopolitan city with some beautiful museums, parks and and gourmet restaurants. Lima is one of the culinary capitals of the world, with restaurants serving innovative and tasty interpretations of traditional Peruvian food.

Start with a visit to one of Lima’s most emblematic and picturesque markets, where you can see, taste and purchase the most popular ingredients used in Peruvian cuisine. In the hands of our culinary expert, you may have the chance to try fruits from the coast, mountains and jungle, such as chirimoya, pacay, mango, passion fruit, aguaymanto and aguaje. You'll also have the chance to stop by the impressive seafood section, selling the likes of prawns, shrimp, octopus and scallops.

If you like, you can try and buy dried fruits and browse the handicrafts on offer, before then heading to La Picanteria, a restaurant owned by famous chef, Hector Solís. The restaurant looks to reproduce the rustic and traditional atmosphere of a picanteria, and the menu varies according to what's best in the market that day.

Drive to the historical centre of Lima and the Plaza Mayor, where the Government Palace, City Hall, the Cathedral and the Archbishop's Palace are located. Move along to the San Francisco Monastery and step inside Casa Aliaga, one of America’s best-preserved colonial mansions. Located across from the Presidential Palace in colonial Lima, Casa Aliaga was built in 1535 by Don Jeronimo de Aliaga, a member of Pizarro's conquering forces. Seventeen generations later, Casa Aliaga is still inhabited by the Aliaga family, whose heirlooms include beautiful original furniture.

Enjoy a sumptuous al la carte dinner at Lima's Central Restaurante. Under husband and wife team Virgilio Martínez Véliz and Pía León, Central's contemporary interpretation and presentation of Peruvian cuisine has seen it consistently ranked as the best restaurant in Latin America and one of the very best in the world.

Wake up early to visit the bustling but well organized Terminal Pesquero fish market in the Villa Maria del Triunfo district of Lima. The largest fish market in a city of fish lovers, it is a lively place selling a incredible array of seafood, with hundreds of sellers and filleters.

Head south out of Lima to Pachacamac, one of the largest and most important archaeological sites in Peru. Built by different leaders between the years 200 and 1450 AD, the monumental religious compound was made entirely out of clay, with giant pyramids dedicated to the sun and moon. After the resident Ichma people joined the Incan Empire, the city remained an important administrative centre until being destroyed by the Spanish in 1530s.

The area around Pachacamac is also known as the last green valley of Lima. After visiting the site, head to a modern organic orchard to learn about different crops and some essential ingredients in tasteful and delicious Peruvian cuisine before a delicious lunch made with produce from the farm.

Another of Lima's - and Latin America's - best restaurants, Maido is the best place to try Nikkei cuisine, an inventive fusion of Japanese and Peruvian which was pioneered by celebrity chef Micha Tsumura.

Master distiller and Porton owner Johnny Schuler will personally unravel the mysteries and complexities that are normally kept locked away behind the walls of this famous (and the America's oldest) distillery. You'll learn about the 17th century method of crafting pisco - gravity fed, hand-pressed and woodfired - as well as the more modern yet still tradition-based distillation process in the striking new facility.

Spend a full day exploring the grounds of the hacienda. Take a horseback ride into the estate's vineyards, learn more about the pisco making process and enjoy a local farm-to-table three course lunch, a pisco tasting session and an a la carte dinner.

The famous Nazca Lines found are but more confounding geoglyphs left by the Nazca culture which succeeded that of the Paracas between 300BC-700AD. More than seventy giant animal and plants figures etched into the sand of the pampas, some reaching 1,000 feet in dimension, have prompted many hypotheses and premises from academics to religious fantasists. However not an awful lot is known about this civilisation as little was left behind.

This is the best way to see the Nazca Lines: a monkey, a spider, a humming bird, all of vast size, can be seen from light aircraft - try to decipher the mystery yourself. Your flight will cross the twenty geoglyphs on the Nasca plain as well as those discovered more recently at Palpa. The trip ends by flying over the mountains, where you will find marine fossils up to 150 million years old, and take in the unfolding scenes of strikingly beautiful desert, valleys and craggy coastal pampas.

Return to Lima by private transport with a lunch at a Cevicheria by the ocean.

Spend a final night at leisure in Peru's capital.

Chef José del Castillo serves up the ultimate Peruvian comfort food experience in a historic house in the heart of bohemian Barranco. Generous sharing portions celebrate traditional home-cooked dishes and simple ingredients, and the ambiance is equally welcoming.

Take a guided stroll around Barranco where many of Peru's pioneering artists, musicians, designers and photographers live, giving it the name of Lima's most romantic and bohemian district. It's a place known for its food, cafes, galleries and colonial architecture, and it best discovered on foot.