Choosing where to live in Lima depends a great deal on your lifestyle and where you will be working.
If your job involves a busy social life and late nights, or your taste for city life includes cafés, art galleries and concerts, then you will prefer San Isidro, nearby Orrantia del Mar (which belongs to Magdalena), parts of Lince and Jesus Maria, and Miraflores (which includes the quiet Aurora and San Antonio areas), as well as Barranco, where many artists and writers live. San Borja and parts of Surco are also fairly close to the hustle and bustle.
You should also seriously consider the climate. There is a sharp contrast between the districts hugging the coast and those that are further east against the foothills of the Andes – the coastline is cool and very damp between the winter months of May and October, whereas the climate gets drier and the skies brighter the further east you go.
If you suffer from hay fever or asthma, definitely avoid living in areas such as San Miguel and Magdalena, the oceanside areas of Miraflores and San Isidro, and particularly the Parque El Olivar (the olive grove) in San Isidro, all high on the city’s humidity levels map.
Also humid is La Encantada, a gated community on the beach next to the Villa wetlands and bird sanctuary, but the air is very clean, and the area is beautifully quiet and green. It is also within easy access to any part of the city.
Be careful when choosing an apartment just for the view. The buildings overlooking the ocean in San Isidro and Miraflores provide a spectacular view of the bay between the months of November through April, but they will be fogged in for the better part of the morning the rest of the year.
Heading east, you will begin to notice the drier climate even in San Borja, and of course in Chacarilla and parts of Surco that include the quiet La Castellana and areas off both sides of Av. Benavides.
Further northeast lie Monterrico, Camacho, La Molina, and La Planicie, where the micro-climate is very different to San Isidro, and the suburban lifestyle is now supplied with everything you need. Traffic is heavy between these areas and San Isidro/Miraflores but moves fairly quickly.
There is another option for the more adventurous who don’t mind Lima driving – further east and higher up the Central Highway lies Chaclacayo, with quiet backstreets and sunshine year-round, that includes the residential areas of Los Girasoles, next to the Los Andes golf course at Huampaní, plus the area called California, and the unique architecture and quiet seclusion of Los Condores. These areas are only a 30-minute drive from anywhere in Lima, and people who choose to live there say the dry climate and sunshine are worth every penny of the higher fuel budget. They are also ideal places for a weekend house.
Other out-of-town options are the Cieneguilla and Pachacamac valleys and the beaches south of Lima, all definitely more suitable to alternative lifestyles that don’t involve daily office or school commuting.
Tip:
- Limeños are noisy drivers, so beware of choosing housing on main thoroughfares.
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