Lima

Lima has undergone one of the most remarkable culinary transformations of any city in the world. What was once a stopover on the way to Machu Picchu is now a destination in its own right — home to three of the World's 50 Best Restaurants (Central, Maido, and Kjolle), a street-food scene that rivals Bangkok, and a gastronomic heritage that draws on Incan, Spanish, African, Chinese, and Japanese traditions. Ceviche — raw fish cured in lime juice, served with sweet potato and crunchy cancha corn — is the national dish, and Lima's cevicherías are temples of precision where the freshness of the catch is measured in hours, not days.

Beyond the food, Lima is a sprawling Pacific coast metropolis of 10 million that rewards neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood exploration. Miraflores sits atop dramatic ocean cliffs, its Malecón boardwalk stretching for kilometres with paragliders overhead and surfers below. Barranco — Lima's bohemian quarter — is all street art, craft cocktail bars, and the romantic Puente de los Suspiros (Bridge of Sighs). The Centro Histórico, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, preserves grand colonial architecture: the Plaza de Armas, the catacombs beneath San Francisco Monastery, and wooden balconies that have hung over the streets since the 17th century.

Lima also sits on layers of pre-Columbian history. Huaca Pucllana, a 1,500-year-old adobe pyramid, rises incongruously from the middle of Miraflores — you can dine at the acclaimed restaurant next door while looking at illuminated ruins from a civilisation that preceded the Inca by 600 years. The Larco Museum houses the finest collection of pre-Columbian art in the Americas, including 45,000 ceramics spanning 4,000 years. Lima's Pacific setting means perpetual spring temperatures (15–27 °C year-round) and a garúa (sea mist) that blankets the city from May to November, giving it a mysterious, soft-lit quality.