Our Quito Itinerary (4 Days)

Most Ecuadorians (and tourists) will tell you to not spend too much time in Quito; to get out and see the countryside. I agree, as Ecuador’s landscape is so beautiful – but at the same time, I’m also glad that we spent our 4 days in Quito. It gave us enough time to recover from the altitude change, and see some really cool attractions, like the historic centre and the famous cable car.

Quito is a busy city, but a pretty one too, especially when you get those panoramic views – it’s so mountainous. Even with the 4 days, I don’t feel like we saw everything I wanted to see in Quito, so I definitely recommend at least a few days there. It’s a beautiful city in many ways, with kind people. Here’s how we structured our 4 days, and I will include additional options that I didn’t get to so you can make modifications that you choose!

Day 1 in Quito: Exploring the Centro Histórico

We all woke up feeling unwell on our first morning in Qutio, due to the altitude. Quito is located at 9,300 feet above sea level, and we come from Toronto which only a few hundred feet, so it took most of us a day to adjust (longer for me, unfortunately – I felt it for a few days.) Plan to take it easy on your first day in Quito – get out and explore near where you’re staying, and push beyond that only if you feel up to it.

We stayed right in the Quito historic centre, so the beautiful old town was only steps away from our Airbnb. (We stayed at Casa Luna Loma and I do recommend it, it was a peaceful apartment tucked right behind the historic centre run by a family who has owned it for generations.) The historic centre of Quito is quite stunning. The colonial architecture and the brightly painted buildings will have you constantly reaching for your phone to take pictures!

The centre though does have a lot of traffic, and drivers tend to have the right of way (even at crosswalks) and drive aggressively, so you need to be careful when you’re walking around and keep any young kids close.

There are some squares, and pedestrian-only streets where you can stroll a bit more leisurely, and many gorgeous churches to explore. If you’re not staying right in Centro Historico, then take a taxi or Uber to near the Plaza Grande, which is a large square. From there, you can walk to many of the beautiful sights worth seeing in old town. Old town is quite large, but the places we visited were all within a 10-15 minute walk from eachother. Here are the places I had on my checklist to see in Quito’s Centro Historico, all of which ended up being so worth it:

• Calle La Ronda – beautiful little street with hole-in-the-wall restaurants. They have hanging umbrellas and decorations, and its very photogenic. You’ll want to take lots of photos and selfies here. For such a gorgeous place, we were surprised to have it mostly to ourselves!
• La Iglesia de San Francisco – just around the corner from Calle La Ronda, this church is free to enter, including when there are services. The square that its on is a nice place to hang out if you’re in Quito with kids, as there are so many pigeons. We even saw locals bringing their kids here. People drive pretty crazy on the roads surrounding the square, so be careful!

• Fundación Iglesia de la Compañía (pictured above)- this is a church that you need to pay to get into, but we were glad we went in. It costs $12 for anyone over 12, but the inside is truly gorgeous and stunning with everything gold-plated. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a church like it.
• Plaza Grande/Independence Square – this is a pretty little square. There are benches to sit on, and a fountain in the middle. Many people approached us here trying to sell things.
• El Panecillo is a large statue of the Virgen Mary, high on a hill in Quito. We actually saved this for day 2, because I wasn’t feeling well on day 1. It offers a climb to the top of the tower, so I do recommend saving it for another day if you aren’t feeling up to it on day 1. It’s about a 10 minute drive from old town; we had our driver Steven pick us up, bring us there, and wait while we explored it which takes about 30 minutes, unless you want to sit somewhere and relax
• Yaku Water Museum (just outside the Centro Histórico, but on a hill so you’d likely want a taxi or Uber.) Our driver Steven told us that he did not recommend this museum, because of the neighbourhood its located it. I would have still been willing to visit, but we ran out of time

Day 2 in Quito: La Carolina area

On the morning of day 2, we had our driver to take us to the top of the Panecillo, one of the Centro Historico attractions I mentioned above. The Virgen de Panecillo (“virgin at the top of a hill”) deserves a special mention, as it’s an outing on itself. It’s high on a hill in Quito, and has spectacular views. It also takes a bit of energy to climb the stairs to the best view, so I’m glad we did this the second day instead of the first day.

We were at the Panecillo for maybe 30 minutes, but we saw some people who were having picnics and spending a full day. If only we didn’t only have 4 days to see all the highlights of Quito!

From the Panecillo, we had our driver drop us off at El Mercado Iñaquito, which is in the La Carolina neighbourhood in the centre of Quito. My Spanish tutor, who lives in Quito recommended this fruit market to us. We’re glad we went there. We got jugos (juices) made with fresh, locally grown fruits. We ordered the guanabana flavour, as guanabana is a very common fruit grown in Ecuador that we can’t usually get at home. It’s name in English is soursop, but I’ve never encountered this fruit before. We also had lunch at the mercado, which was very cheap -only a few dollars per meal!

Knowing Spanish will be helpful, in the market and outside of it. If you don’t speak Spanish, I recommend knowing the numbers at least (1 through 10, and all the 10s through to 100) for visiting markets, stores and talking to drivers. This will help you to ask prices, and negotiate. Having said that, I didn’t experience people in Ecuador trying to rip us off – the prices were usually fair. Be sure to carry small American dollar bills or change on you, as people rarely have enough change for a larger denomination.

From the Mercardo Iñaquito, we walked over to Parque La Carolina which takes about 15 minutes. It’s a busy part of Quito, but the sidewalks are much wider. Parque La Carolina is a massive amount of green space. We found it relaxing to walk around here, because unlike the streets where you have to worry about cars and traffic, its much more relaxed here. My daughter started instantly doing car wheels.

We simply sat on the grass and took a break on the edge of the park. We could have walked around more, but the altitude was still affecting me at the end of day 2. If you have more time, then there’s a lot to see in Parque Carolina. There are gardens, sports fields, vendors, and ponds, a kid’s library and a cool airplane monument.

We took the metro back to the Centro Histórico, which was pretty crowded by that time (3-4pm) as it was rushour, but it was very clean and efficient. The metro in Quito is very easy to use. The closest metro is to the park is Estación La Carolina, and it only costs a few cents to use it. There was a machine where I believe you can pay electronically, but we didn’t know that and went up to the human ticket sellers which take cash online.

Day 3 in Quito: ‘Middle of the World’

Before visiting the Middle of the World attractions in Quito, our driver suggested that we stop at the crater of Pululahua first. It’s an extinct volcano just northwest of Quito. It’s best to visit it in the morning, as clouds often blow over by the afternoon, making it hard to enjoy the views. I’m so glad he recommended Pululahua too us; it was a beautiful place to get amazing views! Its unknown to most tourists and there were only a few other people (locals) when we arrived. They have souvenir stores and a cafe. It was quiet and peaceful here.

From here we drove the Museo Intiñan. I should clarify that there are TWO middle of the world attractions – Museum Itiñatan, and the Middle of the World town, which has the famous sign, and the monument.

Between the two, we liked the Museuo Intiñan a little bit more, but both were worthwhile. Museuo Intiñan is a 1-hour guided tour only, and they teach and show you a lot of really interesting things about indigenous culture and history in Ecuador, plus do some equator experiments with you. (The experiments by the way are not real, they are basically magic tricks – but they are fun and entertaining, and still educational, especially for kids as they teach interesting facts about what it means to live on the equator.)

We headed over to the Mitad del Mundo after the Museo Intiñan, which is very close by. Its basically a small town, that you pay to get into. There are many shops, souvenir stores, a kid’s playground, even a train, and of course – the famous monument that everyone wants their photo in front of. We got jugos, and played at the playground. We were only here for an hour (as we were already tired from the volcano and the museum) but it was worth it to come in here, even just for the hour.

The Volcano, plus the museum and the Mitad del Mundo park made for a very busy day. In addition, we went to a traditional restaurant for lunch. Our driver charged $9/hour to take us from place to place, and wait for us at the attractions. If it were just my husband and I on our own, we probably would have just wung it – but with a teen and a little kid, this was the easiest way to do today.

Day 4 in Quito: Teleférico and Dinner with a View

The Teleferico in Quito is one of the highest chair lifts in the world. We are glad we saved it for our last day in Quito, as it gave me enough time to recover from altitude. Even then, after being at the top of Pichincha Volcano (which is the peak where the Teleferico takes you) can make you feeling a bit unwell after a while. For me, I was able to be up there for about 3 hours before I desperately wanted to go back down.

If you plan to hike to the summit of Pichincha, then make sure you are adjusted to the altitude in Quito. However, there’s a lot of reasons to come up here, if not for the scenic gondola ride on its own.

To help with altitude sickness, our driver recommended that I buy something from the market called “caramela de coca,” so we did. At the top of the Teleferico, we noticed that the Cruz Loma Cafe sells “te de coca.” If you don’t know already (I didn’t) these candies and teas are made from the same plant that makes cocaine. Its perfectly legal and safe to have the tea and candies while in Ecuador as its very small amounts compared to what the narcotic contains, but bringing them back home is illegal in moust countries and can incur massive fines – so be sure not to overbuy and get rid of them before you leave the country!

Things to Do at the top of the Teleferico

• Swing at the end clouds/El columpio de las nubes – the swing at the top of the Teleferico is free of charge, and almost anyone can go on it. Even my 5-year-old swung on it. It’s a short, mostly uphill hike from where the cable car lets you off to get to it. Brining out a 5-year-old wasn’t an easy task, but, there were lamas about half way there, which made a nice stop ($1 per person to take photos with them)
• Cruz Loma Café – pastries, cakes, hot chocolate and coffee, all with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over Quito. The view is pretty, and the food was good. They had some traditional Ecuadorian options, such as bolones, empanadas and delicious maracuya cheesecake. It was pricier than usual, which is to be expected
• Sit down, relax – It’s just so beautiful from the top, from many different angles. You don’t need to plan to ‘do’ anything, there are some benches and places to sit and take it easy, enjoying the view
• Horseback riding – if you hike just beyond the swing, there was horseback riding offered. Only my husband and older daughter (13) made it this far, I stayed back with my 5 year old as she wasn’t willing to walk any further.

After we descended the Teleferico, we ordered an Uber to bring us back home, where we relaxed for a bit. Heading out there first thing in the morning may mean your afternoon is freed up. We headed out to a special place for dinner, called Cafe Mosaico. It has stunning city views. They charge for those views (exect to pay North American prices here) but the view is worth it. If you decide to reserve online, be sure to pick balcón abierto (open balcony) if you want the outside view.

I reserved the same day on a Friday and we got in – no one was answering the phone, so I sent them a message on instagram and they answered instantly! Having said that, I’m glad we reserve ahead because we could see that Cafe Mosaico is a very popular date night and special occasion spot for locals. We saw many nicely dressed local couples enjoying a beautiful evening with a view.

Dinner at Cafe Mosaico was a perfect way to end our time in Quito. They have a full vegan menu, and serve Ecuadorian beers. The next day, we drove out to Baños, which I liked a bit more than Quito- but we are still glad we took a few days to spend in Quito.

Important Tips for Visiting Quito

• Carry Tissues or wipes, for using the bathroom. Many public bathrooms charge money, but it costs extra if you want to use toilet paper. Some washrooms are free, but charge for toilet paper. So its handy to have some on hand!
• Carry only US dollars in small denominations. A $20 bill is very hard to spend in Quito, or in Ecuador in general. Save the big bills for expensive dinners out, and try to have lots of small change
• Know some Spanish! Ecuador isn’t like touristy areas like Costa Rica in that people will speak English to you if they assume you’re a tourist. Spanish is the spoken language here, and you’ll be addressed in Spanish. I speak Spanish, so I’m not sure what happens if you only speak English, but I assume you’d run into some bumps along the road. Even just knowing some basic phrases and hiring a driver who knows English helps. Our driver Steven was kind enough to speak Spanish to me the whole time, as he knew I wanted to practice- but he also knows English. Feel free to shoot me an email if you’d like his WhatsApp number, I’d be happy to send it along.
• Download the Uber app – it helps for ordering food to your accommodation (Uber Eats is very much in use) as well as getting rides. Knowing your Spanish numbers helps for confirming your rides with the drivers. We preferred using Uber, and our private driver over taxis in Ecuador, but that was just us!

I hope that you enjoy Quito as much as we did. If we return to Ecuador (which we want to, someday) we would spend time in Quito again and check out a few of the things we missed. A second visit to the Teleferico would be worth it, or a day trip to Otlavo as we just didn’t have enough time on this trip. Buen viaje!