Fortaleza del Real Felipe

I visited here on my last day in Peru, because it was near the airport and I wanted to see the Pacific Ocean one more time. Of course I like looking at old Spanish fortresses and this is a really really big one. The masonry is all in excellent condition... the climate in Peru is so gentle. The views of the ocean from the walls are magnificent. The dungeons are frigging scary. Yea, it was a place where terrible things happened. Now it is a military compound... a tribute to the Peruvian military... a military museum. In the courtyard I met a group of young women selling tickets for a boat ride. Only 15 sols... it worked out great. It was a short boat ride that takes you the length of the peninsula. The enclosure that the boat leads from is magnificent. The young women who sold me the boat ride also came along... afterwards that showed me the town, the cultural center where they did crafts after school, the pink church, they helped me choose the perfect restaurant and get a cab to the airport.

The fortress itself is interesting to see. However, if you want to walk through with a tour guide, it's an additional 4 soles and they would not start until there were at least 10 people for the tour group. In our case, that meant waiting 30+ minutes until there were enough people to start the pre-tour videos, at least some of which were poorly filmed and took about 25 minutes between the 2-3 videos; and by the end of them we had around 30 people so could've started them earlier and had enough people by the time they were finished. In addition, there was an unnecessary focus on the potential paranormal activity at the fortress (both in the videos and the tour itself) instead of getting to actually learn about the history of the fortress, wars/battles that it may have been involved in, construction, etc. In addition, it was frustrating that there were several places where the tour was paused for people to buy food/souvenirs, etc instead of having it all happen either before the tour started or wait until the end. Overall, the fortress itself is interesting and worth seeing, but the organization of the tours/ information was incredibly frustrating the whole way through.

Firstly, it's in a very run down part of town and the Uber driver warned us it's not safe to walk around the outside of the fort. Come early as it's difficult to get an Uber back to downtown Lima afterwards. Have the exact amount of cash on hand for the entrance fee as they don't always have change for larger bills and they don't take credit cards. But the fort is very interesting and you can explore almost everywhere by yourself. Very much worth a visit. It's very exposed, so on a sunny day bring sun screen.

Nice experience. Tour guide explained about the castle were queen and king lived there. the museum is really good and they allow kids, babies and also allows to take a photo

Pretty cool historical place here in Lima

Interesting historical fort of the 18th century. Looks like it's a still active military base today.

Good morning out for those with any interest in Peruvian and/or military history. Only 12 soles entrance. Fort quite well restored and kept and some interesting antique weaponry. nice cafe opposite the entrance for lunch or a cold drink when u finish. But PS Naval hero Sir Thomas Cochran was Scottish, not “Inglesi”!

I highly recomend to pay 4 soles extra for the guided tour. The Real Felipe is one of the most important buildings in the history of Peru. It has existed for more than two centuries, from colonial times until today. It was a fortress whose purpose was to defend the port of Callao from pirates and privateers. Over the years, its walls have withstood several earthquakes. They also witnessed the most important historical events in the Republic of Peru. Nowadays, it is one of the most emblematic tourist attractions in Lima.

I visited here on my last day in Peru, because it was near the airport and I wanted to see the Pacific Ocean one more time. Of course I like looking at old Spanish fortresses and this is a really really big one. The masonry is all in excellent condition... the climate in Peru is so gentle. The views of the ocean from the walls are magnificent. The dungeons are frigging scary. Yea, it was a place where terrible things happened. Now it is a military compound... a tribute to the Peruvian military... a military museum. In the courtyard I met a group of young women selling tickets for a boat ride. Only 15 sols... it worked out great. It was a short boat ride that takes you the length of the peninsula. The enclosure that the boat leads from is magnificent. The young women who sold me the boat ride also came along... afterwards that showed me the town, the cultural center where they did crafts after school, the pink church, they helped me choose the perfect restaurant and get a cab to the airport.

The fortress itself is interesting to see. However, if you want to walk through with a tour guide, it's an additional 4 soles and they would not start until there were at least 10 people for the tour group. In our case, that meant waiting 30+ minutes until there were enough people to start the pre-tour videos, at least some of which were poorly filmed and took about 25 minutes between the 2-3 videos; and by the end of them we had around 30 people so could've started them earlier and had enough people by the time they were finished. In addition, there was an unnecessary focus on the potential paranormal activity at the fortress (both in the videos and the tour itself) instead of getting to actually learn about the history of the fortress, wars/battles that it may have been involved in, construction, etc. In addition, it was frustrating that there were several places where the tour was paused for people to buy food/souvenirs, etc instead of having it all happen either before the tour started or wait until the end. Overall, the fortress itself is interesting and worth seeing, but the organization of the tours/ information was incredibly frustrating the whole way through.

Firstly, it's in a very run down part of town and the Uber driver warned us it's not safe to walk around the outside of the fort. Come early as it's difficult to get an Uber back to downtown Lima afterwards. Have the exact amount of cash on hand for the entrance fee as they don't always have change for larger bills and they don't take credit cards. But the fort is very interesting and you can explore almost everywhere by yourself. Very much worth a visit. It's very exposed, so on a sunny day bring sun screen.

Nice experience. Tour guide explained about the castle were queen and king lived there. the museum is really good and they allow kids, babies and also allows to take a photo

Pretty cool historical place here in Lima

Interesting historical fort of the 18th century. Looks like it's a still active military base today.

Good morning out for those with any interest in Peruvian and/or military history. Only 12 soles entrance. Fort quite well restored and kept and some interesting antique weaponry. nice cafe opposite the entrance for lunch or a cold drink when u finish. But PS Naval hero Sir Thomas Cochran was Scottish, not “Inglesi”!

I highly recomend to pay 4 soles extra for the guided tour. The Real Felipe is one of the most important buildings in the history of Peru. It has existed for more than two centuries, from colonial times until today. It was a fortress whose purpose was to defend the port of Callao from pirates and privateers. Over the years, its walls have withstood several earthquakes. They also witnessed the most important historical events in the Republic of Peru. Nowadays, it is one of the most emblematic tourist attractions in Lima.