The Centro Histórico — UNESCO World Heritage since 1991 — is the colonial city of Lima as the Viceroyalty left it, packed into about 30 city blocks around the Plaza Mayor. Crumbling Baroque churches, casonas (colonial mansions) with carved wooden balconies, narrow streets of azulejo-tiled facades, and a working market sit alongside heavy traffic and street vendors.
Highlights are best seen on foot in a morning: the Plaza Mayor, the Cathedral, the catacombs of San Francisco, the Casa de Aliaga (continuously inhabited since 1535), and the elegant pedestrian street Jirón de la Unión running south. Pickpockets are a real risk in busy areas; keep valuables out of sight, especially around bus stations and at the Mercado Central.