Medellín vs Lima, Peru: Which is the Better Place to Live?

Hi,
Ive been in Lima for about 5 years and in Medellin for about a year..
I must say I really hate Lima. Its a very dirty city, people are so uneducated
and false.
Lima is a very big city in a desert, No rain. So thats why it gets so dirty and dusty.
Vinters are very humid, the air is always very pulluted from the traffic.
The food is great though, but many reastaurants dont know how to maintain a
restaurant and its food CLEAN. I have been sick so many times.
Another thing: The city is VERY noisy, especialy traffic.
And on top of that you can get sick if you drink the tap water!
Safety is VERY low, I know so many who have been robbed mostly peruvians,
I can go on complaining more…
I was also robbed by the migration office at the airport.
Had to go to the police and then they fired that bitch.
Public transportation and infrastructure in Lima is a Joke really
say no more, they really have some problems there. Its slower than slower than slow.
Wifi connections is a bigger problem in Lima than in Medellin.
Sorry but Im only telling the truth. Most corrupted place I’ve ever
been to. I was most of the time in the center of Lima.
There are better and welthier places but they have no soul.
I would say that the city doesn’t take care of it’s history.
There is a big lack of respect and ignorance to the citizens
from the politicians, its so sad. I would never want my children to grow
up there. They are also racists and very nationalistic. (Its true 🙁 most of them are)
Sorry my english, im not from an english speaking country.
Thanks for a great site! God bless you. Medellin is a Paradise, my Lima experience
was very much a hell. Just telling MY story.

I lived in Lima for 10 and half months and have been here in Medellin for 9 months. My opinions are that most importantly at #1) Lima is much LESS SAFE than Medellin. It is similar to Bogota in the sense that it is a big capital with much more small-scale crime and robberies going on. Just for being a bigger city, there are more people (actually around 2 million living on the outskirts of Lima without electricity and running water) who take advantage of the wealth found inside the city to rob individuals. I myself was robbed twice and that was very normal. I heard horrible stories from friends much more often and I physically felt much more on my guard with the places I went. #2) Traffic is definitely NOT at a tie. From my experience, Lima’s traffic was probably 3-4x worse than Medellin’s. I was in a bus for 3-6 hours daily when I took the bus system (the combis). There are simply more people and therefore many many more cars. In comparing, to go from Poblado to the Medellin airport is a 45 minute drive at 30 km, and to go from Miraflores to the Lima airport it always takes at least one hour to go 20 km (despite what google maps might tell you because I’ve taken this trip myself about 8 times!) Overall, in the categories that Lima wins, it simply has to do with the size of the city (more shopping malls, more job opportunities, more places to party, etc.). When it comes to deciding where to actually live or retire and the things that matter the most, Medellin wins overall hands down and I think we will see that as the expat community continues to grow here post-internal conflict.

Thanks Jeff, read it earlier, Then got busy. Great comparison post! Was in Lima many years back. Had some fun. Ate some great seafood at a place out on the water. Was one of the leaders of a climbing party. In the Cordillera Blanca. Stayed in small town where we made arrangements and got supplies. Climbed 3 peaks, Absolutely beautiful. Had to evacuate a friend who picked up a parasite. Back to Lima. With sick friend and another helping. Didn’t care for Lima. So we stayed at the Sheratan. Was tense to get a flight out. Had a Mt Doctor waiting in Utah. The upside, is we got him back on time. Having one day left to live. 50% percent of his red blood cells were gone. He lived to climb again!
All in all never having been to Medellin that’s my pick for my next trip. Also plan to stay for a long time. Just a bad vibe in Lima. Didn’t care for it at all. Many changes since then, I’m sure. Yet don’t care. Happy for those who like it.

Nice comparison article. When I visited Lima it was overcast with no sun any of the days so it was pretty depressing. But there are countless good food options in Lima. No way I would want to live there due to the gloomy climate and earthquake risk but its a nice place to visit for foodies.