In Lonely Planet's 10 best cities of the world to visit in 2016, Ecuador's capital Quito ranked number 2! Without question, America's most scenic capital is Quito, has many unique things to do: its gorgeous colonial churches, monuments & museums, and cable carts to the top of Mount Pichincha. One of the world's first cities to become a UNESCO World Heritage site, the district of old town Quito, Ecuador, has been flying under the travelers' radar for a long time. When we lived in Quito in the 1970s, we could never imagine that one day Quito would be so beautifully restored and that we would stroll through what is now Latin America's most beautiful capital. At a distance of about 10km south of the equator, Quito is located in the Andes of Ecuador, at elevations between of 2700 and 2900 masl. With a population of 2.7 million people, Quito is the second largest city, after Ecuador's business city, Guayaquil,with 2.8 million inhabitants.

Things to see in Old Town Quito, Ecuador

While Lima was the administrative center of the Spanish colonial empire in South America, Quito was the religious center with many cathedrals, churches and monasteries, most of which have survived the countless earthquakes and the general wear of the centuries. Take a look at them at our special page with all 27 old churches of Ecuador. Now beautifully restored, Quito's monuments has architecturally marvelously designed plazas that are interconnected by romantic narrow streets, where people of all ages stroll unconcerned through this peaceful paradise of majestic monuments, local shops, tastefully restored and redesigned mansions that now serve as restaurants and colonial hotels.

Whenever you go to Ecuador, please do yourself a favor and take at least 2 days to fall in love with this beautifully restored city. If you like, you can take a half day's guided tour but after that, go out on your own, walk the streets, sample the restaurants, explore beautifully illuminated Quito at night and mingle with the friendly Ecuadorians who regard Quito as their cultural heritage, the place that unites their rich history with the pleasures of twenty-first century.

In 2008, Quito, Capital of Ecuador was highlighted in the travel section of the New York times, listing Quito as one of the 53 most interesting cities in the world for Americans to visit. Samantha Brown called Quito "Passport to Latin America" being the perfect place from where to initiate travel to discover Latin America. Since then, Quito has been highlighted in television programs of CBN and NBC, while many other magazines and newspapers have dedicated center fold sections to this previously undervalued most beautiful colonial capital of all the Americas.

For enjoying the greatest highlights of South America, many tourist combine the nature of Ecuador with the archaeological highlights of Peru, to which we offer a 6 days extension module.

Detailed Tourist map of Old Town Quito, capital of Ecuador. If you click on them you get a greatly enlarged printable map.

Detailed Tourist map of historic center of Quito. Click on it to get the detailed map.

With many pedestrians-only streets, the colonial center should be enjoyed, sprawling from plaza to plaza and cathedral to monastery. Distances are short and restaurants abound. This little map can help you plot out a route through the many narrow beautifully restored colonial streets of Quito's "Casco viejo" as the Quitenos call old town Quito.

Top 22 tourist attractions in Quito, Ecuador:

On this page we list all 75+ museums of Ecuador, including 40+ museums of Quito, all with features, addresses and opening hours.

One gets a great view of the city from the cable cart, which one should take early in the morning with the best chances of getting a sunny sky.

Plaza Central or Plaza de Republica

The Plaza Grande or de la Republica, or Main Square with the Government Palace, the National Cathedral (right), Hotel Plaza Grande (3 below) and the Archbishop's Palace as the eye catchers.

Hotel Plaza Grande on Plaza de la Republica, Quito, Ecuador is one of the greatest squares of South America.

The 4 arched Arco de la Reina, with the entrance of the Quito city museum entrance just a few meters further.

Plaza Santo Domingo is one of the most popular and the largest squares of Old Town Quito. In the northeastern corner stands the beautiful San Francisco Cathedral. On national holidays, the plaza is packed with Quitenos enjoying their colonial capital. In day time old town Quito is a very lively city, but that stops very much after 8 at night, because Quito totally lacks any form of nightlife.

Fabulous Palacio Arzobispal - Archbishop's Palace - with several great restaurants; the one with view on the Plaza de la Independencia is among the best things to do in the historic center of Quito, Ecuador and a great place for a special evening out. Reserving a table is recommended.

What I really like about Old town Quito is that it is a city dominated by its own people. Parents with their children play and picnic on the lawns and in the parks. Tourists are present but not in overwhelming numbers. The city center is well guarded by countless police officers visible with their yellow jackets, making Quito's historic center remarkably safe.

The Compania Church is the most beautiful and oldest colonial monument of Oldtown Quito and debatedly in all Latin America; its interior certainly is. It is managed by the Fundacion de la Iglesia de la Compania.

The interior of the Church is covered with gold leaf and gilded statutes and paintings are among the best preserved early colonial arte; some of the richest in all of Latin America.

No Latin American capital has anything that comes close to the charming colonial streets of the historic center of Quito.

Calle Ronda is Quito's finest historical street.

Presidential Palace

In 1799, the Baron Francisco Luis Hector de Carondelet was appointed chairman of the Audience, the government building of the Spanish Crown. In 1801, the Spanish hired Antonio Garcia, to perform the work of rehabilitation and improvements, both of the Audience Palace and the National Cathedral. He also led the work on the arches of the sewers and the renovation of the Prison building, now the Wax Museum.

After the independence of Ecuador ended with the Battle of Pichincha in 1822, the palace became the headquarters of the South Department of Gran Colombia, welcoming the liberator Simon Bolivar whenever he visited Quito. He loved the palace and work of the Baron of Carondelet. So, Bolivar named the palace the Carondelet Palace.

The portal gallery can be entered individually and it is possible to see the ceremonial guards from close by and watch the change of the guards. For excursions to the interior of the palace one needs to make reservations, usually a day in advance.

National Museum: Professionally designed and displayed pre-Colombian history of Ecuador. Excellent bi-lingual texts!

Built in 1873, the Observatory of Quito is the oldest on the continent. Renovated in 2009, it is both a museum of historical instruments and open to the public for star gazing on cloudless nights.

Quito has several great parks, Like the Ejido Park which are intensively used by the Quitenos. It is great to go on a picnic in the weekend and watch families enjoy themselves and see the children play. A great place to take a sandwich for lunch, while watching families enjoying themselves.

National Theatre.

Historic Banco Central building, now monetary museum.

Grand views of Historic Quito, Ecuador

Few capitals in the world border a national park. An absolute must is to take: the cable cart, or the "Teleferico" as it is called and take a hike through the paramo of the Pichincha, one of the 45 National Parks and reserves of Ecuador. Go at 8 in the morning, but by 11 it gets cloudy and without sun it is chilly to out right cold. Take a sweater and a light rain coat.

If you are young and don't value your bones and teeth, you ride up the cable cart and ride down your mountain bike.

But the majority of the passengers are families who go up to enjoy the fabulous view.

The Pichincha station where the cable cart ends. Food and drinks are available.

At the top one can ride horseback, great for children.

Here is where you can get paramo pictures with lamas without having to town.

Quito is a great place for souvenir shopping. While you will find many small shops in Old Town Quito, the best markets are in El Ejido Park and the Mariscal art market. For details read: Art and Craft in Ecuador.

The Churo observation tower built on a supposed military observation point of the ancient Quitu people prior to colonization.

The Virgin of Quito on the Panacillo. The Panacillo also offers a great view over the entire city. Take a taxi up and walk down to enjoy the 22 Unique Things to do in Old Town Quito.

The Mitad del Mundo in the museum park just Outside Quito, hosts the ethnographic museum inside and sports a great view over the valley.

The brand new Quito Mariscal Sucre Airport now offers access to the newest and largest airplanes and the most modern arrival and departure services.

City tours are almost daily available. Our Andes Trek, Ecuador program includes the best National Parks of Ecuador in the Andes as well as the famous cultural highlights, like Quito, Cuenca and Ingapirca. Please contact us for information, rates and bookings.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS TO SEE OLD TOWN QUITO