Mail Services & Courier Services in Lima, Peru

Peruvian Postal Services - Serpost

The national Peruvian postal service 'Serpost' is much better than its reputation. Receiving mail in Lima and sending it from Lima elsewhere is quite reliable, while outside the capital it's less dependable.

Sending Mail from Lima to the World

Sending mail within Lima and from Lima to the rest of the world is quite reliable, even if exceptions confirm the rule. Outside the capital the postal service is unfortunately less consistent. If you want to make sure your mail really reaches the recipient in Lima, Peru or elsewhere in the world, better send it as registered mail ("registrado" or "certificado").

Airmail to Europe or North America takes up to two weeks, packages and parcels can take around four to six weeks; at least they normally reach their destination. Postal charges for sending postcards and letters to international locations are reasonable, parcel are a little bit more expensive depending on weight and destination.

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Receiving Mail in Lima

Letters and smaller parcels are usually delivered directly to your address in Lima. Bigger parcels and packages have to be picked up at the nearest customs post office after receiving a notification. Advise the sender to spend a few more bucks and send your envelopes or parcels as registered mail. This way we received all mail send to us from overseas in the last years. Mail from North America and Europe send to Lima takes around 10 to 14 days.

Note: Articles for your personal use worth less than US$ 100.- can be received without paying any custom fees. Sometimes the postal charges from abroad are added to the value.

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Poste Restante

For those without an address in Lima, mail can be send to general delivery. To pick up your mail you need your passport. As letters are sometimes sorted and filed in a strange way make sure you have them check thoroughly for your mail. Normally letters are kept 3 month before being send back, registered mail sometimes only a week or two. Although this service seems to work quite well, it isn't 100% reliable. Make sure the letter is addressed as below:

• Name (as stated in your passport, last NAME in capital letters)
  Poste Restante
  Correos Central
  Jr. Conde de Superunda
  Lima 1
  Peru

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Post Offices in Lima - Serpost

Serpost has offices spread around town. A listing of all post offices in Lima can be found on their web page under "red de oficinas". The page is only available in Spanish. For "tariffs" and "sending options" have a look under "tarifas". Below you find a few selected post offices:

• Lima City Center, Psje. Piura
• Miraflores, Av. Petit Thouars 5201
• Miraflores, Av. Larco 1185
• San Isidro. Los Libertadores 325

Peruvian Postal Services (Serpost) webpage http://www.serpost.com.pe/ (Spanish)

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Courier Services in Lima

Instead of depending on Serpost, especially when sending and receiving important documents, the standard courier services of course also have offices in Lima. The shipment of letters and parcels from Lima to any other country in the world is easy and trouble free, but rather expensive. A document to Europe or the US takes around four working days.

DHL - Courier Service in Lima, Peru

Below a small selection of bigger DHL agencies. A list of all can be found on their webpage under "Find a DHL Service Point Location" ("Buscar un Punto de Servicio DHL"). Customer Service Phone (+511) 517-2500.

• Barranco, Av. Grau 424-B
• Lima, Av. Nicolas Piérola 810
• Miraflores, Av. Pardo 620
• San Isidro, Las Begonias 514
• Sucro, Av. Benavides 5187

DHL webpage http://www.dhl.com.pe/es.html (Spanish) or http://www.dhl.com.pe/en.html (English)

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FedEx Express - Courier Service in Lima, Peru

Below a small selection of some FedEx Express agencies in Lima. More information can be found on their webpage.

• Miraflores, Psje. Mártir José Olaya 260, Phone (+511) 242-2280
• Callao, Av. Elmer J. Faucett 3350, Phone (+511) 517-1600

Fedex webpage http://fedex.com/pe/ (English & Spanish)

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Skynet Worldwide Express - Courier Service in Lima, Peru

The main office of Skynet Worldwide Express in Lima is located in the district of Surco. Detailed information can found on their webpage.

• Surco, Av. Benavides 4408 (Main Office)
• Customer Service Phone (+511) 311-8800

Skynet Worldwide Express webpage http://www.skynetlim.com.pe/ (Spanish)

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TNT - Courier Service in Lima, Peru

Below the TNT agencies in Lima. More information can be found on their webpage.

• Miraflores, Av. Benavides 708
• San Isidro, Av. Libertadores 199
• Customer Service Phone (+511) 619-5919

TNT webpage http://www.tnt.com/express/es_pe/site/ (Spanish)

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UPS - Courier Service in Lima, Peru

The main office of UPS in Lima is located in the district of San Isidro. Detailed information can found on their webpage (choose Peru and English).

• San Isidro, Av. del Ejercito 2107 (Main Office)
• Customer Service Phone (+511) 264-0105

UPS webpage http://www.ups.com/ (Multi-language)

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New Postal Codes (ZIP) in Lima and Callao (Códigos Postales de Lima y Callao)

At the end of February 2011 a new zip code system for whole Peru was introduced. While in the past only Lima and Callao had zip codes, now all cities and smaller settlements in the country are included in the new system. The new zip codes have 5 digits; the ones for Lima start with a 15, for Callao with 07. As the zip codes in Lima and Callao are no longer linked to the district, a search on the website of the Ministry of Transportation and Communication is unavoidable to find the right code for the street you need the zip code.

webpage http://codigopostal.mtc.gob.pe:8080/lineagis/mtc/ (Spanish)

Note: It seems that a search by street name only includes the main avenues (avenidas), so it might be good to know the name of the nearest main street.

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Old Postal Codes (ZIP) in Lima and Callao

For the next few months it might be wise to add the old zip codes as well (listed below):