Puente de los Suspiros and Barranco

Barranco is the most atmospheric district of Lima for a wander, and the Puente de los Suspiros, or Bridge of Sighs, is where most people start. In the 19th century Barranco was a fashionable beach resort for Lima's upper class, and today it is known as the city's bohemian and artistic quarter, home to many of Peru's artists, musicians, designers and photographers. The singer and composer Chabuca Granda, the poet Martín Adán and the writer Mario Vargas Llosa are all linked to the district. The wooden footbridge first opened on 14 February 1876 under the mayor Francisco García Monterroso. It was destroyed by Chilean troops after the Battle of Chorrillos in January 1881, during the War of the Pacific, and later rebuilt; the most recent restoration took six months and the bridge reopened in December 2014.

The bridge is 44 metres long and 3 metres wide and crosses a ravine about 8.5 metres below. It links Jirón Ayacucho with the approach to the Ermita de Barranco, the old hermitage church, which has been closed since the 1974 earthquake. Below it runs the Bajada de Baños, a pedestrian promenade that leads down through the ravine to the beach. The name comes from the bridge's reputation as a meeting place for couples, and in 1960 Chabuca Granda dedicated a Peruvian waltz, El puente de los suspiros, to it. A monument to her stands beside the bridge in the Plazuela Chabuca Granda.

Make a loop of it. Cross the bridge, follow the Bajada de Baños down towards the sea and back, then walk to the Parque Municipal, inaugurated in 1898 and surrounded by the municipal library, the town hall and the church. Many of the surrounding streets are lined with casonas, colonial and Republican-style mansions, and flower-filled small parks. The Museo Pedro de Osma, with its colonial art, is less than ten minutes' walk from Barranco's Plaza de Armas, and the contemporary art museum MAC Lima is on Avenida Grau.

The bridge is a public space and free to cross, and it is among the most visited places in the district. In June 2023 a wall of a nearby 1911 building partly collapsed and the area was temporarily closed, with reconstruction announced, so you may find some fencing nearby.

Barranco borders Miraflores to the north and Chorrillos to the south, so it is a short taxi ride from most hotels, and a Metropolitano route runs along Avenida Francisco Bolognesi. Allow an hour or two for the walk, longer if you add a museum and a meal.