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Callao is Peru's main seaport, a historic city on the Pacific beside Lima, famous for the pentagonal Real Felipe Fortress, the balconied streets of the Callao Monumental Zone and boat trips to the sea lions of the Palomino Islands. Founded by the Spanish in 1537, it was the chief port of the Viceroyalty of Peru, and Lima's international airport also stands here.
The old port keeps its naval soul. Plaza Grau looks over the harbour beside the Naval Museum of Peru, the submarine BAP Abtao has become a museum you can climb inside, and Callao Cathedral rises above streets of old mansions protected since 1972. South of the centre, the old neighbourhood of Chucuito leads to La Punta, a quiet peninsula of 19th-century houses and pebble beaches such as Cantolao.
Offshore lie San Lorenzo, Peru's largest island, the former prison island of El Frontón and the Palomino Islands. Book boat tours from the harbour, visit the centre by day with a guide or a group, and finish with seafood and a sunset walk along La Punta's seafront.
The Real Felipe Fortress in Callao is a huge pentagonal fort built from 1747 to 1774 to guard the port and Lima from pirates after the 1746 earthquake. Its long siege in the 1820s ended Spanish rule in South America, and today it houses the Peruvian Army Museum with weapons and uniforms.
The Naval Museum of Peru in Callao tells the story of the Peruvian Navy in ten rooms facing Plaza Grau, from viceregal times to the War of the Pacific. Highlights include a ship's figurehead and a cannon from the Chilean schooner Covadonga. Short harbour cruises leave from the promenade in front.
The BAP Abtao Submarine Museum in Callao lets you climb inside a real submarine, built for the Peruvian Navy by Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut, and launched in 1953. Retired in 1999, it is now moored as a museum ship, and guided visits lead through its narrow interior from bow to stern.
Plaza Grau in Callao is the historic harbourfront square honouring Admiral Miguel Grau, Peru's naval hero, surrounded by the Naval Museum, the port captaincy and an old lighthouse with an English clock. On the first Sunday of each month a cannon is fired here in a traditional ceremony.
The Callao Monumental Zone is the historic centre of Callao, protected as national cultural heritage since 1972 and famous for its old mansions, wooden balconies and cobbled alleys. Explore its squares and old streets by day, ideally with a local guide, as some nearby streets can be unsafe.
Callao Cathedral, also called the Iglesia Matriz, is the main church of Callao, a neoclassical building completed in 1893 to a design by Antonio Dañino. Restored after an earthquake in 1970, it became the cathedral of the Diocese of Callao in 1995 and stands at the heart of the old town.
Chucuito is an old seaside neighbourhood of Callao, between the historic centre and La Punta, known for its colourful traditional houses, carved doors and wooden balconies. Stroll its streets on the way to La Punta, stopping for fresh ceviche in one of the local seafood restaurants along the way.
La Punta is a small, safe peninsula district at the tip of Callao, almost surrounded by the Pacific, with 19th-century mansions long home to Italian-Peruvian families and the Peruvian Naval Academy. Walk its seafront at sunset for views of San Lorenzo and El Frontón islands.
The Palomino Islands are a group of rocky islets off Callao, west of San Lorenzo Island, home to a large colony of sea lions and seabirds such as pelicans, boobies and Inca terns. Boat tours from the Callao harbour circle the islands, and some let you swim with the curious sea lions.
San Lorenzo Island lies off Callao and, at 16 square kilometres, is the largest island in Peru. With no fresh water it was never settled, but ancient Peruvians buried their dead here, Charles Darwin explored it in 1835, and pirates once used it as a base. Boat tours pass along its coast.
El Frontón is a barren island off Callao, between La Punta and San Lorenzo Island, used as a prison from 1917 and the site of a deadly 1986 riot. Once called Dead Man's Island, it is now visited by sea lions and Humboldt penguins, and boat trips to the Palomino Islands sail past its shores.
Cantolao Beach is the best-known beach of La Punta in Callao, a pebbly stretch where the area's first fishermen once lived, facing the island of San Lorenzo. La Punta's beaches are busiest in summer, and the promenade above is a lovely place to watch the sun set.
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