Quito People & Culture

The people of Quito are extremely friendly and accommodating. There are PLENTY of adventure trips leaving for the mountains every hour of the day. Horse back, biking, kayaking, you-name-it! Internet bars are plentiful as are hostels for backpackers.

Ecuadorians use the USD, so conversion is unnecessary. However, Ecuadorians will NOT do business with you if they don't like you.

There's a wonderful art fair in the park every Saturday. Totally worth a stroll.

Unfortunately, the cuisine is less than appetizing for my taste.
It's very beany, ricey, potatoey. The national dish is cui (whole deep fried guinea pig). I'd recommend the Magic Bean for the biggest pancakes you've EVER seen.

Ok i would like to say Quito is a great city wiht amazing people.....

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.

interesting place to learn from. nice culture

We stayed at the Auberge, a swiss-run backpackers. The place was beautiful and had a great view from the showers, however in retrospect we would have probably stayed in the old town. (it was in between old and new) Anyways it didn't have too much personality and had a bit of an older crowd. Plus normally I prefer to support a local run place rather than foreign run. There is a Fair Trade shop/Cafe built into the Cathedral at Plaza San Francisco. Also, wander around, if you are lucky you may run into a live music show like we did. Anyways, Quito was definitly a fave. The New Town has a bit of a dodgy reputation, and is touristy in a bad way.

Vista Hermosa in the old town (centro histórico) just couple of blocks away from the presidential palace. It is a very nice bar/restaurant on top of the building with roof terrace with a excellent view over the city. It has live music on weekends. You can also get typical Ecuadorian drink "canelazo" here.

The people of Quito are extremely friendly and accommodating. There are PLENTY of adventure trips leaving for the mountains every hour of the day. Horse back, biking, kayaking, you-name-it! Internet bars are plentiful as are hostels for backpackers.

Ecuadorians use the USD, so conversion is unnecessary. However, Ecuadorians will NOT do business with you if they don't like you.

There's a wonderful art fair in the park every Saturday. Totally worth a stroll.

Unfortunately, the cuisine is less than appetizing for my taste.
It's very beany, ricey, potatoey. The national dish is cui (whole deep fried guinea pig). I'd recommend the Magic Bean for the biggest pancakes you've EVER seen.

Quito is unique for its amount of churches. Even I am not a big fan of churches in general, some of them are really imressive such as "La compania" with its gold. Also the temperature is ideal for sightseeing; fresh in the morning, and about 20°C during the day. But also shopping fans will be sattisfied in on of the large malls. A third point is the nature. The mountain Pichincha is a beauty and als other volcanos further away build a breathtaking panorama.

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!

The people of Quito are extremely friendly and accommodating. There are PLENTY of adventure trips leaving for the mountains every hour of the day. Horse back, biking, kayaking, you-name-it! Internet bars are plentiful as are hostels for backpackers.

Ecuadorians use the USD, so conversion is unnecessary. However, Ecuadorians will NOT do business with you if they don't like you.

There's a wonderful art fair in the park every Saturday. Totally worth a stroll.

Unfortunately, the cuisine is less than appetizing for my taste.
It's very beany, ricey, potatoey. The national dish is cui (whole deep fried guinea pig). I'd recommend the Magic Bean for the biggest pancakes you've EVER seen.

Ok i would like to say Quito is a great city wiht amazing people.....

Loved it immensely. Travel a lot to the surrounding areas.

If you arrive by plane and the weather is clear don't forget to keep your camera ready! A fantastic view expects you before landing!

Flying out of Quito, the Ecuadorian government charges an exit tax, you must pay this to enter the terminal, they only take cash, no debit or credit cards, at the airport there are a couple ATM's but as you will find out in Ecuador most ATM's don't work with American bank cards, so bring cash with you to the airport. Exit fee is $40 per person.