I have fallen in love Machu Picchu, but like most I was quick to write off Lima and get to Cusco and begin the climb. I should have booked a flight to Lima and only Lima and hung around Lima for a while.

The sunset alone in this golden city is enough to make you stop. The city faces due west across the Pacific, so the setting sun floods golden light onto the beaches where surfers sit on waves checking out all the people walking along the seafront eating their ice cream.

Up above on the cliffs, paragliders spiral past the smoked-black windows of the nearby hotels, many of which have infinity pools on their rooftops.

It all seems very Californian. But far more prosperous. Because unlike California, Lima has been booming in recent years. Even the taxi drivers aren’t complaining.

Peru, like neighboring Chile and Brazil, has pretty much missed out on the worldwide recession. Due to strong mineral exports and a surprisingly conservative banking system, the country has a far strong and safer economy.

And one of the new trends of the moneyed classes here? Beachfront houses. After years of ignoring the Pacific and building inland, the Limeños have finally built a long ocean promenade, the Malecón, along which runners, walkers and lovers can look up and dream of their future luxury apartment. Orient-Express, which has invested heavily in Peru’s railways and hotels, has its flagship Miraflores Park Hotel here, an emblem of the area’s hip renovation.

The park has been planted with irises, cactuses, and palms and is a great way to see Lima. Start off at Parque Kennedy at the heart of the neighborhood, which often holds spoken-word poetry and outdoor art exhibitions. Cross the Diagonal to Café Haiti an old-school hangout of the Lima literati with bamboo chairs and a sidewalk cafe where you can sample Peru’s signature beverages: a tangy pisco sour.

If Miraflores is Lima’s Upper West Side, then Barranco is Greenwich Village. Home to Lima’s bohemian upper crust, this onetime summer resort neighborhood is filled with art galleries, European style parks and pubs. From the marigold-studded Plaza de Armas, walk west down to the Bridge of Sighs, an old wooden bridge over a bougainvillea-lined walkway that when accompanied by guitar players and women selling single roses, manages to be both touristy and romantic.

Check out the art at the artisans’ collective Dédalo in Barranco. Each room in the labyrinthine century-old mansion houses a different type of craft, from jewelry and picture frames to lamps and leatherwork from more than 1,000 different local artists. A cafe in the back serves coffee, tea and selections from a decent wine list.

In Lima food rules. Latin Americans flock from all over the continent for what has become a world-class cuisine. The Pacific coast here has some of the finest fishing in the world and Lima chefs have put it to good use. In fact with all the cheap flights to Lima, you can eat at the op restaurants here that rival New York, London and Paris

Sushi and ceviche chefs are learning from one another. The most popular street food is “five flavors” a rice and pasta dish with Italian, Chinese, Andean, Japanese and African influences. Restaurants that once hid their existence from all but the “in the know” are now putting signs out front.

Just a block or two from the ocean with ceramic tile floors and an open-air foyer, Pescados Capitales, combines the relaxation of the beach with the European refinement of Lima’s upper caste. “Pecados capitales” refers to the seven deadly sins, all of which can be ordered from the menu. Start off with a little Freudian Lust (lujuria freudiana, grilled baby calamari and then chow down on some creamy, indulgent greed, avaricia sole Rockefeller, or simple infidelity, grilled swordfish.

Or stick with ceviche. It was Nobu in New York and London that first really popularised ceviche, the classic Peruvian dish of raw seafood marinated in lemon juice. Here they do things like ceviche in passion fruit, shrimp tempura, tuna carpaccio or grilled giant scallops. For those of you who have always wanted to indulge at Nobu but coldn’t stomach the $500 bill, now’s your chance.

Matsuei in San Isidro co-founded by Nobuyuki Matsuhisa of Nobu fame is Lima’s best spot for sushi. The Japanese settled in Peru around the same time as the Chinese and it is their expertise combined with the incredibly fresh fish in Lima that makes dishes like maki acevichado, a Japanese roll with the classic Peruvian ceviche sauce so incredible.

Rafael Osterling at his eponymous Rafael restaurant is another hot spot, where people like famed photographer Mario Testino eats when he’s back in his home town. And if I’d known he was this hot I never would have hopped that Lima to Cusco flight. Are you kidding me?

There is a new pride in being Peruvian, on their pre-Columbian past with millions of dollars being invested to make the capital’s museums the envy of Latin America.

Museo Larco is spectacular, with galleries of gold and silver Chimú jewellery lighting up as the visitor approaches. There are exquisite weavings of yellow and blue parrot feathers, along with erotic Moche pottery housed in an adults-only gallery to contain it.

These are pieces of history you will probably never see outside of Peru. Unlike the artifacts of Mexico, Egypt and China, which regularly make their way to Europe, none of Peru’s treasures ever reach these shores. So you need to fly to Lima to see the best of what the pre-Columbian world could offer before the Spanish arrived in 1532 and swept away the Inca civilization.

The city also has much of the best of what the Spaniards brought with them. The old historic centre, or La Ciudad de los Reyes, “The City of Kings”, has recently been cleaned and restored to show off the cathedral and other colonial leftovers.

Hip hotels

Miraflores Park Hotel (www.miraflorespark.com): with its superb views out across the sea and Miraflores cliffs  and one of the best breakfast buffets in Peru. From $300 including breakfast.

Country Club (www.hotelcountry.com): more traditional and inland, this is old-school Lima.  From $120  including breakfast.

Casa Andina Classic, Miraflores Centro (www.casa-andina.com): a chain that provides consistently good accommodation throughout Peru. This one is good value. From $84 including breakfast.

Where to eat

Rosa Nautica-one of Lima’s best-known and most expensive restaurants, is also the easiest to locate – it’s on the pier that runs out into the sea from Miraflores. You may eat more adventurous food elsewhere (this is very old-school), but you won’t see surfers out of the window. £30 a head.

Rafael-Of course! Try the ceviche galactico, with lemon sole, sea grouper, scallops and crab. Limeños traditionally only eat ceviche at lunch, as it is thought to be harder to digest in the evening.

El Mercado - Yep, another of Rafael Osterling’s restaurants, with more traditional Peruvian classics such as taku-taku ( rice, beans and seafood) and fabulous soups.

Matsuei, of course.