Tours in Lima

The tour was just amazing! You get to know about the real Lima and what is happening behind the scenes by talking to people about their life and daily struggles. I have met inspiring people and it is a pleasure to be part of such a good cause – supporting locals through another type of tourism!

The best part about the half day trip my friends and I took with Alternative Peru was becoming truly immersed in the culture of Lima. This tour was not your typical tourist-attraction highlight tour, we went into the Human Settlements to meet with families and community leaders, to hear from them about their culture. Our tour guide was extremely helpful in answering any questions we had about Lima and was also great to hang out with on the bus rides! I will definitely be recommending an Alternative Peru tour to others.

My four friends and I went on the Half-Day Authentic Lima tour, and it was the most eye-opening, yet enjoyable tour I have ever been. This tour offered a glimpse into a poor, yet hand-made and flourishing community – allowing us to see a side that almost all Lima tourists would never have seen. For that, we are incredibly grateful and would recommend this to anyone!

I took this tour with my 14 year old daughter. Since I had taken her out of middle school for 5 days, I wanted our trip to have more value than the usual pictures at notable spots. We came across this tour and it seemed to fit perfect. This was not slum tourism, it was thoughtful and respectful, highlighting the sense of community and closeness.

I really thought this tour would impress my adult children, boy was I right, it impressed everyone (there were 6 of us, three adult children, my husband and I and my mother). This is the most “real” tour I have ever taken, they weren’t trying to hide anything, no tourist traps just real people trying to make it, we got the stories behind the places we stopped. My only hope is that my family is more understanding and grateful after learning about other peoples struggles.

We are here for gourmet Peruvian Mecca tour. Everyday we are experiencing yet another highlight of wonderful food culture. However, this alternative Peru tour really open our eyes to true Peruvian culture, and people. We are impressed this tour was able to bring us the true ordinary Peruvian everyday life. Feel warm and grateful.

As a Westerner visiting Lima, I wanted to discover what daily life looks like for millions of people living in the Human Settlements but didn’t dare to go on my own. I was lucky to find this tour from Alternative Peru, and everything was made easy for me: from the quick answers to my mails before the tour, to the pick up on time and flawless organisation during the day. Important ‘detail’: I never felt unsecured. I recommend this tour to all, and will do it again if I go back to Lima.

It is really hard to put into words what we experienced on our Lima Local Communities Tour. It was very authentic, and we are so appreciative of the people who shared their day with us and allowing us a glimpse into their daily lives. I highly recommend this tour if you want to really feel this part of Lima. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable, professional, kind, interesting, perceptive, and passionate about his role with this community. Thank you for this experience.

There is a basic difference between Traveler and Tourist. Tourists are mostly searching for fast entertainment. These ones should stay in the Miraflores enjoy all kind of kitsch entertainment that this place offers and listen the high class paranoid stories about criminals. But if you are a traveler who wants to see how the real life is organically happening and be forever inspired from the amount of the dignity that will see, then please do this trip. Excellent in every aspect.

The opportunity to meet and interact with local families in an extremely challenging environment was a revelation that ran the gamut of emotions from tearful pain, despair and anger to an acute sense of humility, resiliency and witnessing first-hand the power of the human spirit. I will never be the same as a result of the 4 hours I spent with profoundly strong and brilliant people who face overwhelming obstacles with such grace, charm and determination against all odds. As a result, I am compelled to do what I can to return the love that was given to me by so many angelic souls. Those I met are heroic and I am so thankful for the wake up call provided by this wonderful ‘Alternative Lima’ tour organization.

We spent the morning exploring a local market. Not a big one, but offering everything we wanted to taste – cheeses, fruits (don’t miss the lucuma milk shake), cakes. We had a very good ceviche for lunch, but the star was a booth with Amazonian cuisine, where the owner got us several unusual drinks and cooked a typical meal, explaining all the ingredients and techniques.
The afternoon was dedicated to the visit of poor communities and the huge cemetery. It is amazing what a difference there is just a few kilometers from the fancy Miraflores. A humbling experience which put many things and problems in our lives into a perspective.