Things to do
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Basílica del Voto Nacional
Neo-Gothic and still formally unfinished, this vast church carries gargoyles in the shape of Galápagos wildlife: tortoises, iguanas and boobies along the roofline. Visitors can climb inside the towers on open stairs and a short plank bridge above the nave. Anyone uneasy with heights should skip the towers, though the view over the old town rewards the climb.
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Cotopaxi National Park
Cotopaxi rises to 5,897 metres in a near perfect cone an hour or two south of the capital, one of the highest active volcanoes on earth. Day trips drive to the car park below the refuge and walk up loose scree from there, often in wind and cloud. The mountain hides itself for days at a time; clear mornings come early, and the road closes when ash activity rises.
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Historic Centre
The old town is the place for your first slow morning in Quito: its churches and squares sit close together, so you can walk, stop often and let your body adjust to the altitude.
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La Compañía
Gold leaf covers almost every surface of this Jesuit church, from the Moorish-influenced ceiling to the altarpieces and pulpit, the result of well over a century of work. Photography inside is restricted, which keeps the room calm. Entry is ticketed and the queue is shortest soon after opening, when the interior is lit mainly from the high windows.
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La Ronda
Restored cobbles and balconied houses line one of Quito's oldest lanes, now given over to canelazo bars, empanada kitchens and small craft workshops. Weekday evenings are quiet enough to talk; Friday and Saturday bring music and a crush. Doors open late afternoon, so an earlier visit finds the street mostly shuttered.
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Mitad del Mundo
A stone monument and a painted line mark the equator north of Quito, laid out by a French survey in the eighteenth century and out by roughly two hundred metres, as GPS later showed. The complex holds a planetarium, craft stalls and a small ethnographic museum. Most visits run about two hours, and the nearby Intiñan site claims the corrected latitude.
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Plaza Grande
Quito's main square is bounded by the presidential palace, the cathedral and the archbishop's arcades, and it works as the city's living room: shoeshine stands, benches under palms, retired men arguing over newspapers. The changing of the guard falls on Monday mornings and draws a crowd. Half an hour covers it, though the square is the natural place to start a walk.
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TelefériQo
A cable car lifts passengers from the western edge of the city to about 4,050 metres on the flank of Pichincha, one of the higher aerial lifts anywhere. Quito spreads out below in a thin line between the ridges. Clouds close in by early afternoon most days, so morning rides see more; the ridge walk beyond the top station is longer than it looks.
