LIMA BY THE CLIFFS

People taking in the view along the malecon, the cliffside promenade overlooking the Pacific Ocean, in Miraflores, Lima.

Peru's capital, with dramatic cliffs that separate its high-rise buildings and colonial architecture from the sea, gets overlooked by travelers heading for Cuzco, in the Andes, or surf spots to the north.

The Covid-19 pandemic, then political unrest in 2022 and 2023, slowed tourism. But Lima, home to more than 10 million, is giving visitors more reasons to make a trip there.

The early-19th-century catacombs at the San Francisco Convent and Catacomb Museum in the historic center are worth a visit. Founded in 1546 and restored several times after devastating earthquakes, the convent is believed to have been the largest in the Americas at its peak. It was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1988.

Besides religious art, its main attraction is its crypts under the main chapel, where over 25,000 people are believed to have been buried. Tickets (20 soles or S$7) include 45-minute guided tours, which run every 20 minutes.

Check out the Museo de Arte de Lima nearby. The capital's main art museum, it is housed in a gorgeous late-19th-century palace, and tickets for foreigners cost 40 soles.