Larcomar

Location
Avenida Malecón de la Reserva 610
Miraflores, Lima, Peru

Shopping

By Kris Dreessen

From the street, Larcomar looks like a nice cliffside park with fountains, a few palm trees and a crowd of people perched along the railing looking out to sea. Walk a few steps down and discover a three-story mall, packed with restaurants, fast-food joints, shops, discos, a 12-screen movie theater and a 24-lane underground bowling alley. Larcomar is a mall, but also a destination because it's a diverse jumble of entertainment under one roof, and its location perched on top of the cliffs behind Parque Salazar. Visitors gather topside for nightly sunset shows, joined by shoppers taking a breather from the fanfare below. On clear, calm days, a paraglider may drift by on their way to the beaches below. The first mall level is open-air. Shoppers can browse under the sun, and watch daredevils on a ride get strapped to bungee cords and bounce around in a metal frame near the edge of the cliff. No one's going over on this ride, but it looks like it from the rumble seat. Stores vary from mainstream jean and T-shirt shops to bookstores and boutiques that specialize in Peruvian handicrafts. American staples like RadioShack, KFC and Burger King make an appearance here. People who forgot to pack guidebooks and film can find it at Larcomar, as well as sleeping bags and other outdoor gear at Tatoo Outdoors. There's also a Western Union. People looking for more obscure things, like Che Guevara shirts, get directed to small trendy stores on Avenida José Larco. If you're looking for crafts sold by the artists themselves or a bargain on crafts, Mercado de los Indios (Petit Thouars 5245) is a massive collection of artists and sellers under one roof. Larcomar's draw is its dramatic location, feeling of secludedness, bustling Miraflores and its views of the Pacific.

Getting There: Larcomar is at Avenida Malecón de la Reserva 610, Miraflores, at the southern tip of Avenida José Larco. It's about 12 blocks south of Parque Kennedy. Buses run the strip; a taxi from Parque Kennedy runs about a dollar (3.30 nuevo soles) each way.

Contact Information:
URL: www.larcomar.com