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.