When to go to Quito?
→ The detailed month-by-month page, with real weather records
Best time: June to September
At a glance
Why go to Quito?
Quito was, along with Kraków, one of the first two cities to be made World Heritage Sites, in 1978. Its colonial centre covers 320 hectares and has been almost untouched by earthquakes and 20th-century demolition, making it the largest and best preserved in the Americas. You walk between façades of volcanic stone, arcaded courtyards and some forty churches, several of which took two centuries to build. La Compañía de Jesús alone took a hundred and sixty years.
Altitude shapes everything. The city stretches for some forty kilometres along a valley at 2,850 metres, wedged between the Pichincha volcano to the west and a plateau to the east. The result is an eternal spring, 20°C by day and 9°C at night, all year round, with no temperature seasons. It also demands acclimatisation: on the first day, everyone is surprised by how breathless the steep streets leave them. The cable car climbs to 3,945 metres in twenty minutes, which is very fast for the body.
Finally, Quito is the base for everything that matters in Ecuador. Otavalo and its indigenous market are two hours to the north, Cotopaxi and its 5,897 metres two hours to the south, the hot springs of Papallacta an hour and a half east on the road to the Amazon, and flights to the Galápagos leave from here. A country half the size of France puts the Andes, the rainforest and the Pacific within a few hours of one another.
Map of Quito: what is where?
The map shows the 6 places covered in this guide, to picture the distances and plan your route.
- La Compañía de Jesús
- San Francisco Monastery
- Basilica del Voto Nacional
- Panecillo
- TelefériQo
- Mitad del Mundo
How much does a trip to Quito cost?
Quito is one of the cheapest capitals in South America, with full meals for 4 dollars in the markets and museum entry under 5 dollars. The country has used the US dollar since 2000, which makes prices instantly easy to read.
| Style | Per day | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Backpacker | €30-45/day | Hostel in the centre, 4-dollar almuerzos at the market, city buses, churches and museums at 3 dollars |
| Comfort | €70-120/day | Boutique hotel in a colonial house, restaurants in La Floresta, taxis, cable car and a trip to Otavalo |
| Premium | €250+/day | Mansion on Plaza San Francisco, private guide, car with driver and a day at Cotopaxi |
Ecuador has used the US dollar since dollarisation in 2000, with local coins circulating alongside American ones. 50 and 100-dollar notes are refused almost everywhere: arrive with small denominations and keep 1, 5 and 10-dollar notes. ATMs are plentiful but often limit withdrawals to 200 or 300 dollars, with fees of 3 to 5 dollars.
Is Quito safe?
Quito calls for real vigilance without being dangerous for those who take the usual precautions. Bag snatchers and pickpockets operate in the historic centre by day, on the crowded Trole buses and around La Mariscal in the evening: keep your phone out of sight, your bag in front and nothing on show. After dark, get around by taxi booked through an app rather than on foot, even for three hundred metres, and avoid walking up the Panecillo at any hour. The country's security situation has deteriorated since 2023, especially on the coast in Guayaquil and Esmeraldas: Quito remains considerably calmer, but check your government's travel advice before you leave. As for health, the altitude of 2,850 metres causes headaches and breathlessness for the first two days: walk slowly, drink plenty and avoid alcohol on the first evening. The equatorial sun burns quickly despite the cool air, so sun protection is not optional.
What to see and do in Quito
- La Compañía de Jesús church
- San Francisco Monastery
- Basilica del Voto Nacional
- Plaza de la Independencia
- The Panecillo and the Virgin of Quito
- TelefériQo and Rucu Pichincha
- Mitad del Mundo monument
- La Ronda district
La Compañía de Jesús church 2 833 m
A hundred and sixty years of building, from 1605 to 1765, for a façade of volcanic stone carved into twisted columns and an interior covered entirely in gold leaf. The Jesuits imported the model of the Gesù in Rome, then Quito's craftsmen slipped in Inca suns, local plants and mestizo faces. A fire destroyed the dome in 1996 and the restoration took nine years. Photography is banned inside, which forces you to look rather than frame.
San Francisco Monastery 2 844 m
Begun in 1535, a few weeks after the Spanish founded the city, it is the largest colonial complex in the Americas: 3.5 hectares of cloisters, chapels and workshops. Its horseshoe-shaped front staircase follows a design by Bramante. The altarpiece holds the winged Virgin carved by Bernardo de Legarda in 1734, which served as the model for the giant statue on the Panecillo. The museum keeps canvases from the Quito School, the hybrid colonial art that spread across the whole continent.
Basilica del Voto Nacional 2 888 m
A neo-Gothic vessel begun in 1892 and never finished, with two towers 115 metres high. Its gargoyles swap European chimeras for the country's wildlife: marine iguanas, Galápagos tortoises, condors, howler monkeys, armadillos. Local tradition holds that the day the building is completed, the world will end. The climb to the towers crosses a wooden walkway above the nave and then two exposed metal ladders, making it one of the city's most physical viewpoints.
The Panecillo and the Virgin of Quito 2 971 m
The hill that closes off the centre to the south, at 3,016 metres, crowned since 1975 by a 41-metre winged Virgin in aluminium, assembled from 7,400 numbered pieces. It reproduces Legarda's 1734 sculpture: crowned with stars, winged, one foot on a serpent. An internal staircase leads to a platform from which the colonial centre can be taken in at a single glance. Go up by taxi, never on foot through the southern districts, which have a reputation for being unsafe.
TelefériQo and Rucu Pichincha 3 195 m
Opened in 2005, the cable car climbs from the city's western flank, at 2,950 metres, to 3,945 metres in about twenty minutes. At the top, Quito stretches for forty kilometres along its valley, and on a clear day you can pick out Cotopaxi and Antisana. A two-and-a-half-hour trail leads to the summit of Rucu Pichincha, at 4,696 metres, along a ridge of volcanic sand. Neighbouring Guagua Pichincha covered the city in ash in 1999.
Mitad del Mundo and the Intiñan museum
26 km to the north, a 30-metre obelisk marks the equator as the French Geodesic Mission established it between 1736 and 1744, under the leadership of Charles Marie de La Condamine. Satellite measurements have since shown that latitude zero actually runs 240 metres further north. The Intiñan museum, set on the real line, offers the classic experiments of balancing an egg and watching water swirl, best taken with a smile.
How many days, and which itinerary?
Two full days cover the colonial centre and the cable car. Three or four let you add the Mitad del Mundo, a day at Otavalo market and another in Cotopaxi National Park, both two hours' drive away.
🗺️ Day-by-day itinerary · 📓 Free printable Quito guide (PDF) · 🌍 All of Ecuador
Andean stopover (2 days)
Day 1, walking slowly because of the altitude: Plaza de la Independencia, La Compañía de Jesús, San Francisco Monastery, locro de papa for lunch, the Basilica del Voto Nacional and its towers in late afternoon, canelazo in La Ronda in the evening. Day 2: the cable car before 10am for the view over the valley, back into town for the museum at the Centro Cultural Metropolitano, then the Panecillo by taxi at sunset.
Quito and around (4 days)
The two-day core, plus a day at Otavalo market, two hours to the north, the largest indigenous market in the Andes, with a detour to the Cuicocha lagoon in a crater at 3,000 metres. Day four in Cotopaxi National Park, two hours to the south, for the Limpiopungo lagoon at 3,800 metres and the climb to the José Rivas refuge, at 4,864 metres, on the volcano's flank.
Mainland Ecuador (2 weeks)
Three days in Quito to start, then the Avenue of the Volcanoes towards Cotopaxi, Baños and its waterfalls, Riobamba and Chimborazo, which rises to 6,263 metres, and Cuenca with its World Heritage colonial centre. Add three nights in the Amazon from Coca or Tena, in a lodge on the Napo, and a trip down to the coast at Puerto López for humpback whales between June and September. Return to Quito on a domestic flight to save a day.
Getting there and getting around
Mariscal Sucre airport is at Tababela, 40 km east of the centre, 45 minutes to 1 hour 15 depending on traffic. The official taxi costs 25 to 30 dollars, and the Aeroservicios bus to Parque Bicentenario around 8 dollars, with a departure every 30 minutes.
The city has three bus rapid transit lines, Trole, Ecovía and Metrobús, and a metro opened in 2023 that links Quitumbe in the south to El Labrador in the north in 34 minutes. A ticket costs 0.45 dollars, less than half a euro. Trains are packed at rush hour.
Yellow taxis are plentiful and must use the meter, with a starting fare of around 1.50 dollars. Ride-hailing apps work well and avoid haggling. In the evening, always take a booked car rather than a taxi hailed in the street.
For day trips, long-distance buses leave from the Quitumbe terminal in the south and Carcelén in the north. Otavalo costs 3 dollars for a two-hour ride, Baños 5 dollars for three and a half hours. Companies leave every half hour with no booking needed.
Where to stay in Quito?
Hostels and guesthouses in the historic centre: €20-45 a night, often in colonial houses with a patio, where heating is rarely provided even though nights drop to 9°C. Check that extra blankets are available before booking.
Mid-range hotels in La Floresta and La Mariscal: €50-90, more modern districts with cafés and restaurants within walking distance and easier access to the cable car and the airport. The historic centre is ten minutes away by taxi.
Boutique hotels in 17th-century mansions in the centre: €110-180, covered patios, fireplaces and views over the domes. This is the option that gives the stay the most meaning, and the only one that lets you go out on foot in the centre in the evening.
Top end: a few restored mansions on Plaza San Francisco and in the San Marcos district, between €250 and €450, as well as international towers in the north. Book three months ahead for July, August and the Fiestas de Quito in early December.
Our places to stay, stop by stop, at three budgets →
What to eat in Quito?
Locro de papa, a thick potato soup with fresh cheese and avocado, is served in every canteen in the centre for 3 to 6 dollars. Ecuador has some four hundred varieties of potato, and you can taste the difference from one place to the next.
Fritada and hornado, pork simmered then fried or roasted whole in a wood oven, come with mote, boiled white corn, llapingachos, cheesy potato patties, and a sauce of red onion and lime. Allow 5 to 9 dollars a plate at the market.
Cuy, whole grilled guinea pig, remains an Andean festive dish rather than an everyday one. It is found mainly at weekends and on the road to Otavalo, around 15 to 20 dollars each, for sharing. It tastes rather like rabbit, and there isn't much meat on it.
Canelazo, hot cane spirit with cinnamon and naranjilla juice, is drunk standing up in the cafés of La Ronda as soon as night falls and the temperature drops. Ecuadorian chocolate, made from cacao nacional, is sold in single-origin bars from 4 dollars.
Entry requirements
Visa-free for 90 days in any 12 months for EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports, which must be valid six months from arrival. For the Galápagos you also need a transit control card bought before check-in, health insurance, and cash for the national park fee on landing.
Rules change: check your own government's travel advice before you go.
Frequently asked questions about Quito
Is Quito's altitude a problem?
At 2,850 metres, most visitors feel breathless, have mild headaches and sleep badly for two days. Walk slowly, drink plenty of water, avoid alcohol on the first evening and plan a light programme on arrival. Serious acute mountain sickness is rare at this altitude. Only climb Rucu Pichincha, at 4,696 metres, after three days in the city.
When is the best time to visit?
From June to September, the dry season in the Andes: clearer skies, visible volcanoes and passable trails. The rest of the year, rain falls mostly in late afternoon, without stopping you from sightseeing. Temperatures barely change, 20°C by day and 9°C at night all year round. December is enlivened by the Fiestas de Quito, from the 1st to the 6th.
Is Quito a safe city?
It calls for vigilance without being a city to avoid. Pickpocketing is common in the historic centre, on buses and in La Mariscal in the evening. The simple rule: nothing on show, a taxi booked through an app after dark, and no walking in the southern districts or on the slopes of the Panecillo. The country's security has deteriorated since 2023, especially on the coast.
How many days do you need in Quito?
Two full days for the colonial centre and the cable car, which also gives you time to acclimatise to the altitude before heading higher. Two more days open up Otavalo market, the Cuicocha lagoon and Cotopaxi National Park. Many travellers use Quito only as a stopover on the way to the Galápagos, and miss out.
How do you get to the Mitad del Mundo?
By bus from Ofelia station, in the north, for around 0.50 dollars and an hour's ride, or by taxi for 25 to 30 dollars return including waiting time. The monument park costs 5 dollars, and the neighbouring Intiñan museum, located on the real equator line as measured by GPS, also around 5 dollars. Allow half a day for both.
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