Lima

Lima is the capital and largest city of Peru. It's a major transportation hub in Peru, and it is difficult to travel from the north of Peru to the south without passing through Lima.

North towards Trujillo, Ecuador (Panamericana Norte, 1N)
The best place to hitch a ride north is the Ancon Tollbooth. Take any bus going to Huaral and ask to get of off at the peaje Ancon. Alternatively, there are micros that go to Ancon, but they will drop you off at a truck weigh station, a few kilometers before the tollbooth. You can try hitching from there or ask any truck to take you to the tollbooth.

All trucks and buses heading north use this tollbooth to leave Lima.

Another option is the roundabout within the Ancón. You can get a lift here within 5 minutes. Traffic is slow here and there is plenty of space to stop. However, not all traffic goes along this route as there is a junction between the above mentioned weigh station and Ancón. Most of the cars will bypass the city which results in only being able to hitch lifts with trucks from this spot. To get to Ancón you should go to the Panamericana in the Rimac District of Lima. A ride costs 4 S./ as of early 2014.

East towards Huancayo
From Avenida Central in Lima there are many small buses that go to Chosica, which is almost an hour outside of the metropolis. Still it leaves you in what seems to be a bad hitching spot full of traffic jams and people, but the use of a sign and the trusty thumb makes it possible to catch a ride even in this place. IMPORTANT NOTE: if you´re heading towards Cuzco, you might want to reconsider taking the Panamericana route! For more information check out the description of Huancayo-Ayacucho-Cuzco road.

South towards Ica, Nazca, Cusco, Chile (Panamericana, 1S)
A good spot to start hitchhiking the Panameicana in direction South is the toll station in Lima's Villa El Salvado District. To get there, go to any bus stop on the Sothern Panamericana with in Lima (e.g. the crossing with Primavera or Avenida Alfonso Benavides) and take a combi going direction Lurín/Pachacamac. isin: Peru