Ivy-covered cliff One of the wealthiest and most tourist-oriented districts of Lima, Miraflores is known for its upmarket shopping, cultural attractions, fine restaurants, beautiful flowery parks and cliffside promenades with views over the Pacific. Tourists love it for being a safe place chock full of hotels, and residents take pride in its heroic past. It earned the title of Heroic City for its role in the War of the Pacific.

The heart of Miraflores is its central park, Parque Kennedy, close to some of the district's most popular bars and restaurants as well as large handicraft markets. The Calle de las Pizzas (Pizza Street), which opens onto the park, draws crowds to its Italian restaurants and pubs every weekend and trendy cafés line the park's perimeter. A block from the roundabout at the park's northern end is where Petit Thouars Avenue and its long line of handicraft markets begins.

A relatively short distance south of the park lies Larcomar, a fashionable cliffside mall where you can shop at exclusive boutiques, try some exotic ice cream flavors or dine while gazing out into the sunset. It also boasts a hopping nightclub scene, with bars, cinemas and bowling alleys. Miraflores' coastline is a continuous chain of scenic parks atop dramatic cliffs where paragliders soar on the breeze.

Miraflores may be thoroughly modern, but it has its share of history. The Lima civilization left its mark on the district in the form of a large adobe brick temple called the Huaca Pucllana, and the house of the famous author Ricardo Palma is now one of its museums. Most of its other museums specialize in pre-Columbian treasures and the town hall sponsors cultural events on a monthly basis.