2.54/5
927 reviews
Photo by Aarom Ore via Unsplash

Cost of Living in Lima

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great

food

miraflores

good

barranco

cheap

safe

san

pretty

bit

isidro

nice

wifi

drink

women

cool

mexico

restaurants

night

Lima offers a mix of great neighborhoods like Miraflores, Barranco, and San Isidro, each with their own appeal. These areas are reported to be safe, walkable, and have excellent internet—great for digital nomads. Many cafes and restaurants are ideal for working remotely, especially in Barranco. The food scene is another highlight, especially Peruvian and Japanese offerings. Cheap Uber rides and stunning cliffside views along the coastline add to the city's appeal. Affordable daily lunch menus and solid coworking options are also appreciated by visitors.

However, Lima has some consistent drawbacks. Traffic is a frequent complaint, with excessive honking and difficult street crossing. Pollution and a gloomy, gray sky outside the summer months make the environment feel depressing at times. Public transport is underdeveloped, pushing reliance on ride-sharing apps. Outside of Peruvian or Japanese cuisine, food quality drops, and international options can be underwhelming. Some areas feel risky after dark, particularly in Barranco. Socially, visitors mention it may be hard to connect with locals, and harassment has been reported by some female travelers. Overall, Lima is a functional short-term base with great food and views, but not ideal for everyone long-term.

AI-generated summary of reviews
4 months ago

Honestly, pretty solid destination. Only issue was that many apartments don't have air conditioning, and sound insulation was very touch and go. Miraflores is safe, but I still was a bit paranoid walking alone at night in quieter parts. I would have liked to stay in Barranco since it seemed more interesting, but locals warned me that crime at night was very real there, so I didn't. San Isidro seemed pretty nice too.

8 months ago

Currently in Lima
Been here since july on and off during 3 monthes
visited also cusco , tarapoto and arequipa
i like the city , the only thing i dont like is the weather
mostly is just gray skies , unless its the summer which i didnt really get a chance to see yet
can get quiet depressing .
never had any issues with wifi , always get airbnbs with good wifi .
its a nice place to live if you dont care that theres no sun
for me , i would skip it during these times and next time i come here will be during the sunny days because this is jut horrible

1 year ago

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1 year ago

I loved the sunsets. They were breathtaking by the water. Internet was spotty and difficult to find good coworking spaces and cafes with reliable wifi. Had to leave one airbnb due to wifi. As a woman, I was often sexually harassed with men hitting on me and not respected me when I declined. One even said to me "no sometimes means yes when i declined to go back home with him after a drink". This was more sexual harrasment than anywhere I've ever visited in the world. Food was mediocre and can get much better food in Cusco. Weather was really good but felt smoggy and polluted at times. Traffic was some of the worst I've seen.

2 years ago

Been living here 3 months. Overall i would say its a place only good for short trips to like machu picchu/rainbow mountain. My rating 5/10.

Pros -

extremely safe especially in miraflores and barranco. Airbnbs cheap enough if you are ok living the cramped condo life. Breathtaking views off the cliff and pacific ocean. Excellent japanese food.Internet reliable and fast.

Cons -

hassle to get sim card have to go with passport and dependong where you go theres long lines. Immigration gives short visas 30-40 days forcing you to overstay and pay fine on exit if you prebooked for a few months. Women are very unnattractive especially coming from colombia. Outside peruvian and japanese, food is very mediocre despite perus high reputation in fine dining. People are not so friendly or cool like mexico or brazil and can be rude. Not as bad as argentina but 50/50. Cars obsessed with honking. heavily polluted make sure you live in area with a lot of trees.
Price wise i woyld say its slightly cheaper than mexico, but mexico has better quality everything.
Overall this place is only good for visa runs or trips to the ancient sites. Wont be back.

2 years ago

I give the city a 6.5/10.
Pro:
- Walkable
- Good selection of accomodation in relatively cheap in popular places
- Great weekend trips nearby like Huacachina and Canta
- Peruvian food is great
- Great internet

Cons:
- More expensive than other places in Latin America except lunch.
- Service in bars is much slower here than Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil.
- A lot of honking with cars.
- You can some times feel a bit limited to only Peruvian food and Chinese. It is a big city so you can find anything, but international food do not have the same quality as in example Buenos Aires or Sao Paulo.
- A bit to few Digital Nomads, sometimes it feel like the only way not to be "lonely" is to date some girl.

2 years ago

Lima was fantastic. food was amazing and incredibly inexpensive. $3 lunches, $25 fine dinner restaurants. I had 100+mbs internet in the Airbnb. I preferred Barranco, which is artsy and more bohemian than the more-touristy Miraflores, but that's me. I know a lot of people like Miraflores for the restaurant life. I didn't go to any of the beaches but they looked great. watching the sunset over the ocean was a beautiful experience. I am already planning a return visit in June because I liked it so much!

3 years ago

I concur with the most recent review before mine. This city is great for foodies, the Internet + cellular is great, cafe pasado in Tambo+ convenience stores is dope. Do try all the S/ 12 lunchtime menu del dia all over the city! Calle Chinchon at San Isidro has a lot of the good ones.
Nightlife: As an Asian man I found myself better accepted by Peruvian girls than in Colombia.
Downside: Public transport is nearly non-existant compared to CDMX and Medellin. But Indrive and Uber are cheap enough.

3 years ago

Awesome city if you like to eat - probably one of the best food cities in the world tbh. If you stay in Miraflores, San Isidro or Barranco it's incredibly safe for a large city and you'll have access to great nightlife, parks, water, bars, clubs and stores. Also, the internet is great - I worked remote for my tech sales job down there for over a month and nobody even noticed. Last but not least, must say that as a single white male, this is probably the easiest place to meet attractive women in the whole world.

3 years ago

I feel like the scores for this city are all wrong lol. I felt fairly safe there as a Black woman, walking around Miraflores and parts of San Isidro. Barranco is another cool place to hang out, but here you want to watch your back, and not walk around alone at night. There are safe areas, and not so safe areas, but overall Lima is a good time. The wifi score should be higher, there are plenty of places where you can work. The food is great, but like other's have mentioned, it's one of the more expensive parts of South America, but nothing crazy. You can find reasonable accommodations, and the Ubers are cheap.

3 years ago

Loved Miraflores in Lima - has a lot of stylish cafes and restaurants with good food, coworkings, parks. Barranco has some amazing nightclubs. Although Lima is more expensive than other parts of Peru

4 years ago

Well, I was about to write a review but the poster from 2 days ago pretty much said everything I wanted. I will add that the cafes in Barranco are usually nicer to work from than Miraflores. There are some nice ones in San Isidro as well.

Hot tip: keep a look out for signs that say "menú", from these hole-in-the-wall restaurants you can get a full meal (drink, appetizer/soup, entre) for 10-20 soles depending what you get and where. They are everywhere, but I didn't notice them until the end of the trip. Locals eat at these places, and the food is pretty good (although be prepared for lots and lots of rice with fries)!

4 years ago

I stayed in Lima / Barranco district for 1 month, and loved it. For context, I am a 28 year old male from USA, I work remotely as a software developer. I'm also speaking mostly about Barranco and Miraflores, as I diddn't go outside of those districts much.

Barranco is full of many great cafes and restaurants, and its very walkable. There are nice paths & parks along the ocean where you can get a great view as you walk. I would recommend staying here, and taking an uber if you want to go anywhere else, Uber is very cheap ($3 USD for 10-15 min ride) and it works great in Lima.
Miraflores is also great, but it is alot more modern, bigger district, larger buildings, and feels a bit less "cozy".

English is not common, even in the touristy restaurants and shops, it seems like 80% of people dont speak any english. You will need to learn some basic spanish, or use google translate alot.

The only downside I can think of is the traffic. It's very hectic, hard to cross the streets on foot, and alot of honking and noise. But overall it's a fun city, and I will be back

4 years ago

One of the most horrendous cities I've ever been to. Too much traffic, ugly architecture and even the food is very much hit and miss. Oh and housing is not that cheap. People can range from very friendly to very much not caring but on average, they're neither unfriendly nor easy to connect with, even if you speak good Spanish. More than anything, from someone used to the lively vibe in Colombia or Mexico, the place is as lively as a cemetery. No music, not even a peep at night... There's a reason why most people skip it and head straight South even though they land there. It's simply a boring and ugly city. No one in their sane mind would choose to live there.

5 years ago

I spent a couple months here and loved it. I studied spanish in a school called Peruwayna in the heart of Miraflores. The school was great and this was a great way to meet people. I went to a couple hostels to meet up with some friends, and met a lot of really cool people that way. Loki is a really cool place in Miraflores to hang out and stay if you're doing the hostel thing, and like to drink. I had a very nice private airbnb in miraflores for less than $30 a day. I also stayed in Barranco for $32 a day in a very elegant condo with 2 beds and 2 baths which was about a half mile away from the action. Virtually everyone I met was kind and welcoming and really liked that I spoke the language. Barranco is a really beautiful place to watch the sunset, and the nightlife is really cool. Uber is cheap and reliable. I avoided regular cabs because I didn't want to negotiate and end up with a gringo price. If you're going to the airport, get a private taxi. I say this because I almost missed my flight home after two Ubers showed up and rejected me once they found out I wanted to go the airport. Luckily, the third was agreeable.

You'll want to know at least some basic spanish to get around. If you have a conversational level or are in the process of learning, you'll get a lot more out of the experience because not many people speak english. The food is delicious and unlike the food anywhere else, though most of the local cuisine is a bit heavy and unhealthy. You can easily eat for half the price of major American city, and probably a third of that if we're talking NY,LA, or San fran. Ask about menus. Those are lunch specials for $3-4 that include 3 courses and a drink. They're usually really good too. The happy hours are usually 2 for 1, meaning 2 drinks for the price of 1, which is better than most US happy hours. Especially considering the original drink you're buying is a lot cheaper in the first place. Don't buy souvenirs in miraflores! You can get that stuff much much cheaper in the centro de Lima just don't linger there after dark, because it gets very sketchy.

I never had any security problems or felt unsafe. I also live in Baltimore, one of the most dangerous cities in the US, and I felt much safer in Lima. I know women need to be much more carful, because there is an epidemic of sexual assault in Lima, especially on public transit. The visiting women that I met never complained to me about any problems, but I have heard quite a few stories from local women about being groped and/or catcalled. I was warned many times to be careful with my cellphone in public. If you're talking on your cell in public, at least be aware of your surroundings because there are many people who specialize in grabbing your cell from your hand quickly and running off. Though technically illegal, weed is easy to find and cheap, and you can pretty much smoke in the street without worrying about cops bothering you, if that's your thing.

7 years ago

✅ Very safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Great food

✅ Walkable

✅ Affordable Uber

✅ Beautiful views

✅ Good coworking cafes

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Pretty safe

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm all year round

✅ Many Nomads.com members here all year round

✅ Easy to make friends

✅ Easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Heavy traffic

❌ Pollution

❌ Gray and gloomy weather

❌ Poor public transport

❌ Mediocre non-local food

❌ Few digital nomads

❌ Unsafe in some areas at night

❌ Pretty slow internet

❌ Nomads.com members really didn't like going here

❌ Feels crowded

❌ Hospitals are not that great

❌ Roads can be dangerous

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not safe for women

❌ Not family friendly

❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

22°C / 72°F mild

21°C / 70°F mild

20°C / 68°F mild

19°C / 66°F mild

18°C / 64°F cool

20°C / 68°F mild

21°C / 70°F mild

Real (median)

22°C / 71°F
mild

22°C / 72°F
mild

21°C / 70°F
mild

19°C / 66°F
mild

18°C / 64°F
cool

17°C / 63°F
cool

18°C / 64°F
cool

19°C / 66°F
mild

21°C / 70°F
mild

Humidity

nice
79%

nice
72%

nice
80%

nice
79%

nice
78%

nice
79%

damp
80%

nice
81%

nice
79%

nice
82%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

Rain

dry
2mm

dry
1mm

dry
2mm

dry
1mm

dry
2mm

dry
3mm

dry
2mm

dry
3mm

dry
1mm

dry
2mm

dry
1mm

Cloud

pockets
49%

pockets
43%

pockets
48%

pockets
37%

pockets
32%

pockets
39%

pockets
35%

pockets
38%

pockets
43%

cloudy
51%

cloudy
52%

Air quality

bad
105 US AQI

okay
98 US AQI

bad
108 US AQI

bad
110 US AQI

bad
131 US AQI

bad
134 US AQI

clean
13 US AQI

bad
128 US AQI

bad
124 US AQI

bad
109 US AQI

bad
106 US AQI

okay
86 US AQI

Sun

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
10 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

Remote workers

1,375 people

1,673 people

1,933 people

1,613 people

1,969 people

1,500 people

1,013 people

938 people

1,280 people

1,667 people

1,708 people

1,538 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

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⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 35° 95° 30° 85° 🥵 AQI 77 😷

✈️26h

$1,573 / mo

🌇 Also went here347 people

1,200 remote workers in Lima now, of which 3+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	2.54/5 (Rank #408) 927 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍13 liked it 👎9 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Good
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,420 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 9 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Good
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🌞 Perfect: 20°C68°F (feels 21°C70°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 72%
❄️ % of buildings with AC	🥵 Very low: 20%
💨 Air quality (now)	😐 Moderate: 87 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	😷 Unhealthy for some: 124 US AQI
👌 Safety	Okay
👩 Safe for women	Bad
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Bad
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Okay
🤝 Lack of racism*	Okay
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Great
💰 Income level*	Very low: $504 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
😤 People density	🤨 Busy: 13k ppl/km² (1 per 9x9m)
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Bad
✈️ Airline scores*	Great
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
🏥 Hospitals	Bad
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Bad
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Bad
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Good
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Good
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Latin America
🚩 Country	Peru
🗓️ Average trip length	13 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	9 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	☀️ 20°C 68°F + 😊 Comfy (72%) = feels 21°C 70°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👎😷 87 US AQI = 🚬 / day
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👎☠️ 124 US AQI = 🚬 🚬 / day
🔌 Power	230V 60Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 10 PEN in USD	USD 2.95
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	PEN 1,000 = USD 295
💸 Tipping	Yes, 10%
💻 Best coworking space	Comunal
💻 Best alt. coworking space	Starscamp
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	👍16% of visitors return
📸 Visitors per year	2,274,000 visitors
📸 Tourists now	43,581 tourists
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	8,900,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$6,049 / year
😤 Population density	🤨 busy: 9x9m (81m²) per person
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 47% 👱‍♀️ 53%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 50% 👱‍♀️ 50%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 81% 👱‍♀️ 19%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	LAN
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	LAN

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,420 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$882 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$2,361 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$675 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$894 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$930 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$459 / month
🏠 Median home price	$11,061
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$42 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$31 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$176 / month
🍛 Dinner	$3
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$3
👩‍🏫 International school	$6,341 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$19 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$6 / trip