MUSEO LARCO

The charming neighborhood of Pueblo Libre is just south of central Lima and has a relaxed, small-town vibe. Its best-known sight is the Museo Larco (Bolívar 1515, tel. 01/461-1312, www.museolarco.org, 9 a.m.–6 p.m. daily, $6, $3 student), which rivals the Museo de Oro in terms of gold pieces and has far more ceramics and textiles. Found in 1926 in an 18th-century mansion built atop a pre-Hispanic ruin, this museum has more than 40,000 ceramics and 5,000 pieces of gold and textiles. There are huge Mochica earrings and funerary masks, a Paracas textile with a world-record 398 threads per inch, and a jewelry vault filled with gold and silver objects. A back storage room holds thousands of pre-Hispanic ceramic vessels, including a Moche erotic collection that will cause even the most liberated to blush. To reach this museum from Miraflores, catch a bus at Arequipa Avenue that says Todo Bolívar and get off at the 15th block.