Lima's worst visitor problem now has three clean answers: the official Airport Express coach to four Miraflores stops for 20 soles, the ATU's 24-hour AeroDirecto buses for five — and a BRT spine that crosses the city for 3.20.
The Airport Express is the visitor's default: big coaches with Wi-Fi and luggage bays leaving the terminal roughly hourly from 7:00 to 22:00, stopping at the Marriott by Larcomar, the Larco Avenue tourist office, Kennedy Park and the Hotel Boulevard — S/20 solo, S/15 each for two or more, tickets valid six months if your flight moves. The ride is 45 minutes at a good hour, 75 at a bad one.
Cheaper and newer: AeroDirecto, the transport authority's own airport buses — modern, running 24 hours, S/5 for the longest route — to Plaza San Martín in the historic center or Javier Prado, where the colored Corredor buses take over. Taxis and apps remain the third way: authorized counter cars at S/75–95 to Miraflores, Uber and Cabify a little less — always from the designated pickup zones, never from an offer in the arrivals hall.
Inside the city, the Metropolitano is the one bus system every visitor should learn: dedicated-lane BRT on the north–south axis, Naranjal to Matellini, through the historic center and down to Ricardo Palma in Miraflores — S/3.20 a ride with the S/5 card, express services in the peaks. The Corredores (red, blue, purple) feed it crosswise for S/2.40–2.80.
For beyond the city, Lima has no single bus station — each company keeps its own terminal, most around Javier Prado Este: Cruz del Sur, Oltursa, Civa and Movil run south to Paracas (3.5 hours), Ica and Nazca, or deep into the Andes to Arequipa and Cusco — 16 to 22 hours that argue for the plane. Hop-on services like Peru Hop package the southern loop for travelers who want the coast road with the logistics removed.
Our read: the Airport Express to Kennedy Park solves arrival for nine out of ten visitors — book it online before you fly and walk past the taxi scrum with a clear head. Use the Metropolitano for the center-to-Miraflores run by day, switch to apps after dark, and treat the intercity terminal run as a planned excursion: arrive at Javier Prado by taxi, tickets bought in advance, thirty minutes early. For Paracas and the dunes, the tourist hop buses earn their premium.
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