Ecuador: Quito – Colonial Centre
🌙 The Night That Sleep Forgot
We had arrived in Quito absolutely shattered — the kind of bone-deep exhaustion that only long-haul travel with children can produce. You’d think that would have been more than enough to guarantee a solid night’s kip. You’d be wrong.
Being Europeans, we were perfectly comfortable with the idea of a hotel without air conditioning. We’re not Americans. We know how windows work. The night air up at Quito’s altitude — the city sits at around 2,850 metres above sea level, which makes it one of the highest capitals in the world — was cool enough to be genuinely pleasant. Problem solved, we thought. We opened the window and settled in.
What we hadn’t fully appreciated was that our hotel, the Nu House, sits right on the edge of a square that apparently serves as the social epicentre for every young and enthusiastic resident of the city. Quito’s old town has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978 — the very first city to receive that designation, in fact — and the surrounding streets buzz with bars, restaurants and the sort of cheerful nocturnal chaos that locals take entirely for granted. By midnight it was still going strong. By 2am, still going. By 3.30am, finally, mercifully, quiet. Our children, bless them, slept through the entire performance without so much as stirring. We did not.
🏛️ Colonial Quito
Tiredness, we decided, was no excuse for wimping out. Our tour guides were collecting us at 8:00am, which left just enough time for a somewhat frenetic breakfast before we assembled, bleary-eyed and slightly resentful, in the hotel reception.
The plan for the day was a proper full one: a walk through Quito’s historic colonial centre — a neighbourhood that, remarkably, has survived earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and centuries of general wear and tear in better shape than most of its Latin American equivalents — followed by a visit to the high point overlooking the city, and then the main event: a trip to the Equator itself. After that, we’d be left to our own devices, which honestly sounded like the most appealing part.
Our first stop was La Basílica del Voto Nacional — the largest neo-Gothic basilica in the Americas, no less. Now, neo-Gothic architecture tends to divide opinion. Some people find it breathtaking. Others find it a bit like a Victorian railway station that got ideas above its station. I am firmly in the breathtaking camp, and the Basílica is genuinely extraordinary.
Construction began in 1892, which sounds ancient until you realise that European Gothic cathedrals were being built six or seven hundred years earlier. Salisbury Cathedral was started in 1220, just to put things in perspective. The Basílica took nearly a century to reach anything approaching completion, and it was finally blessed by Pope John Paul II on 30th January 1985 — a visit that formed part of the pontiff’s broader Latin American tour and that Ecuadorians still talk about with considerable pride.
The building is enormous, its twin towers visible from much of the city, and it is stuffed with the sort of gothic detailing — gargoyles, flying buttresses, ornate stonework — that architects of that era absolutely could not get enough of. But the single most remarkable thing about the interior on the morning we visited was entirely beyond anyone’s control: sunlight. The great stained glass windows — depicting scenes from Ecuadorian history and Catholic iconography — were catching the morning sun at exactly the right angle, throwing pools of jewel-coloured light across the marble floors, the stone pillars and the whitewashed walls. Blues, reds, greens and golds shifting slowly as the light moved. It was, and I say this as someone who has dragged himself around rather more churches than he ever planned to, genuinely stunning.
🏛️ The Plaza de la Independencia
From the Basílica we took a short drive down into the absolute heart of things — the Plaza de la Independencia, which sits at the centre of Quito’s historic quarter like the yolk in a rather grand egg.
The square is properly impressive, and not just because of its size. What makes it genuinely interesting is what faces onto it: five buildings, each one representing a different seat of power, all lined up around the plaza like participants in a rather formal meeting that has been going on for several centuries. You’ve got the Palacio de Gobierno — the presidential palace, a long, low, colonnaded building that has been the seat of Ecuadorian executive power since the country declared independence from Spain in 1809 — sitting on the north side. Then there’s the Cathedral, which was begun in 1562 and took a rather leisurely couple of centuries to finish, facing the square with the quiet authority that cathedrals tend to specialise in. Alongside these are the Municipalidad — the city hall — the Palacio Arzobispal, which is the Archbishop’s palace and looks every bit as pleased with itself as you’d expect, and the Casa del Alcalde, the Mayor’s residence. Governmental, ecclesiastical and civic power all in one square. Neat, really, when you think about it, though it does make you wonder what all those people got up to when they bumped into each other on the way to lunch.
The plaza itself has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978 — part of the same designation that covers the entire historic centre — and on a bright Andean morning it looked exactly as a colonial South American square ought to look, all pigeons and shoe-shiners and tourists standing about squinting at things.
⛪ La Iglesia de la Merced
A short walk from the plaza brought us to La Iglesia de la Merced, and this one caught us slightly off guard. Unlike the Gothic soaring of the Basílica or the stern colonial authority of the Cathedral, La Merced has a distinctly Moorish quality to it — all elaborate surface decoration and intricate geometric patterning that owes far more to southern Spain than to anything you’d expect to find in the middle of South America.
Which, when you think about it, makes perfect sense. The Spanish conquistadors who arrived in Ecuador in the 1530s brought their entire cultural vocabulary with them, and that vocabulary had been shaped for centuries by the Moorish architecture of Andalusia. The church was originally constructed in the late seventeenth century, though it has been rebuilt and restored multiple times since, partly because Quito sits in one of the more seismically enthusiastic parts of the planet.
Inside, it was absolutely extraordinary. The altars were smothered in gold leaf — the sort of gilded extravagance that leaves you simultaneously dazzled and slightly uncomfortable about the economics of it all — and around the walls hung a wonderful collection of oil paintings and carved religious figures, many of them from the Escuela Quiteña, the Quito School of art that flourished between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries and produced some of the finest religious art in the Americas. You won’t have heard of it. I hadn’t either. We really should have.
✝️ La Iglesia de San Francisco
Our final stop in the colonial old town was another church — because of course it was — but this one came with a genuinely remarkable backstory.
La Iglesia de San Francisco stands on the Plaza San Francisco, just around the corner from the Plaza de la Independencia, and it holds a distinction that puts everything else we’d seen that morning into historical context: it was the first church ever built in Quito. Construction began in 1535 — just two years after the Spanish conquistador Sebastián de Belalcázar founded the city on the ruins of an Incan settlement that the Incan general Rumiñahui had burned to the ground rather than let it fall into Spanish hands. One of history’s less subtle acts of defiance, though it didn’t ultimately help much.
The church and its vast adjoining monastery complex — it is, in fact, the largest colonial structure in all of Ecuador — were built on top of what had previously been an Incan temple and ceremonial site. This was not accidental. It was deliberate colonial policy, as blunt as it was effective: you tear down the spiritual heart of the culture you’re suppressing and you build your own on top of it. The message could not have been clearer if they’d put up a sign. The Spanish did this across the entire continent — Cuzco’s cathedral in Peru is built on precisely the same principle — and it worked, in the grim, efficient way that cultural erasure usually does.
Standing in the plaza looking up at the enormous whitewashed facade, it was hard not to feel the weight of all of that. Though the church itself, it has to be said, is absolutely beautiful. History is rarely straightforward.
🗻 El Panecillo
From the Basílica, our guides whisked us a short distance southwest to El Panecillo — which translates, rather charmingly, as “the little bread roll,” a name that makes considerably more sense when you see the hill’s rounded shape from below. It is one of those geographical features that cities grow around rather than over, and Quito has done exactly that, leaving this volcanic mound sitting in the middle of the urban sprawl like a slightly incongruous landmark.
Perched at the summit, at roughly 3,000 metres above sea level, is the reason most visitors make the climb: La Virgen de Quito, a 45-metre aluminium statue of the winged Virgin Mary, arms outstretched, standing on a globe and a chained dragon. The original figure she is modelled on is an 18th-century wooden sculpture by Ecuadorian artist Bernardo de Legarda, completed around 1734 and remarkable for depicting the Virgin with wings — an unusual choice that became distinctly Quiteno over the centuries. The modern statue, constructed in 1976, is visible from much of the city.
The drive up was sobering. The road passes through some of Quito’s most disadvantaged neighbourhoods — a sharp reminder that Ecuador remains a developing country where extreme wealth and grinding poverty exist in uncomfortably close proximity. Nobody said much. You don’t, really.
Emily noticed something the rest of us had half-registered but not processed: the sheer number of street dogs. They were everywhere — lounging in doorways, trotting along pavements, gathered at corners as though discussing something important. Quito is estimated to have tens of thousands of strays. Emily found this deeply distressing.
From the top, the view was spectacular. Quito stretches roughly 60 kilometres along a narrow Andean valley, home to some 1.2 million people, and from El Panecillo you can see the whole extraordinary spread of it, the green Andes peaks rising dramatically beyond.
🌍 Inti Ñan Solar Museum
With colonial Quito thoroughly explored, we climbed back into the minibus and headed north — about 45 minutes up through the city towards the Mitad del Mundo, the Middle of the World. Quito’s streets are not what you’d call relaxing to drive through.
Pollution is a genuine problem here, as it is in most large developing cities, and the vehicle emission controls appeared to range somewhere between minimal and entirely fictional. The city buses were the worst offenders, belching out the sort of black diesel clouds that would get you immediately pulled over anywhere in Europe. The road rules around passenger numbers also seemed to be treated more as gentle suggestions than actual laws. We watched one car sail past containing approximately eight children, two of whom were sitting on the driver’s lap. She seemed perfectly relaxed about it. The rest of us were not.
Eventually we reached the Inti Ñan Solar Museum, a small but genuinely fascinating place dedicated to Ecuadorian culture and the geography of the equator itself. There is a certain irony to the museum’s existence: the original monument marking the equatorial line was erected nearby in 1982 after a French geodesic expedition in the 1740s identified the location — only for modern GPS technology to come along and politely point out that everyone had been standing in slightly the wrong spot. The actual equatorial line runs through the museum grounds. The grand monument down the road is, essentially, a very impressive monument to being almost right.
We wandered through recreations of traditional Ecuadorian homes before arriving at the main attraction — the line itself. Our son Jack wasted no time in leaping enthusiastically back and forth between the Northern and Southern hemispheres, which is precisely the sort of thing that makes the whole trip worthwhile.
Our guide then walked us through a series of experiments that apparently only work on the equator. She produced a metal sink, poured in a bucket of water, and on the equatorial line the water ran straight down without spinning in either direction. Step a metre north, repeat the experiment — clockwise. Step a metre south — anticlockwise. The Coriolis effect in action, neatly demonstrated with a bucket of water and a sink. We also balanced eggs on the heads of nails, which sounds impossible and yet somehow isn’t, at least not here.
The tour ended with a look at Ecuadorian cultural history, including some genuinely gruesome artefacts from the Amazonian peoples — real shrunken heads, accompanied by an explanatory poster walking through the entire process from decapitation onwards. Not something you’d see in your average provincial museum back home. We were also invited to have a go with a blowpipe and shoot darts at a cactus, which I can confirm is considerably harder than it looks.
All too soon it was time to head back to Quito, but not before we’d sorted out somewhere decent to celebrate Karen’s birthday. Our guides pointed us towards a restaurant a few blocks from the hotel, and it turned out to be a proper find — warmly decorated, full of atmosphere, and made considerably livelier by a wedding party going full tilt in the next room.
We ordered traditional Ecuadorian food, which was excellent, while an elderly gentleman in the corner worked his way through the evening’s repertoire on an electric organ. Bless him. At the appropriate moment he segued gamely into Happy Birthday, the waiting staff appeared bearing a rather magnificent chocolate cake, and Karen was presented with a ceremonial hat that bore a striking resemblance to the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter. She wore it with considerably more dignity than the occasion probably deserved.
After the morning’s exertions we were more than ready to hand ourselves back to the hotel for a bit. Once we’d recovered sufficiently — which didn’t take long, it turns out, when the alternative is lying on a bed staring at the ceiling — we wandered out to a nearby artisan market. These places are absolutely everywhere in Quito’s old town, tucked into courtyards and lining the pavements with the sort of cheerful persistence that makes it very difficult to walk past without buying something entirely unnecessary. We managed to pick up a few more souvenirs to add to the ever-growing collection that was slowly taking over our luggage.
Planning Your Trip
✈️ Getting There
Quito is served by Mariscal Sucre International Airport (airport code: UIO), located in the parish of Tababela, approximately 35 kilometres east of the city centre. It is the busiest airport in Ecuador and is rated as a five-star airport facility. The airport sits at an elevation of around 2,400 metres, so even the descent can feel slightly breathless if you are arriving from sea level.
Direct and connecting flights are available from major hubs across the Americas and Europe. Airlines serving the airport include American Airlines, Delta, United, Air Europa, Aeromexico, JetBlue, and several Latin American carriers. Most long-haul visitors will connect through Miami, New York, Amsterdam, or Madrid.
From the airport to the city:
The journey into the city centre takes approximately 40 to 60 minutes by taxi or private transfer, depending on traffic. Several options are available:
Taxi — Official authorised taxis operate 24 hours from the arrivals hall. The fare to the city centre is typically between USD 25 and USD 35. Always confirm the price before boarding and ensure the driver has change, as large bills can be problematic. Licensed taxis display their registration number and are fitted with onboard cameras.
Private transfer or ride-hailing — Uber and Cabify both operate in Quito and can be booked from the airport. These are widely considered among the safest options as fares are fixed in advance via the app, removing any risk of overcharging.
Shared shuttle (Aeroservicios) — Private shared buses offer a comfortable, more affordable alternative to a private taxi, with Wi-Fi on board and door-to-door service. Prices typically range from USD 8 to USD 18 per person depending on the destination within the city. Look for counters in the arrivals terminal.
Public bus — Budget-minded travellers can use scheduled public buses from the airport. SOTRANOR buses run to the Río Coca Terminal in the north of the city, and COSIBO buses connect to the Quitumbe Terminal in the south. The fare is around USD 2 and services run from approximately 06:00 to 20:30. Note that the journey involves at least one transfer, can take well over an hour, and is not recommended late at night or for those with heavy luggage.
🚌 Getting Around the City
Despite its challenging geography, Quito has a reasonably well-connected public transport network. The city is long and narrow, and most major routes run north to south.
Metro (Metro de Quito) — Quito’s first metro line opened in 2023 and runs entirely underground for 23 kilometres, connecting the southern Quitumbe terminal with El Labrador in the north. It serves 15 stations and intersects with other bus lines at key points. The fare is around USD 0.45. Visitors can purchase a rechargeable Tarjeta Ciudad card from stations. The metro is clean, efficient, and a significant step forward for city travel.
Trolleybus (Trolebús) — This electric bus system runs on a dedicated north-south corridor through the central city and is fast, reliable, and very affordable at around USD 0.35 per ride. It is widely used by locals and connects to several areas of interest for visitors.
Ecovía — Another rapid bus service running along a parallel north-south route through the eastern part of the city, also around USD 0.35 per ride. Both the Trolebús and Ecovía integrate with the metro network.
Uber and Cabify — These app-based ride-hailing services are generally considered the safest and most convenient option for getting around, especially at night or when travelling to unfamiliar areas. Fares are transparent and drivers are tracked.
Standard taxis — Yellow taxis are plentiful throughout the city. Always agree on the fare before setting off and, where possible, use the meter. Passengers are legally required to wear seatbelts.
Walking — The historic Old Town is compact and very walkable during the day. However, walking alone at night, even in tourist areas, is strongly discouraged. The neighbourhood of La Mariscal, popular with visitors, has a notable rate of pickpocketing and opportunistic theft after dark.
Driving — Hiring a car is not recommended for city driving. Traffic is chaotic, roads in the historic centre are narrow and confusing, and parking is limited. If you plan to explore the surrounding countryside or day-trip destinations independently, a hired vehicle is more practical, but city driving is best avoided.
The Best Time to Visit Quito
🌦️ December to February — Coastal Warmth & Galápagos Wildlife
This is the warmest and most humid period along the Pacific coast, where temperatures climb and the sea becomes ideal for snorkelling and scuba diving, particularly in the Galápagos, where underwater visibility peaks between December and February. Surfers benefit from strong west swells arriving from winter storms to the north, making the coast around Montañita excellent for wave riding.
In the Galápagos, this season marks the beginning of the breeding and nesting period for giant tortoises, sea lions, and numerous bird species, making wildlife encounters particularly rich. Warm water temperatures make swimming inviting, though some marine life that thrives in the cooler, nutrient-rich waters of the dry season is less visible.
The Andean highlands experience cooler, sometimes chilly temperatures during December and January, though a short dry spell in late December and early January provides a brief reprieve from cloud cover. Quito becomes busy over the Christmas and New Year period, with festivals and higher hotel prices. By February, highland rainfall increases noticeably.
The Amazon basin is entering its drier phase during December and January, making river travel relatively straightforward and wildlife easier to spot near the riverbanks.
What to pack: Lightweight, breathable clothing for the coast and islands; a thin waterproof jacket for afternoon showers; high-factor sun cream (SPF 50+); a rash vest and swim shoes for snorkelling; a fleece or light down layer for highland evenings; insect repellent containing DEET for the Amazon.
🌧️ March to May — Lush Rainforests & Quiet Shoulders
March and April are the wettest months across most of Ecuador, particularly in the highlands and along the coast, where rainfall can be persistent and heavy throughout the day. Visitor numbers drop considerably, which means shorter queues, lower prices, and a quieter experience at popular sites such as the Quilotoa crater lake and the markets of Otavalo.
The cloud forests around Mindo burst into life during this period, with orchids blooming and birdwatching at its finest. Tanagers, toucans, and hummingbirds are particularly active, and birding enthusiasts rate this one of the best periods in the entire region. The lush greenery following sustained rainfall makes the landscape intensely photogenic.
The Amazon remains wet through to April, and river levels rise considerably, opening up channels and flooded forests that are inaccessible during drier months. Guided canoe trips into the várzea (seasonally flooded forest) are a unique highlight.
May brings a marked easing of rainfall and is widely considered a hidden gem for travel: prices remain relatively low, crowds are thin, and the landscapes remain vividly green. The coast begins to cool slightly, and the Galápagos transitions toward its dry season.
What to pack: A good-quality waterproof jacket and trousers; quick-dry trousers and tops; waterproof boots or trail sandals; a dry bag for cameras and electronics; plenty of DEET-based insect repellent; a lightweight umbrella; sun cream for breaks in the cloud.
☀️ June to September — The Dry Season Peak
This is the most popular season for visiting Ecuador and for good reason. The dry season brings clear skies, minimal rainfall, and comfortable temperatures across the highlands, making it the prime window for trekking, volcano climbing, and exploring the Andean towns. Routes up Cotopaxi, Chimborazo, and through the Quilotoa Loop are at their most accessible, and sightlines from highland viewpoints can stretch for dozens of kilometres on clear mornings.
The Galápagos takes on a different character during these months. Ocean temperatures cool as the Humboldt Current strengthens, bringing cold, nutrient-rich waters that attract large numbers of marine iguanas, penguins, sea lions, and whale sharks. Snorkelling and diving in the Galápagos from June to September is exceptional for underwater wildlife encounters, though the cooler water (often around 18–22°C) means a wetsuit is advisable.
The Amazon experiences its most accessible dry season from August to October, when rivers recede and wildlife concentrates around remaining water sources, making animal spotting significantly easier. July and August are the busiest and most expensive months nationwide. Book accommodation and Galápagos cruises well in advance.
What to pack: Layers are essential — mornings and evenings in the highlands can be cold even in the dry season; a warm fleece and a windproof outer layer; sturdy hiking boots with ankle support; trekking poles for volcano trails; a wetsuit or plan to hire one in the Galápagos; UV-protective sun cream and sunglasses (UV exposure at altitude is intense).
🍂 October to November — Shoulder Season Calm
The shoulder season of October and November offers an appealing middle ground. The heavy rains of the wet season have not yet fully arrived, visitor numbers decline from their July–August peak, and prices ease across most of the country. The highlands are still largely accessible, and the scenery retains much of the dry season clarity with an increasing freshness in the air.
The Galápagos remains in its cooler dry season phase through October, so wildlife watching remains excellent and prices for cruises may begin to soften compared to the July–September high. The Amazon transitions back towards wetter conditions but remains navigable and rewarding.
For travellers seeking authenticity and cultural immersion, November is particularly interesting: Día de los Difuntos (Day of the Dead) is celebrated across Ecuador with particular intensity in indigenous communities around Riobamba and Otavalo, where families gather at cemeteries with food, flowers, and music in a moving and colourful tradition.
What to pack: A versatile mid-layer fleece and a waterproof jacket; smart-casual clothing for cultural events; comfortable walking shoes suitable for uneven terrain; a small daypack; sun cream; a Spanish phrasebook or translation app for cultural excursions into smaller communities.
📊 Season Summary Table
🌍 Overall Best Time to Visit Ecuador
For most visitors, June to September represents the overall optimum window. The dry season delivers reliable sunshine, excellent trekking conditions in the Andes, superb diving in the Galápagos with its cool, wildlife-rich waters, and navigable Amazon river routes — all at the same time. If avoiding crowds and keeping costs down is a priority, May and October to November offer the most rewarding compromise: decent weather, thin crowds, and lower prices. For wildlife enthusiasts focused on the Galápagos and the cloud forest, December to February offers its own unique rewards. Ultimately, Ecuador is one of the few destinations on earth where no month is truly off the table.
Where to stay?
1. Hotel Casa Gangotena
Nestled in the heart of Quito’s UNESCO-listed Old Town, Hotel Casa Gangotena is one of South America’s most captivating boutique hotels. Housed in a meticulously restored 1920s mansion on the elegant Plaza San Francisco, the property blends Art Nouveau and Republican architectural grandeur with contemporary luxury. Each of its 31 rooms is uniquely decorated, offering sweeping views of colonial rooftops, Andean peaks, or the cobblestoned plaza below. The hotel’s rooftop terrace is a revelation — a perfect perch from which to soak in Quito’s dramatic skyline at 2,850 meters above sea level. With attentive service, exquisite Ecuadorian cuisine, and an atmosphere that feels more like a private residence than a hotel, Casa Gangotena is simply unmissable for any discerning traveller.
2. Hotel Vieja Cuba
Tucked into Quito’s lively La Mariscal neighbourhood, Hotel Vieja Cuba is a boutique gem that charms from the moment you arrive. Set in a modernist colonial mansion, it sits in one of the city’s finest commercial areas, yet feels like a world apart. The rooms blend an elegant atmosphere with rustic décor, and guests are treated to a complimentary full breakfast each morning to fuel their explorations. The à la carte Orisha restaurant serves a wide assortment of Mediterranean dishes, while the lounge bar is a relaxed spot to wind down with cocktails and spirits. Guests consistently praise the clean, comfortable rooms with unique, cosy décor, and the breakfast earns glowing reviews for being generous and full of diverse options. The hotel is conveniently close to Foch Square and just steps from Centro Comercial Multicentro, making it an ideal base for both sightseeing and city life.
3. Hostal Juana de Arco
Sitting proudly in the heart of Quito’s UNESCO-listed Centro Histórico, Hostal Juana de Arco is a charming budget-friendly gem that puts you right in the thick of the city’s colonial splendor. Located in the historic center, the hostal features a shared kitchen, free WiFi, and a garden — a welcome retreat after a day of sightseeing. The property’s 26 rooms come with warm hardwood flooring and a work desk, with select rooms offering lovely views over the city. The location is hard to beat: Santo Domingo Church is just steps away, Sucre House Museum is a five-minute stroll, and the iconic Panecillo Mountain sits only 1.8 km from the door. Bolivar Theatre is a mere 300 metres away, and the hostal has earned a solid “Good” rating from nearly 2,400 verified guest reviews. Whether you’re a backpacker or a curious traveler eager to immerse yourself in Quito’s rich history, Hostal Juana de Arco delivers comfort, convenience, and authentic Andean atmosphere at an unbeatable price.
