Casa Museo Mario Vargas Llosa

I loved this museum - it was like stepping through different movie sets and the lighting was superb. I was the only visitor, which made me think it’s under appreciated. The videos were high quality and the guide was excellent. It does help to have read some of Mario Vargas Llosa’s work. If not it might inspire you - he’s a Nobel prize winner and deeply humanitarian author. However some works are more accessible than others and many deal with difficult subject matter. Maybe start with Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, which is very funny and brilliantly captures the vibe in 1950s Miraflores, Lima. In fact, reading his work inspired me to visit Peru!

The tour and videos are all in Spanish so I'd say you need an intermediate level of Spanish to visit the museum. The guide led me through the house and in each room there is a video giving some information. Most of the rooms are dimly lit and I was alone on my tour so I felt slightly uncomfortable throughout. Some creative exhibits though.

I was very impressed by this visit and the way they organized the museum and maintained the original pieces. The visit was about one hour long, but time really flew. The guide provided us with a lot of information about the personality of the writer, his life and activity. I strongly recommend!

Amazing experience. The museum is mostly and audio/visual tour of Vargas Llosa's life. However, it is done with different rooms set up to represent times and themes in his life. For example, one room is the inside of a Lima street car. Of course, there are lots of mementos, photos, and copies of his book. And the museum has his real Nobel medal. (They give every winner two of those.) The tours are only in Spanish. The woman who gave most of our tour spoke very clearly, however. The one member of our group with the lowest level of Spanish understood much of what she said.

Selective, sycophantic and hagiographic. An unfortunate interactive format that, at some points, did not work and was just distracting. There is essentially nothing left of his home - all has been converted into a Disneyworld pastiche, in the service of the technology. An early low point was the virtual recreation of the moment of his birth (!!) that largely set the tone for the rest of the visit. Hard to imagine a more self-serving glorification. It did not inspire any of us to want to know more, much less read any of his work. Happy to leave and escape the embarrassment.

Very interactive museum with great storyline and great interior, as well as staff. We felt warm welcomed and given a lot of attention!

Be careful - there a lots of fake reviews regarding the museum from bot profiles from India and Pakistan. There is very little information online, only that it closes at 4 pm. We arrived at 3.01 pm. The gates were locked. They accepted our entrance as they saw we were foreigners - they seem to grant some kind of preference to foreigners to the detriment of Peruvians, which seems kind of crazy. It all seemed very improvised, and the place seems kind of abandoned. They dont provide change for cash payments. Do not waste your time.

Very unique experience with many types of media about the life of the author. The museum was personally created by himself. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. Do not miss when you are in Arequipa!