Peru Guide
Lima
Barranco
Quieter than Miraflores, Barranco, about 3–4km from Larco Mar, overlooks the ocean and is scattered with old mansions, including fine colonial and Republican edifices, many beginning to fall apart through lack of care. This was the capital's seaside resort during the nineteenth century and is now a kind of Limeño Left Bank, with young artists, writers, musicians and intellectuals taking over some of the older properties. Only covering three square kilometres, Barranco is quite densely populated, with some 40,000 inhabitants living in its delicately coloured houses.
The primary attractions of Barranco are its bars, clubs and cafés clustered around the small but busy and well-kept Plaza Municipal de Barranco, which buzz with frenetic energy after dark whilst retaining much of the area's original charm and character. There's little else to see, specifically, though you may want to take a look at the cliff-top remains of a funicular rail-line, which used to carry aristocratic families from the summer resort down to the beach.