3 Best Sights in San Isidro, Lima

Two royal palms stand guard, and a red carpet leads up the stairs to the entrance of this stately hotel built in 1926. Widely regarded as the city's most elegant hotel, its lobby and halls are decorated with colonial art on loan from the Museo Pedro de Osma. Even if you stay elsewhere, it's worth dropping by for a drink on the terrace or in the pub. If you feel like a light meal in the early evening, consider the English-style high tea.

This mud-brick pyramid, thought to be a place of worship, predates the Incas. Painstakingly restored on the front side, it seems out of place among the neighborhood's upscale homes and apartment buildings. Here you'll find a small museum with displays of objects found at the site, including several mummies. From the upper platform you can take in views of San Isidro.

For years, this rambling olive grove was slowly being eroded, as homes for wealthy limeños were built in and around its perimeter. The process was halted in the 1960s, in time to save more than 1,500 gnarled olive trees. Some of the trees are four centuries old and still bear fruit. A network of sidewalks, flower beds, fountains, and playgrounds makes this 20-hectare (50-acre) park a popular spot on weekend afternoons.