Quito Travel Guide

To take pictures of the "Virgin" Panacillo from the front you may stop halfway on the street upwards.
At the statue the park is behind her so you'll see her back or climb down again!

Long streched city ( 45km long 5km wide) in the Andes on 2850m. Four seasons a day, cool at night, sun is very strong when shining. Nice old town with a lot of churches. Pucblic transport very good, almost every 5 minutes a bus on the 3 main lines that are running through Quito and bring you almost everywhere. Else, take a taxi, 1 to 5 dollars, yellow, green, white, red taxi light on the top, red registration label on the door. Two main bus terminals for long distance connections, Terminal Terrestre in the south and Ofelia in the north. New town (Mariscal) is the place for tourists and partying, you can book tours there, sit in the cafe and get all the informations you need. People are very friendly and helpfull but there are a lot of poor people that need money and as the social security is very bad, they have to get it somewhere else. So, watch your bag, put it in the front in the bus and in crowded places. At night, take a taxi or move in groups. In general, if you get robbed you don't even recognize it until you are looking for it, normally no violence.

We stayed at the Plaza Grande Hotel.  This Grande Damme is full of old world elegance and panache.  It is a wonderful experiance I would love to repeat.  The food was superb and the staff very accommodating. The hotel is located in the center of the city and is a UNESCO World Site.  So when you stay there you are staying in a part of history.  The hotel faces the Plaza de Independence and that is where our suite was.  We had a balcony overlooking that lovey plaza. The main cathedral is located there as well as many restaurants and shops.  There are many museums and theatres within walking distance. Traffic is busy, but you can walk around without some of the vehicular dangers in some other cities.  Like any large city, do not go out alone at night. Our main reason for staying there was to rest after our voyage to and trek on the Galapagos Islands.  The posh environs helped this old city slicker recover nicely. I would go back to Quito for no other reason than to enjoy this beautiful old hotel.