🇵🇪 Callao (Lima), Peru — Cruise Port Guide
Lima's historic port and the table of South America — colonial plazas, clifftop Miraflores and the ceviche that made Peru a pilgrimage.
Updated September 2026
Quick facts
Getting ashore
When to visit Callao (Lima)
May–October is Lima's famous gray garúa season — mild, overcast, almost never rains; November–April is the sunnier, warmer half of the year on the coast.
Getting back to the ship on time
Lima traffic is the honest threat to your all-aboard: book the long Miraflores or old-town day with wide margins, and treat the port district itself as transit-only.
All-aboard is ship's time — check it in the daily programme, and set your watch to it.
Things to do in Callao (Lima)
Plaza Mayor & colonial Lima
Cathedral, catacombs and balconied palaces of the old capital.
Larco Museum
Golden treasures and 5,000 years of Peru in a rose-draped villa.
Miraflores malecón
Cliff-edge parks where paragliders float over the Pacific.
Barranco
Cross the Bridge of Sighs into Lima's mural-splashed art quarter.
Ceviche lunch
Eat Peru's national dish where it was perfected.
Huaca Pucllana
A 1,500-year-old adobe pyramid rising from Miraflores streets.
Popular excursions
Colonial Lima & San Francisco Catacombs
Plaza Mayor grandeur and bone-lined crypts beneath the monastery.
Pachacamac Ruins
Sprawling adobe pilgrimage complex predating the Inca, south of Lima.
What to eat
- Ceviche
- Lomo saltado
- Ají de gallina
- Causa limeña
- Pisco sour
Weather by month
Best time to visit: Dec-Apr (sunny season)
| Month | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 80° | 67° | 0" |
| Feb | 81° | 68° | 0" |
| Mar | 81° | 67° | 0" |
| Apr | 77° | 64° | 0" |
| May | 72° | 62° | 0.1" |
| Jun | 67° | 60° | 0.1" |
| Jul | 65° | 59° | 0.1" |
| Aug | 64° | 58° | 0.1" |
| Sep | 65° | 58° | 0.1" |
| Oct | 68° | 60° | 0" |
| Nov | 72° | 62° | 0" |
| Dec | 76° | 64° | 0" |
Local phrases
A little history
Lima is a world food capital — lunch reservations are worth making before you sail.
Ceviche is a lunch dish here; locals say the fish should be morning-fresh.
The colonial center is UNESCO-listed, founded by Pizarro in 1535.
Traffic between Callao and Miraflores is heavy — pad your return to the ship.