Once one of the most beautiful cities in Spanish America, Peru's sprawling capital Lima is now home to more than eight million people, over half of whom live in relative poverty without decent water, sewage or electricity. This is not to say you can't enjoy the place, but it's important not to come here with false expectations. There is still a certain elegance to the old colonial centre, and the city hosts a string of excellent and important museums, but polluted and traffic-choked Lima is not exotic, though the central areas have been cleaned up in recent years. Nevertheless, with its numerous facilities and firm footing as a transport and communications hub, Lima makes a good base from which to explore Peru and furnishes a good introduction to the county.