Quito, Ecuador 7 Day Itinerary
Quito sits at 2,850 metres above sea level, making it the second-highest capital city in the world. Your first afternoon here will feel noticeably harder than your first afternoon anywhere else, and the itinerary below is built around that fact rather than ignoring it.
Day 1: Arrival and Acclimatisation
Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO) is 45-60 minutes from the historic centre, depending on traffic. A licensed airport taxi (Cooperativa Aeropuerto Mariscal Sucre No. 34) charges a flat rate of around USD 25 to the city. Uber is available from the airport and typically costs USD 20-30. Private pre-booked transfers start at USD 25-35. Avoid the unlicensed operators who approach you inside arrivals.
Where to Stay: Hotel Patio Andaluz in the Historic Centre is the best old-town base, a converted colonial mansion with rooms arranged around a central courtyard. Rates run USD 120-180 per night. For the La Floresta neighbourhood, smaller boutique guesthouses offer better value (USD 60-100) with proximity to the city’s best restaurants and cafes.
First afternoon: rest. This is not optional. At 2,850 metres, altitude sickness (soroche) affects many visitors from sea level. Symptoms include headache, nausea, and breathlessness. Eat lightly, drink water rather than alcohol, and walk slowly for the first 24 hours. The local remedy is mate de coca (coca leaf tea), which is sold everywhere and genuinely helps with mild symptoms.
Dinner: La Floresta neighbourhood is the food hub of modern Quito. Somos restaurant was one of the best-reviewed new openings in the city in 2025, with seasonal Ecuadorian ingredients assembled in unexpected combinations. Locro de papas, the creamy potato and cheese soup garnished with avocado and ají chili, appears on virtually every menu and is the right thing to order on your first cold Quito night.
Day 2: Historic Centre and Middle of the World
Quito’s Historic Centre was one of the first two cities designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. The colonial architecture here is the most intact in Latin America, largely because the city was not heavily developed during the 20th century. A morning on foot covers the key ground: Plaza Grande (the main square, flanked by the Presidential Palace and the Metropolitan Cathedral), La Compañía de Jesús (entry USD 5, the most elaborate baroque church facade in South America), and the viewpoint at El Panecillo hill, reached by taxi for around USD 3.
The Basilica del Voto Nacional is the one church worth prioritising above the others. It charges USD 2 to climb the towers, from which you get an unobstructed view over the colonial roofscape toward Cotopaxi on a clear morning. The gargoyles on the exterior are tropical animals, not European ones: iguanas, Galápagos tortoises, and armadillos.
Afternoon: Middle of the World (Mitad del Mundo). The monument complex is 22 km north of the city, a 30-40 minute drive. The famous yellow line marking 0 degrees latitude is actually 240 metres south of the true equator. The Intiñan Museum, a five-minute walk north of the main monument, sits on the actual GPS-verified equatorial line (00.0000 degrees) and costs USD 5 to enter. The water-draining-differently demonstration is scientifically contested, but the site’s collection of indigenous artefacts and explanations of solar-calendar engineering is genuinely interesting.
Dinner: Casa Gangotena, housed in a restored 1920s mansion on Plaza San Francisco, has an excellent restaurant open to non-guests. Ecuadorian ingredients, French technique. Main courses run USD 18-28.
Day 3: Pululahua and Teleférico
Pululahua Geobotanical Reserve sits 16 km north of the Middle of the World monument and contains one of the world’s few inhabited volcanic calderas. The caldera floor is farmed and has been continuously occupied for centuries. From the main mirador (viewpoint) the descent trail takes about 45 minutes. Entry is USD 2. Hire a local guide at the entrance for USD 10-15; they know the bird species (over 130 recorded in the reserve) and the caldera’s geology in detail. Take a taxi from the city (USD 30-40 for the round trip including waiting time).
Afternoon: Teleférico Pichincha. This cable car departs from the western edge of the city (take a taxi, USD 5-8 from the centre) and climbs to 4,050 metres on the flanks of Volcán Pichincha. Round trip ticket costs USD 8.50 for adults. At the top station, a 90-minute trail continues to the Cruz Loma summit at 4,200 metres where views extend over the entire city and on clear days reach Cotopaxi and Chimborazo. The altitude at the summit is significant. If you still felt lightheaded on Day 1, this hike is too early; save it for Day 5.
Dinner: Try fritada in the city centre: pork slow-cooked then crisped in its own fat, served with llapingachos (griddled potato patties), mote (hominy corn), and avocado. Street stalls near Plaza San Francisco charge USD 4-6. Restaurants charge USD 12-18. The stalls are better.
Day 4: Cotopaxi National Park
Cotopaxi is the world’s highest active volcano at 5,897 metres, and on a clear morning its near-perfect cone is visible from Quito’s rooftops. Full-day guided tours depart at 07:00 and cost USD 60-100 per person including transport, park entry, and equipment. Book the day before through any reputable operator in the La Mariscal district.
The hike to the José Rivas Refuge at 4,800 metres takes 45-60 minutes from the car park. This is not a summit attempt; it is a trek to the edge of the permanent glacier, which is striking close-up even if overall glacier coverage has receded significantly in recent decades. Some operators include mountain biking descent on the park’s internal roads as part of the itinerary.
Important: Check weather the night before. Cotopaxi’s summit is cloud-covered most afternoons. Tours that depart by 07:00 catch the mountain at its most visible. If the forecast shows heavy cloud, consider switching Cotopaxi to a different day and doing the Teleférico instead.
Dinner: Return to Quito by 17:00-18:00 and eat at Zazu in La Mariscal (USD 20-35 per main course), which has consistently been among the best contemporary Ecuadorian restaurants in the city for several years running.
Day 5: La Mariscal and Local Markets
La Mariscal neighbourhood (also called the New Town) is where most foreign visitors stay and eat, and it has the densest concentration of travel agencies, cafes, and souvenir shops. The Mercado Artesanal La Mariscal on Avenida Jorge Washington sells Panama hats (which are from Ecuador, not Panama, and Quito is one of the best places to buy them), alpaca textiles, and Otavaleño weavings. Prices are negotiable, and quality varies enormously. A genuine toquilla straw Panama hat, hand-woven in the Manabí province, costs USD 40-200 depending on fineness of weave. Machine-made versions cost USD 10-15 and are sold in the same stalls.
Afternoon: Walk south through Parque El Ejido where weekend artists sell paintings along the park fence. Continue to the Fine Arts Museum (Museo de Arte Moderno) for a free look at 20th-century Ecuadorian painting; entry is often free or USD 2.
Dinner: Ceviche in Quito is different from Peruvian or coastal versions. It arrives warm, in a bowl of tomato-based citrus broth, with popcorn and patacones (fried plantain chips) on the side. The seafood is fresh-caught on the Ecuadorian coast and transported inland. La Mar Cebichería on Avenida 12 de Octubre is the most reliable mid-range option (USD 15-25 per person).
Day 6: Mindo Cloud Forest
Mindo is 104 km northwest of Quito, a two-hour drive that descends from the Andes through páramo grassland into dense cloud forest. Full-day group tours from Quito cost USD 55 per person and include transport and a local guide. Private tours cost USD 90-120 depending on group size.
Mindo is one of the most biodiverse cloud forests on Earth. The village sits at 1,250 metres, warm enough for hummingbirds and cool enough for the orchids and mosses that cover every surface. The San Tadeo bird sanctuary near the entrance serves tea and bananas while you watch multiple hummingbird species at close range at dawn feeders. Over 500 bird species have been recorded in the Mindo Valley, more than in all of continental Europe.
The chocolate tour at the local cacao farm (USD 10 per person) shows the full bean-to-bar process with Ecuador’s famous fine-aroma Nacional cacao. The tasting is the point; the factory visit is secondary. Ecuador produces around 60% of the world’s fine-aroma cacao, and the quality difference between Mindo-made dark chocolate and the supermarket varieties is dramatic.
Optional activities: butterfly farm (USD 6), zip-line through the canopy (USD 20), river tubing (USD 8). The tubing on the Río Mindo is the best fun-to-dollar ratio of these three.
Return to Quito by 18:00. Simple dinner: the Mercado Central in the Historic Centre has cooked food stalls serving caldo de gallina (chicken soup) and encebollado (tuna and onion stew, technically a breakfast dish that Quiteños eat at any hour).
Day 7: Final Morning and Departure
Mariscal Sucre Airport handles significant departure queues at peak hours. Allow 2.5-3 hours before your international flight. Uber from La Mariscal runs USD 20-25 and takes 35-50 minutes. Morning traffic (07:00-09:00) adds 15-20 minutes.
Final morning: walk the Plaza Foch area in La Mariscal for coffee. The independent cafes here roast Ecuadorian highland beans (from the Loja province, altitude 1,800-2,000 metres) that rarely appear in export markets. A flat white costs USD 2.50-3.50 and is far better than the airport coffee.
One practical note: ATMs at the airport dispense USD (Ecuador uses the US dollar). Bank ATMs in the city typically charge lower fees than airport machines, so withdraw cash in the city before your last day.