Quito

Ecuador·South America

Currency

USD

Language

Spanish, Quechua

Timezone

Guayaquil

Continent

South America

Our guide

Discover Quito

Quito runs fifty kilometres long and two wide, wedged between volcanoes at two thousand eight hundred and fifty metres. Its historic centre was the first site inscribed on the World Heritage list, in 1978, and it has stayed whole. The Plaza de la Independencia gathers the Palacio de Carondelet, seat of government, the Catedral Metropolitana and the Palacio Arzobispal. The Iglesia de San Francisco, the oldest, opens onto its own square. The Basílica del Voto Nacional, neo-Gothic and unfinished, can be climbed to the bell towers. El Panecillo, the hill to the south, holds the whole city in one view.

When to go

The equator passes twenty-five kilometres away: there are no seasons, only a dry season from June to September and a wet one the rest of the year. Days are twenty degrees, nights ten, all year. Afternoon showers are brief. Altitude matters more than the month: the first days leave you short of breath, and climbing Cotopaxi or Rucu Pichincha is best kept for later in the trip.

Getting around

The trolleybus and the Ecovía run the north-south axis for a few cents, packed at rush hour. The metro, opened in 2023, serves fifteen stations along the same ridge. Taxis are required to use the meter; the apps are simpler. The historic centre is walkable but climbs and drops constantly, which at this altitude is not nothing. The TelefériQo climbs to four thousand metres in twenty minutes.

Where to eat

Locro de papa, potato soup with cheese and avocado, is the staple. Ecuadorian ceviche is served with its juice, milder than Peru's. Hornado, whole roast pork, appears at the weekend markets. Cuy, roast guinea pig, is eaten mainly in the Andes. Four halal addresses are listed.

Good to know

Ecuador dropped the sucre in 2000: you spend US dollars here, and notes above twenty are hard to break. Three sites and museums are free. The altitude needs two days of adjustment, and no alcohol the first evening. Care is needed in the historic centre after dark and in La Mariscal: take a taxi rather than walk.

Smart Planning