Fortaleza del Real Felipe — Attraction in Lima Metropolitan Area

The fortress itself is interesting to see. However, if you want to walk through with a tour guide, it's an additional 4 soles and they would not start until there were at least 10 people for the tour group. In our case, that meant waiting 30+ minutes until there were enough people to start the pre-tour videos, at least some of which were poorly filmed and took about 25 minutes between the 2-3 videos; and by the end of them we had around 30 people so could've started them earlier and had enough people by the time they were finished. In addition, there was an unnecessary focus on the potential paranormal activity at the fortress (both in the videos and the tour itself) instead of getting to actually learn about the history of the fortress, wars/battles that it may have been involved in, construction, etc. In addition, it was frustrating that there were several places where the tour was paused for people to buy food/souvenirs, etc instead of having it all happen either before the tour started or wait until the end.

Overall, the fortress itself is interesting and worth seeing, but the organization of the tours/ information was incredibly frustrating the whole...

I visited here on my last day in Peru, because it was near the airport and I wanted to see the Pacific Ocean one more time. Of course I like looking at old Spanish fortresses and this is a really really big one. The masonry is all in excellent condition... the climate in Peru is so gentle. The views of the ocean from the walls are magnificent. The dungeons are frigging scary. Yea, it was a place where terrible things happened. Now it is a military compound... a tribute to the Peruvian military... a military museum.

In the courtyard I met a group of young women selling tickets for a boat ride. Only 15 sols... it worked out great. It was a short boat ride that takes you the length of the peninsula. The enclosure that the boat leads from is magnificent. The young women who sold me the boat ride also came along... afterwards that showed me the town, the cultural center where they did crafts after school, the pink church, they helped me choose the perfect restaurant and get a cab to ...

Recommended due its historical value. Go early and tour the Navy historic museum afterwards (around the corner). Pay the extra dollar and get the guided tour (you might have to wait 30 mins approx because they want to build a large group) , it makes a big difference. Tour guides are knowledgeable, videos at the beginning are well intentioned but not impressive. Weapon collection is cool, specially when you get to the really old stuff of colonial age, but it is a small collection (guns, sables, canons). Tank exhibition is kind of weak because of low maintenance. Also parts of the fort need renovation/maintenance.

Tour has more potential, but it is definitely worth stopping by. Go in summer for better views from the wall (views in winter are not as good due to...