GATEWAY TO PERU: A Timeless Journey to Lima, “City of Kings”
FLYBRANIFF.COM
Travel Blog
Blog #3
January 23, 2026
Lima, Peru
The Gateway to Peru: A Timeless Journey to Lima, the “City of Kings”
Lima, the magnificent "City of Kings," sits as a pearl on the Pacific coast, backed by the towering peaks of the Andes. Traveling from the United States to this vibrant South American metropolis is not just a trip; it’s an overnight hop that transports you to a world of historical elegance, breathtaking landscapes, and year-round pleasant weather.
The Journey: From Houston to Lima
In a bygone era of aviation, the journey was a testament to the romance of air travel, transforming the vast distance into a comfortable overnight experience. The flight time for the entire journey from Houston to Lima, including stops in Havana, Cuba; Balboa, Canal Zone; and Guayaquil, Ecuador, was approximately 14 hours. Travelers flew aboard big Braniff Douglas DC-6 El Conquistador four-engine airliners, which offered appointments as comfortable and luxurious as a select private club, featuring a pressurized cabin, rubber foam cushioned seats, complimentary delicious meals, and even sleeper service, allowing the traveler to "go to bed in Texas and wake up in Peru."
Braniff ensured a smooth international journey by providing a bi-lingual hostess and purser, and they also secured and confirmed hotel reservations at notable locations like the Gran Hotel Bolivar and the modern new Crillon Hotel in Lima. Today’s convenient schedules and super-fast nonstop jet flights can get you to Lima in less than a day from most parts of the United States.
Braniff was the largest airline serving South America from the United States. Today, our travel partners can jet you to Lima, in less than a day from most of North America.
An Invitation to Lima: Climate and Culture
Lima offers an immediate, striking contrast to the States, especially since the seasons are reversed south of the Equator. The city enjoys a temperate climate, with a year-round mean temperature of about 73 degrees, and, remarkably, it "never rains." Situated at sea level with the Pacific as its "front door" and the Andes as its "backyard," Lima is a city that "staggers the imagination." It is characterized by wide, park-centered boulevards, plazas, white buildings, and flowers so vivid they "bedazzle the eyes."
Life in Lima is described as leisurely and elegant. Meals are a ceremony, and visitors will find the food in hotels and leading restaurants—often prepared by Danish and Swiss chefs—delicious and very inexpensive. The social calendar revolves around a few key times: everyone gathers at popular spots for tea around five in the afternoon, dinner hour begins late, typically at nine p.m., and night clubs, such as the plush Embassy Club, begin to fill up around midnight, with no curfew.
Braniff’s former restaurant in Lima, Tambo de Oro, has been reopened as Casa Tambo by the original Braniff Chef’s son.
Must-See Sights and Activities
The magnificent city and its environs offer an almost inexhaustible schedule of things to see. For historical and cultural highlights, the central square, Plaza de Armas, houses the Gold-Lined Cathedral, where the remains of the Spanish Conquistador Francisco Pizarro present in an open glass case. Days can be spent browsing through museums filled with moments of man's antiquity, with exhibits featuring ancient Inca mummies, still garbed in the feather robes they wore hundreds of years before Christ, along with gold jewelry, colorful tapestries, and tools of a vanished civilization.
The city itself was officially inaugurated as the "City of Kings" in 1535. For sports and leisure, Limeños are ardent sports enthusiasts, and the vacationer can easily enjoy the spectator role at bull fights, polo games (for which Peruvians are famous), tennis matches, or horse racing, all held every Sunday and holiday throughout the year.
Swimming is a universal pastime, and Lima boasts countless lovely swimming beaches and private pools. The lush country club offers a full suite of amenities, including tennis courts, a swimming pool, golf links, and a polo field. For those seeking adventure, tours out of Lima up through the "breath-taking mountainous countryside" provide vistas of a world away from the city. The region is dotted with Inca ruins, jagged mountain crests, and terraces, walls, and irrigation ditches that speak to a vanished civilization. A few hours from Lima, one of the twelve wonders of the world—the high-climbing railroad into the Andes—can be ridden for just a few soles.
Lima, the “City of Kings”
The Pleasure of Shopping
Shopping in Lima is described as "pure pleasure." Peru is considered the "mother lode for the entire continent" for silver, and the beautiful silver jewelry and silverware can be bought for a fraction of the cost elsewhere. Visitors can leave Peru tax-free with any silver item totaling less than eleven pounds. Leather goods are also highly sought after; items like ladies' kid gloves, alligator bags, wallets, and coin purses are inexpensive souvenirs and are in great demand.
This Incan mask wall hanging was crafted by local artisans and is part of the renowned Braniff International South American Art Collection.
Essential Visitor Information
While Spanish is spoken almost universally, many clerks, hotel guides, and maitre'ds readily understand English. The high exchange rate once made the destination very affordable, with the best hotel accommodations costing $3.00 a day and daily filet mignon dinners for only a few soles
Formerly the Granja Azul Hotel, the Decameron El Pueblo Hotel near Lima, provides scenic accommodations. A Braniff International hotel.
From the remnants of ancient Inca civilizations to the elegant, timeless pace of its modern life, Lima truly is a city that engages all the senses. As your flight lifts off, leaving the Pacific twilight and the majestic Andes behind, you'll carry with you not just souvenirs of fine Peruvian silver, but the memory of a leisurely, elegant, and historically rich destination—a journey that is well worth taking, and one you will be eager to repeat.
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