Lima, the capital of Peru, is a city that many tourists have traditionally avoided spending much time in. A new city tour designed and run by the tour company Escaped to Peru is changing the perception of visitors to this huge South American metropolis.

Cusco, Peru -- (SBWire) -- 09/02/2010 -- The tour company Escaped to Peru has received a great response to its new format Lima city tour. Two months ago the company, based in Cusco, decided to introduce a new format for its full day city tours in Lima giving visitors a better and more rounded experience of this South American metropolis. Passengers who have taken the new tour have been very enthusiastic about their experience and the format has been deemed a success.

Gary Sargent, Managing Director of Escaped to Peru, explains "Lima has an unwarranted bad reputation in our opinion, it is in fact a nicer, safer city than many of its Latin American counterparts. Many people elect to avoid the city and just transit to Cusco or Arequipa, which in our opinion is a shame given its rich and varied history and the interesting legacy this has left".

The new full day city tour called "Culture and Contrasts" allows visitors to see some of the many facets of this huge city. As well as visiting the pre-Inca mud brick pyramids now surrounded by modern suburbs, plus the colonial center with its lovely ornate buildings with their wooden balconies, visitors also see some of the modern districts, both rich and poor. The extreme contrasts of Peru are made obvious as visitors are shown some of the poorest neighborhoods such as La Victoria followed by affluent areas such a San Isidro. Passengers have walking tours several times during the day allowing then to see local people doing everyday things. Lunch is taken in the Bohemian district of Barranco in a local restaurant rather than in the more touristy places in Miraflores.

Gary ends by saying "After taking this tour our passengers are left in no doubt that Lima is a very interesting city with a rich heritage and plenty of things to see and do, and they are glad they didn't just fly in and out!".