Lima Historic Center Self-Guided Audio Walk: Plaza Mayor, Torre Tagle Balconies and San Francisco
1 hour and 45 minutes
About this experience
Lima, the City of Kings, looks colonial at first glance. Look closer and much of that colonial face was built after earthquakes, by a twentieth-century republic remembering the colony it had left behind. Start at Plaza San Martín and follow the Jirón de la Unión, a street that once had eleven names, to La Merced's carved stone front and Torre Tagle, the palace of the great wooden balconies. Walk Pizarro's checkerboard to San Francisco and the 1912 railway station by the river, then round the Plaza Mayor: the cathedral, a 1924 palace that copies Torre Tagle, and a fountain of 1651. End at Santo Domingo and a house of balconies saved in 2026. Twelve stops, about 2.5 km and 105 minutes, flat, in English or Spanish and at your own pace. Entry to the cathedral, San Francisco's catacombs and other museums is not included.
- Experience type
- Day tour or activity
- Duration
- 1 hour and 45 minutes
- Guide
- Spanish, English
- Audio guide
- Spanish, English
- Categories
- Walking tour · Cultural and theme tours · City tours
What's included
Self-guided audio tour in English and Spanish: 12 stops, 2.5 km, 105 minutes Stops at La Merced's carved stone front, Torre Tagle's balconies, San Francisco GPS map and walking directions in your phone browser, no app needed Lifetime access: start any day, at any hour, and replay it
What's not included
A live guide: you set the pace and the pauses A fixed start time: begin whenever you arrive Museum and monument tickets, all optional extras Tip or gratuity Food and drinks Entry or admission fee
Please note
To start the tour, enter the ticket code from your confirmation on the Roamer redemption page linked there. Do this before you set off, while you still have signal. The tour then opens in your phone browser, with no app to download. Bring a charged phone and earphones. Mobile data helps; if you have none, open the tour on wifi before you set off. Best time: A morning from Tuesday to Saturday, starting around 10:30: the churches and the Casa de la Literatura are open (it closes on Mondays), and you reach the Plaza Mayor around midday, when the changing of the guard is usually held. Start by about 15:00 at the latest so you finish in daylight. Lima's center is quieter on weekday mornings than on weekend afternoons. In October and early November the Señor de los Milagros processions can fill the Unión, the Plaza Mayor and the streets round it: an extraordinary sight, but on a procession day the walk will not run as written. Getting to the start: the Colmena and Jirón de la Unión stations of the Metropolitano bus are a short walk from Plaza San Martín; they can close during protests. By taxi, use a licensed app or phone taxi rather than hailing one in the street (UK travel advice, updated 2 October 2026). Checked 6 October 2026. Cathedral of Lima museum (stop 9): foreign visitors 30 soles, Peruvians and residents 20, students and children 6 to 12 10, under 6 free; Monday to Friday 09:00 to 20:00, Saturday 10:00 to 22:00, Sunday 13:00 to 19:00; timed tickets online at catedraldelima.org.pe. Checked 6 October 2026. San Francisco's convent museum and catacombs (stop 7): guided visits only, about 45 minutes, in Spanish and English, no photos in the catacombs. There is no official price or schedule online; press reports from 2021 to 2024 gave about 15 soles for adults. Ask at the convent's ticket office, and do not trust websites selling tickets. Checked 6 October 2026. Torre Tagle (stop 5): free guided visits on Saturdays and Sundays, 16:00 to 19:00, per the Foreign Ministry's leaflet of September 2024 (the palace is Jirón Ucayali 363; registration in 2024 was next door at number 337). Confirm before you go. Checked 6 October 2026. Santo Domingo's convent museum (stop 11): Tuesday to Sunday, 09:30 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 17:30, 15 soles (Andina, August 2024); the church itself is free. Checked 6 October 2026. Casa de la Literatura Peruana (stop 8): free, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 19:00, closed on Mondays. Checked 6 October 2026. Casa de Aliaga, Jirón de la Unión 224, just past the Plaza Mayor's north corner: a colonial house shown only on guided visits by reservation, 35 soles per person, daily 09:30 to 17:00 (casadealiaga.com). The family says it has lived there since 1535. Checked 6 October 2026. For a drink at the start or the end: the Hotel Bolívar's bar on Plaza San Martín serves an oversized pisco sour it calls the Catedral. The Plaza Mayor is often fenced and guarded by police: reports in February 2025, October 2025 and March 2026 describe railings on all or most sides. Stops 9 and 10 stand on the streets outside the fence and work either way; never climb or pass the barriers. Checked 6 October 2026. On protest days police close Plaza San Martín (declared a no-protest zone by the city in November 2025) and the accesses to the Plaza Mayor on Carabaya, Junín, Callao and the Unión, and the Metropolitano stations nearby can shut. Protests often happen in the historic center (UK travel advice, 2 October 2026). If Plaza San Martín is shut, stop 1 works from the far pavement of the avenue where the Unión begins. Check the news on the morning you walk, and keep away from any demonstration. Checked 6 October 2026. Between stops 8 and 9 the route passes a police gate at the corner of Áncash and Carabaya, beside the Government Palace. If it is closed, walk back along Áncash to Jirón Lampa, follow Lampa and Junín to the corner of the Plaza Mayor, and rejoin the route on Carabaya. If Junín is closed too, carry on down Lampa to Jirón Huallaga and join the route at the square's south corner. The Unión, the squares and Jirón Azángaro are crowded: keep your phone and valuables close, especially while you listen and look up. Stay on the route's streets. Do not continue east along Áncash, Junín or Ucayali past Azángaro toward Avenida Abancay, or cross Abancay into Barrios Altos or toward Mesa Redonda. At the end, go back to the Plaza Mayor or the Unión for a licensed taxi rather than walking on along Conde de Superunda to Avenida Tacna or down to the river and the Puente de Piedra. Walk in daylight: start by about 15:00. The route is flat, with one short flight of steps leaving Plaza San Martín. The Plazuela de San Francisco has been a worksite: the city restarted its restoration on 5 January 2026, expecting about five months, and no completion has been reported. Hoardings may block part of the view from stop 7. Checked 6 October 2026. Churches open at service times and close for part of the day; do not go in during Mass except to attend it. On Sunday 18 October 2026 the Señor de los Milagros procession fills the Unión, the Plaza Mayor, Carabaya, Ucayali and Junín, and other procession days fall in October and early November; expect closures and very large crowds (El Peruano, 30 September 2026). Public transportation nearby
Itinerary
- 1Day 0
Plaza San Martín: A Square for a Centenary
Urbanización Cercado de Lima, Lima
A 1921 square where a railway station stood. Plaza San Martín was built for a hundred years of independence and framed by grand fronts over the next two decades.
- 2Day 0
Jirón de la Unión: One Street, Eleven Names
834 Jirón de la Unión, Lima
Old main street joining Lima's two squares. Until the 1860s every block of the Jirón de la Unión had its own name, and a yellow plaque still recalls this one.
- 3Day 0
La Merced: A Front That Leans Back
629 Jirón de la Unión, Lima
Carved stone front hauled from the highlands. La Merced's tiers step back against earthquakes, and what you see is a twentieth-century rebuild of the front of 1702.
- 4Day 0
Jirón Ucayali: The Bank of 1929
259 Jirón Ucayali, Lima
A granite bank from 1929. The old reserve bank on Jirón Ucayali was built by the same American firm as the Hotel Bolívar.
- 5Day 0
Torre Tagle: Balconies That Watch
383 Jirón Ucayali, Lima
A 1730s palace with two closed balconies. Torre Tagle, Peru's Foreign Ministry since 1920, shows how Lima's balconies let people watch the street unseen.
- 6Day 0
Jirón Junín: Pizarro's Checkerboard
201 Jirón Azángaro, Lima
A straight street of the 1535 checkerboard. Jirón Junín runs dead straight to the Plaza Mayor, and the city's name is older than the Spanish.
- 7Day 0
San Francisco: Not Always Yellow
201 Jirón Lampa, Lima
A yellow church that was long white and black. San Francisco's convent, rebuilt after earthquakes, sits over catacombs of tens of thousands of Limeños.
- 8Day 0
Casa de la Literatura: The Station by the River
212 Jirón Áncash, Lima
A 1912 station by the Hotel Bolívar's architect. The Desamparados station, where a few tourist trains still left in 2025, is now Peru's free house of literature.
- 9Day 0
Archbishop's Palace: A Copy from 1924
229 Jirón Carabaya, Lima
A colonial-looking palace finished in 1924, modelled on Torre Tagle. Beside it, Lima's cathedral, rebuilt after 1746 with hollow wooden columns, holds Pizarro's tomb.
- 10Day 0
Plaza Mayor: Four Sides and a Fountain
150 Jirón Huallaga, Lima
The founding square and its 1651 fountain. Round it stand the cathedral and three palaces, most of them rebuilt in the twentieth century.
- 11Day 0
Santo Domingo: Where San Marcos Began
Jirón Conde de Superunda, Lima
Where Lima's university held its first classes. Santo Domingo's tower, finished in 1780, was for a time the highest point in Lima.
- 12Day 0
Casa de Osambela: The Lesson of 1746
287 Jirón Conde de Superunda, Lima
A balconied house of about 1800 restored in 2026. On the Calle Conde de Superunda, it ends the walk with how Lima rebuilt after the earthquake of 1746.
Meeting point
Plaza San Martín, Lima Urbanización Cercado de Lima, Lima, Lima, PE
Pick up
Pickup is not provided.
Cancellation policy · Lima Historic Center Self-Guided Audio Walk: Plaza Mayor, Torre Tagle Balconies and San Francisco
Standard Viator policy
- Cancellation 0–24 hours before departure: 100% cancellation fee.
- Cancellation 24–24000 hours before departure: 0% cancellation fee.
Good to know
Operated by Roamer and sold by AGORA. Your voucher and booking reference arrive by email straight after payment.