Old Town on foot
3.5 km · ~half day · Old Town · 7 stops
- Basilica del Voto Nacional
- Plaza Grande
- La Compania de Jesus
- Plaza de San Francisco
- Casa del Alabado museum
- La Ronda street
- El Panecillo
125 places · Latin America 50 Best · UNESCO · Time Out · National Geographic · TikTok · 5 routes · transit
Tap a route and it gets drawn on the map, stop by stop.
Tap a pin to see photos, rating and how to get there by metro. Turn on a route to follow the numbered path.
This interactive map of Quito (Ecuador) brings together 125 hand-picked places: 45 attractions, 40 restaurants, 20 cafés and 20 shops. It also includes 5 walking routes with their stops in order. For every place you get what it is, a practical tip and how to get there by public transport. It is free, works on your phone and needs no sign-up.
· Curated by the HOLASIM team · How we make the maps
Tap a route to see it drawn on the map, stop by stop.
3.5 km · ~half day · Old Town · 7 stops
2.5 km · ~half day · La Floresta and La Mariscal · 7 stops
5 km · ~1 day · Inaquito and La Carolina · 6 stops
4 km · ~half day · Bellavista and Guapulo · 6 stops
30 km · ~full day · Pichincha and Mitad del Mundo · 5 stops
Venezuela y Carchi · Centro Historico
Andean Gothic giant where stone tortoises replace gargoyles and wooden stairs climb the towers.
Tip: Pay for tower access and cross the wooden catwalk over the nave for the best shot in town.
🚇 La Alameda — Metro L1
Featured in: UNESCO · National Geographic · Viral en TikTok
Show on mapGarcia Moreno y Sucre · Centro Historico
Seven tonnes of gold leaf coat every inch of the most delirious Baroque interior in the Americas.
Tip: No photos inside: come early and give it ten phone-free minutes, it is worth every second.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: UNESCO · Conde Nast Traveler
Show on mapCuenca y Bolivar · Centro Historico
South America's largest colonial complex: museum, catacombs and a vast cobbled plaza out front.
Tip: Enter the Fray Pedro Gocial museum and climb to the upper choir for a direct view over the square.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: UNESCO · National Geographic
Show on mapPlaza Grande · Centro Historico
Ecuador's political heart: palm trees, shoe shiners, retirees debating and Monday's changing of the guard.
Tip: Arrive 11am on a Monday for the presidential changing of the guard; stand on the Carondelet side.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: UNESCO · Lonely Planet
Show on mapGarcia Moreno · Plaza Grande
Ecuador's presidential palace since 1830, visitable free with a guide and salons facing Pichincha.
Tip: Book the free tour online a few days ahead and bring your passport, they check it at the door.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Gobierno del Ecuador · Lonely Planet
Show on mapVenezuela y Espejo · Plaza Grande
South America's oldest cathedral holds founding-father tombs and a stunning rooftop walk.
Tip: Ask for the rooftop route: you walk the tiled roofs with the Panecillo straight ahead.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: UNESCO · Conde Nast Traveler
Show on mapPlaza Santo Domingo · Centro Historico
Locals' favourite sunset square, full of street performers and framed by the Santo Domingo arch.
Tip: Walk down Guayaquil street at 6pm, then continue to La Ronda which starts one block away.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: UNESCO · Lonely Planet
Show on mapChile y Guayaquil · Centro Historico
The 1809 independence act was signed here; the cloister holds original Miguel de Santiago canvases.
Tip: The convent museum rarely has a queue and is the best place downtown to see Quito School painting.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Ministerio de Cultura · Lonely Planet
Show on mapGarcia Moreno y Rocafuerte · Centro Historico
A cloistered monastery turned museum where nuns still sell sweets through a wooden turnstile.
Tip: Buy agua de frescos and suspiros at the corner turnstile; the Carmelite nuns make them.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Museos de Quito · Time Out
Show on mapJuan de Dios Morales · Centro Historico
Colonial alley of blue balconies, artisan workshops, hot canelazo and live music every weekend.
Tip: Come Thursday to Saturday after 7pm; midweek half the venues are shut.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: UNESCO · Time Out · Viral en TikTok
Show on mapGarcia Moreno S1-47 · Centro Historico
A 16th-century hospital now telling Quito's story through huge, beautifully staged installations.
Tip: Best museum to start your trip: it frames the history before you tour the churches.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Museos de Quito · Time Out
Show on mapCuenca N1-41 · Centro Historico
Pre-Columbian art staged like a contemporary gallery inside a 1600s house; award-winning design.
Tip: Give it a calm hour: the narrative runs from death to shamans and rewards a slow visit.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Conde Nast Traveler · National Geographic
Show on mapCima del Panecillo · Centro Sur
A 41-metre winged Virgin on a volcanic hill, with the best 360-degree view over the whole city.
Tip: Go up by taxi or tour bus, never on foot up the stairs, and get there before 5pm.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: National Geographic · Lonely Planet
Show on mapEl Placer Oe11-271 · San Juan
Interactive water museum in the old colonial cisterns, giant bubbles and a balcony over downtown.
Tip: Its terrace has one of the best views of the old town and almost nobody knows about it.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Museos de Quito · Time Out
Show on mapAv. de los Libertadores · La Libertad
Military museum on the slope of the Pichincha battle, with a huge Guayasamin mural inside.
Tip: The esplanade faces the whole old town; best light mid-morning before the clouds roll in.
🚇 La Magdalena — Metro L1
Featured in: Ministerio de Defensa · Lonely Planet
Show on mapAv. Occidental y Fulgencio Araujo · Pichincha
One of the world's highest cable cars, from 2,950 to 3,945 metres in under twenty minutes.
Tip: Ride before 10am: after midday clouds swallow Pichincha almost every single day.
🚇 Seminario Mayor — Metrobus-Q
Featured in: National Geographic · Viral en TikTok
Show on mapEstacion alta del TelefériQo · Pichincha
Upper station at 3,945 m with swings over the void, llamas and five volcanoes on a clear day.
Tip: Bring a jacket and water: it is genuinely cold and altitude sickness hits if you rush up.
🚇 TelefériQo Cruz Loma — teleferico
Featured in: Viral en TikTok · Lonely Planet
Show on mapCumbre 4.696 m · Pichincha
A 4,696-metre summit four hours from the cable car: the highest city hike in the Americas.
Tip: Start before 8am and acclimatise two days in Quito first; the last stretch is loose rock.
🚇 TelefériQo Cruz Loma — teleferico
Featured in: AllTrails · Lonely Planet
Show on mapJose Maria Aguirre · La Tola
A green hill above the old town with trails, Sunday kites and the city's best sunset.
Tip: Walk up from La Tola and stay for sunset: the Basilica lights up right in front of you.
🚇 La Alameda — Metro L1
Featured in: Time Out · Quito Turismo
Show on mapParque Itchimbia · La Tola
An 1889 iron-and-glass hall shipped from France, now an exhibition space above the city.
Tip: Check the calendar: design fairs and food markets here make the best Sunday plan in town.
🚇 La Alameda — Metro L1
Featured in: Quito Turismo · Time Out
Show on mapAv. Gran Colombia · Itchimbia
Triangular park with a rowing lake and South America's oldest astronomical observatory.
Tip: Visit the 1873 observatory, it works as a museum and almost no tourist has it on the list.
🚇 La Alameda — Metro L1
Featured in: Quito Turismo
Show on mapAv. Patria y 6 de Diciembre · La Mariscal
Green lung between downtown and La Mariscal, filled with painters and artisans every weekend.
Tip: Saturday and Sunday there is an art and crafts fair along Av. Patria, and haggling is fine.
🚇 El Ejido — Metro L1
Featured in: Quito Turismo · Time Out
Show on mapMontevideo y Luis Davila · San Juan
A former military hospital turned into Ecuador's most ambitious contemporary art space.
Tip: Free entry and huge courtyards; the best cultural plan in Quito for a grey day.
🚇 La Alameda — Metro L1
Featured in: Time Out · Quito Turismo
Show on mapAv. Patria y 6 de Diciembre · La Mariscal
Ecuador's flagship cultural complex: theatre, cinema, concert agora and several museums.
Tip: Check the Agora and arthouse cinema listings before going, there is usually something free.
🚇 El Ejido — Metro L1
Featured in: Quito Turismo · Time Out
Show on mapAv. Patria y 6 de Diciembre · La Mariscal
The country's largest archaeological collection, home to the Venus of Valdivia and pre-Columbian gold.
Tip: It is free and nearly empty on weekdays; go on a Tuesday and the gold room is all yours.
🚇 El Ejido — Metro L1
Featured in: Ministerio de Cultura · National Geographic
Show on mapReina Victoria y La Nina · La Mariscal
Ethnographic museum of Ecuador's living cultures, with a fair-trade shop on the ground floor.
Tip: The downstairs shop is one of Quito's best for buying crafts with no middleman.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Time Out · Lonely Planet
Show on mapMariscal Foch y Reina Victoria · La Mariscal
Ground zero of Quito nightlife: terraces, craft beer and music until the small hours.
Tip: Use a ride-hailing app after midnight and keep your phone out of sight on the street.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Time Out · Lonely Planet
Show on mapManabi N8-131 · Plaza del Teatro
An 1886 neoclassical theatre, the country's finest, with opera, jazz and dance seasons.
Tip: Check the listings and grab any show; the room alone is worth the ticket.
🚇 Plaza del Teatro — Trolebus
Featured in: Conde Nast Traveler · Time Out
Show on mapEspejo Oe3-86 · Centro Historico
A 1933 art deco theatre that survived a fire and is slowly being restored; guided tours available.
Tip: Ask about the daytime guided tour; you see the theatre's guts and the burnt stalls.
🚇 Plaza del Teatro — Trolebus
Featured in: Time Out · Quito Turismo
Show on mapCuenca y Bolivar · Centro Historico
The Americas' most impressive colonial esplanade, Pichincha behind and a vast stone atrium.
Tip: Best shot is from the corner hotel terrace or the atrium steps around 5:30pm.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: UNESCO · Conde Nast Traveler
Show on mapAv. Shyris y Naciones Unidas · Inaquito
Quito's Central Park: 64 hectares of lakes, courts, organic market and Sunday cycling.
Tip: Sundays 8am to 2pm avenues close for the Ciclopaseo; rent a bike and ride the 30 km route.
🚇 La Carolina — Metro L1
Featured in: Quito Turismo · Time Out
Show on mapParque La Carolina · Inaquito
Orchid house with over a thousand native species, a mini cloud forest and a carnivorous garden.
Tip: The orchid greenhouse is small but unique: Ecuador has more orchid species than any country.
🚇 La Carolina — Metro L1
Featured in: National Geographic · Quito Turismo
Show on mapAv. Guanguiltagua · Bellavista
South America's largest urban park: 570 hectares of eucalyptus, trails and valley views.
Tip: Head to the Cotopaxi lookout; on a clear day the snowy volcano is visible 60 km away.
🚇 Jipijapa — Metro L1
Featured in: Quito Turismo · Time Out
Show on mapJose Bosmediano E15-68 · Bellavista
The home studio of Ecuador's most famous painter, plus his pre-Columbian and colonial collections.
Tip: The combined ticket with Capilla del Hombre is cheaper and they sit 200 metres apart.
🚇 Terminal Rio Coca — Ecovia
Featured in: National Geographic · Conde Nast Traveler
Show on mapLorenzo Chavez y Mariano Calvache · Bellavista
Guayasamin's testament: a secular temple to wounded Latin America and a muralist masterpiece.
Tip: Take the included guided tour; without historical context half the works do not land.
🚇 Terminal Rio Coca — Ecovia
Featured in: National Geographic · UNESCO
Show on mapPlaza de Guapulo · Guapulo
A 17th-century church hanging over the valley, with the continent's finest Baroque pulpit.
Tip: Walk down from Gonzalez Suarez along the cobbled path; fifteen minutes all downhill.
🚇 Terminal Rio Coca — Ecovia
Featured in: UNESCO · Lonely Planet
Show on mapPasaje Stubel · Guapulo
A balcony over the bohemian quarter and the Cumbaya valley; locals' favourite sunset.
Tip: Arrive 30 minutes before sunset and stay for dinner at one of the neighbourhood bars.
🚇 Terminal Rio Coca — Ecovia
Featured in: Time Out · Viral en TikTok
Show on mapAv. Manuel Cordova Galarza · San Antonio de Pichincha
The latitude zero monument: a yellow line, a mock village and Ecuador's most photographed spot.
Tip: Go early on a weekday; on weekends the queue for the line photo is endless.
🚇 Terminal La Ofelia — Metrobus-Q
Featured in: National Geographic · Viral en TikTok
Show on mapVia Calacali · San Antonio de Pichincha
The neighbouring museum where they do the egg, water and balance experiments on the line.
Tip: The real GPS equator falls here; if you only pick one, this one is more fun.
🚇 Terminal La Ofelia — Metrobus-Q
Featured in: Lonely Planet · Viral en TikTok
Show on mapCiudad Mitad del Mundo · San Antonio de Pichincha
From tree to bar: the story of Ecuador's fine-aroma cacao with a tasting at the end.
Tip: Since you are already at Mitad del Mundo, the Nacional bean tasting here is the complex's best stop.
🚇 Terminal La Ofelia — Metrobus-Q
Featured in: Quito Turismo
Show on mapSincholagua y Maldonado · Chimbacalle
A textile mill turned hands-on science museum, the best plan in Quito with kids.
Tip: Combine it with the Chimbacalle train: the historic station is two blocks away.
🚇 El Recreo — Metro L1
Featured in: Quito Turismo · Time Out
Show on mapAv. Amazonas y Luis Tufino · Kennedy
Quito's old airport turned into a park where you run and cycle along the actual runway.
Tip: Get off at El Labrador station, the old air terminal; the park starts across the street.
🚇 El Labrador — Metro L1
Featured in: Quito Turismo
Show on mapValladolid N24-353 · La Floresta
The arthouse cinema that made La Floresta Quito's creative quarter, with patio, cafe and bookshop.
Tip: Even without a film, the patio with Cafe Intag is the best reading spot in La Floresta.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Time Out · Guias locales
Show on mapAntigua linea ferrea · Cumbaya
An old rail line turned 20 km trail from Cumbaya to Puembo, with tunnels and deep ravines.
Tip: Rent a bike in Cumbaya and bring a torch; two of the tunnels are pitch black.
🚇 Terminal Rio Coca — Ecovia
Featured in: Quito Turismo · AllTrails
Show on mapFrancisco de Orellana · Cumbaya
The sunny valley 20 minutes from Quito: colonial square, white church and packed terraces.
Tip: Cumbaya sits 500 m lower than Quito; if altitude hits you, spend a day down here.
🚇 Terminal Rio Coca — Ecovia
Featured in: Time Out · Guias locales
Show on mapBello Horizonte E11-12 · La Paz
Ecuador's best restaurant: a twelve-course tasting menu by Alejandro Chamorro and Pia Salazar.
Tip: Book a month ahead and take the natural wine pairing.
🚇 La Pradera — Metro L1
Featured in: Latin America 50 Best No.10 · Worlds Best Pastry Chef · Conde Nast Traveler
Show on mapAv. Eloy Alfaro N34-421 y Portugal · Bellavista
Alejandra Espinoza fuses Ecuadorian childhood with French technique, plus music and dance shows.
Tip: Order the purple corn empanadas stuffed with goat; it is the house signature.
🚇 Terminal Rio Coca — Ecovia
Featured in: 50 Best Discovery · Time Out
Show on mapAv. Isabel la Catolica · La Floresta
Cooking from Ecuador's four worlds, on a menu that shifts with altitude and season.
Tip: Sit at the kitchen counter; you see the whole pass and the cooks explain every dish.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: 50 Best Discovery · Conde Nast Traveler
Show on mapJose Bosmediano E14-114 · Bellavista
Juan Sebastian Perez revives nearly extinct Andean and Amazonian ingredients with modern technique.
Tip: Single tasting menu that changes each season; flag allergies when booking.
🚇 Terminal Rio Coca — Ecovia
Featured in: 50 Best Discovery · Latin America 50 Best
Show on mapFrancisco Galavis E12-121 · La Floresta
Latin America 50 Best One To Watch winner: generous plates, fair prices and a gorgeous room.
Tip: The lupin bean salad with crispy pork ear is the dish everyone photographs.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Latin America 50 Best One To Watch · 50 Best Discovery
Show on mapAv. Isabel la Catolica N24-54 · La Floresta
La Floresta's carnivore temple: charcoal cuts, open fire and a serious wine list.
Tip: Order the cut of the day and share; portions are built for two and then some.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: 50 Best Discovery
Show on mapAv. La Coruna · Gonzalez Suarez
Chef-driven cevicheria with Manta seafood, neighbourhood vibe and Quito's best pickles.
Tip: Get the shrimp ceviche with passion fruit leche de tigre; it is what made the place famous.
🚇 Terminal Rio Coca — Ecovia
Featured in: 50 Best Discovery · Time Out
Show on mapAv. La Coruna N30-135 y Whymper · La Paz
Sustainable fishmonger and raw bar: you pick the catch of the day and they cook it right there.
Tip: Go at lunch: the daily fish set menu is one of Quito's best value-for-money deals.
🚇 La Pradera — Metro L1
Featured in: 50 Best Discovery
Show on mapRuiz de Castilla N27-103 y Lorenzo de Aldana · Las Casas
Counter omakase with Ecuadorian fish and Japanese technique; only twelve seats per service.
Tip: Book weeks ahead and be on time; the service starts for everyone at once.
🚇 Universidad Central — Metro L1
Featured in: 50 Best Discovery
Show on mapWhymper N30-96 · Gonzalez Suarez
Classic French bistro since 1998, zero pretension, impeccable local produce.
Tip: The weekday lunch set is the cheapest way to eat serious French food in Quito.
🚇 La Pradera — Metro L1
Featured in: 50 Best Discovery · Time Out
Show on mapMariano Aguilera · La Pradera
A Quito fine-dining institution since 2006: Peruvian ceviches, prime cuts and a serious bar.
Tip: The cocktail bar is among the city's best; sit there if you turn up without a booking.
🚇 La Pradera — Metro L1
Featured in: Latin America 50 Best · Conde Nast Traveler
Show on mapJunin E2-27 · San Marcos
Traditional Ecuadorian cooking done right in a San Marcos mansion: locro, seco and fritada.
Tip: Start with potato locro and follow with seco de chivo; the perfect traditional combo.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Time Out · Guias locales · Viral en TikTok
Show on mapManabi N8-131, Teatro Sucre · Centro Historico
Fine dining on the Teatro Sucre's first floor, under the original ceilings and drapes.
Tip: Book a window table and come after a show; the room empties out and turns magical.
🚇 Plaza del Teatro — Trolebus
Featured in: Conde Nast Traveler · Time Out
Show on mapBolivar y Cuenca, Plaza San Francisco · Centro Historico
A 1920 mansion facing San Francisco; its restaurant has the old town's best terrace.
Tip: You do not need to stay: book afternoon tea on the terrace and watch the plaza from above.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Conde Nast Traveler · National Geographic
Show on mapChile, Palacio Arzobispal · Plaza Grande
Chef's cuisine with a balcony straight onto Plaza Grande; Quito's best-positioned dining room.
Tip: Ask for a balcony table when booking and go at 6pm to catch the old town lights come on.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Time Out · Guias locales
Show on mapMejia Oe4-45 · Centro Historico
Rooftop terrace with a 360-degree view of the lit-up old town and live music at night.
Tip: Go up at 6:30pm with a canelazo; the Basilica and La Compania light up minutes later.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Time Out · Viral en TikTok
Show on mapChile Oe4-21, Palacio Arzobispal · Plaza Grande
A Quito tavern on the Archbishop's Palace third patio, with convent recipes and canelazo.
Tip: Order canelazo with puntas and the empanadas de viento; the absolute house classic.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Guias locales · Quito Turismo
Show on mapJunin E2-167 · San Marcos
Collector Jaime Burgos's house-museum: you eat surrounded by colonial art and 6,000 bottles.
Tip: Reservations are mandatory and you must state numbers; they only cook what was pre-ordered.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Conde Nast Traveler · Time Out
Show on mapJuan Rodriguez E4-120 · La Mariscal
Ecuadorian menu spanning all four regions, perfect to taste the whole country in one dinner.
Tip: Order the tasting board: encebollado, fritada, hornado and humita in small portions.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Time Out · Guias locales
Show on mapAv. Amazonas N24-03 · La Mariscal
Longstanding coastal cevicheria: albacore encebollado and garlic shrimp done properly.
Tip: Encebollado is a breakfast dish in Ecuador; come before 11am for the freshest pot.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Guias locales · Viral en TikTok
Show on mapMariscal Foch E4-150 · La Mariscal
A tiny Mariscal restaurant with an international cult following for its passion fruit chicken.
Tip: Seven tables, no bookings: arrive at 12:30 or 7pm sharp or you wait on the pavement.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: TripAdvisor Travellers Choice · Viral en TikTok
Show on mapPontevedra E5-240 y Guipuzcoa · La Floresta
Breakfasts run by women entrepreneurs in a house built around a courtyard tree.
Tip: Order the Tigrillo breakfast, the owner's grandmother's recipe, and go before 10am on Saturdays.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Primicias · Guias locales · Viral en Instagram
Show on mapOlmedo E1-136 y Fermin Cevallos · San Blas
Quito's pioneering craft brewery, set inside a converted 19th-century chapel.
Tip: Get the six-beer flight with the hornado pizza; it is the combo everyone comes back for.
🚇 La Alameda — Metro L1
Featured in: Time Out · Guias locales
Show on mapCarchi y Nicaragua, Parque San Juan · San Juan
A glass dining room hanging over the old town: the most spectacular view in the city.
Tip: Book a window table for 6:15pm and take a taxi back; the neighbourhood is steep.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Conde Nast Traveler · Time Out
Show on mapCalle de la Ronda Oe1-134 · Centro Historico
Classic La Ronda tavern: caldo de patas, empanadas de viento and canelazo by the window.
Tip: The sugar-dusted empanadas de viento are huge; one easily feeds two.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Quito Turismo · Guias locales
Show on mapGeneral Francisco Salazar · La Floresta
A 25-year-old neighbourhood Italian in La Floresta; house-made pasta and long lingering dinners.
Tip: This is where locals take visitors when they want something great with zero formality.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Guias locales · Time Out
Show on mapCamino de Orellana 781 · Guapulo
Bohemian Guapulo pizzeria with a terrace over the valley; the prettiest sunset dinner in town.
Tip: Go early for the terrace; the four outdoor tables fill up before sunset.
🚇 Terminal Rio Coca — Ecovia
Featured in: Time Out · Viral en Instagram
Show on mapSebastian de Benalcazar · Centro Historico
Quito's most famous guatitas, behind the presidential palace, going strong for over fifty years.
Tip: Guatita is tripe in peanut sauce; order it with avocado and bread the way locals do.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Quito Tour Bus · Guias locales
Show on mapJunto al Mercado Central · San Blas
Legendary Mercado Central stall: fried corvina topped with shell and shrimp ceviche.
Tip: Lunch only and it packs out; arrive at noon and grab a seat at the upstairs counter.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Quito Tour Bus · Guias locales · Viral en TikTok
Show on mapManabi, junto al Mercado Central · San Blas
Roast pork with crackling, hominy, potato cakes and agrio sauce: the national dish at its temple.
Tip: Ask for hornado with agrio and potato cake, and go before 1pm before the crackling runs out.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Guias locales · Viral en TikTok
Show on mapAv. Naciones Unidas y Amazonas · Inaquito
Pork fritada cooked in a bronze pan with hominy, plantain and potato cakes; a northside classic.
Tip: Order the mixed fritada with hominy and llapingacho; the full local version.
🚇 Inaquito — Metro L1
Featured in: Guias locales · Viral en TikTok
Show on mapValparaiso · La Tola
Hand-made humitas, quimbolitos and Loja tamales every morning, to take away or eat standing.
Tip: Humita goes with filtered coffee and fresh cheese; order both and you breakfast like a local.
🚇 La Alameda — Metro L1
Featured in: Guias locales
Show on mapAv. America · Rumipamba
Creamy potato locro with avocado and cheese, the comfort dish that defines the Quito highlands.
Tip: Locro comes with aji criollo on the side; add it slowly, it bites harder than it looks.
🚇 Mariana de Jesus — Metrobus-Q
Featured in: Guias locales
Show on mapAv. Rio Amazonas · La Colon
Manabi seafood house in mid-town: shrimp ceviche, bolon and fish cazuela done coastal style.
Tip: Order the shrimp cazuela with peanut and plantain; the most typical coastal dish there is.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Guias locales
Show on mapManuel Samaniego N8-95 · Itchimbia
Greek-Ecuadorian balcony over the old town, with the postcard view everyone posts.
Tip: Terrace tables are first come; arrive 5pm on a weekday and have a canelazo while you wait.
🚇 La Alameda — Metro L1
Featured in: Time Out · Viral en TikTok
Show on mapAv. Isabel la Catolica · La Paz
Quito's benchmark Peruvian seafood kitchen: tiraditos, causas and seafood rice.
Tip: The weekday two-course lunch is the best value in the neighbourhood, hands down.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Guias locales · Time Out
Show on mapAv. de los Shyris · La Carolina
Traditional Ecuadorian cooking since 1966, white tablecloths and old-school highland recipes.
Tip: Order seco de chivo with yellow rice and avocado; the recipe has not changed in 60 years.
🚇 La Carolina — Metro L1
Featured in: Guias locales · Quito Turismo
Show on mapLa Praga · Cumbaya
Cumbaya's food hall inside an old textile mill: several kitchens under one roof.
Tip: Best sunny Sunday plan when Quito wakes up grey; the valley is almost always clear.
🚇 Terminal Rio Coca — Ecovia
Featured in: Time Out · Guias locales
Show on mapAndalucia · La Floresta
Vietnamese banh mi meets Ecuadorian craft beer; La Floresta's trendiest crossover.
Tip: Come at dusk and sit outside; it is the neighbourhood's after-work meeting point.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Guias locales · Viral en Instagram
Show on mapGuayaquil · Centro Historico
Open-door Andean cooking downtown, two blocks from La Ronda, with live music at weekends.
Tip: Order canelazo with puntas while the trio plays; that is the La Ronda night postcard.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Quito Turismo · Guias locales
Show on mapVizcaya E13-18 · La Floresta
The specialty cafe that put Quito on the map: Loja and Intag beans roasted in house.
Tip: Ask for a single-origin Ecuadorian V60; they will talk you through the farm and altitude.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: LATAM Coffee Trip · Barista Magazine · Viral en Instagram
Show on mapFrancisco Salazar E10-37 · La Floresta
Tiny Italian bar with flawless espresso and the creative quarter's best sweet focaccia.
Tip: Take your cortado standing at the bar, Italian style; there are four stools and they vanish fast.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: LATAM Coffee Trip · Guias locales
Show on mapJulio Zaldumbide · La Floresta
Ecuadorian roaster pouring Loja, Zamora and Intag coffees, with open cuppings on Saturdays.
Tip: Ask about Saturday cupping; it is free and you taste four Ecuadorian origins.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: LATAM Coffee Trip · Guias locales
Show on mapLugo · La Floresta
Fair-trade coffee from the Intag valley, served in a wildly colourful little room.
Tip: The beans come from co-ops that stopped mining in Intag; ask them to tell you the story.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: LATAM Coffee Trip · Primicias
Show on mapGuipuzcoa N14-27 · La Floresta
Corner cafe with pavement tables, perfect for watching La Floresta drift by on a Sunday.
Tip: Sit outside for Sunday brunch; the neighbourhood fills with markets and fresh murals.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Primicias · Guias locales
Show on mapValladolid N24-353 · La Floresta
The arthouse cinema's cafe: bougainvillea patio, borrowed books and Intag co-op coffee.
Tip: Arrive an hour before a screening and work in the patio; there is wifi and almost nobody.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: LATAM Coffee Trip · Time Out
Show on mapAv. Isabel la Catolica · La Floresta
A brew-method lab: aeropress, chemex and syphon with rotating Ecuadorian microlots.
Tip: Ask for the same bean in two methods; they serve both side by side to compare.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Primicias · Guias locales
Show on mapGalicia · La Floresta
Minimalist space with in-house roasting and chef pastry; a favourite of solo laptop workers.
Tip: Sockets at most tables and solid wifi; the best Quito cafe for a few hours of work.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Primicias · Guias locales
Show on mapAv. de los Shyris · La Carolina
Northside specialty bar with competition baristas and a guest-farm bean every month.
Tip: Order the guest-farm coffee of the month; usually a microlot you cannot get anywhere else.
🚇 La Carolina — Metro L1
Featured in: LATAM Coffee Trip · Guias locales
Show on mapAv. Rio Amazonas · La Carolina
Northside neighbourhood cafe with one of the best-calibrated machines in town.
Tip: Order a whole-milk flat white; it is what keeps the neighbourhood coming back.
🚇 La Carolina — Metro L1
Featured in: LATAM Coffee Trip · Guias locales
Show on mapAv. Rio Amazonas · Inaquito
Ecuadorian fair-trade roaster with women-produced coffees and its own chocolate bars.
Tip: Take home a bag of Guardiana coffee, grown by women; the best edible souvenir in Quito.
🚇 Inaquito — Metro L1
Featured in: Cafe Galletti · LATAM Coffee Trip
Show on map18 de Septiembre · La Mariscal
Pastry shop and specialty cafe with hand-laminated croissants and championship latte art.
Tip: Croissants come out at 9am and sell out by noon; get the pistachio one.
🚇 El Ejido — Metro L1
Featured in: Primicias · Viral en Instagram
Show on mapJose Tamayo · La Mariscal
Book cafe with actual cats, second-hand books and some of the best home baking in Quito.
Tip: Best rainy-day refuge in town; stay a whole afternoon with a borrowed book.
🚇 El Ejido — Metro L1
Featured in: Primicias · Time Out
Show on mapWilson · La Mariscal
Amazonian Kichwa cooperative serving cacao and coffee grown on its own community plots.
Tip: Try the thick hot chocolate made with their Napo cacao; it tastes like nothing else.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Kallari · Time Out
Show on mapGarcia Moreno y Sucre · Centro Historico
The old town's oldest cafe: quimbolitos, humitas and filtered coffee, unchanged for generations.
Tip: Order the quimbolito, humita and tamal platter with filtered coffee; the full Quito breakfast.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Guias locales · Quito Turismo
Show on mapGuayaquil N5-59 · Centro Historico
Paila ice cream hand-whipped over ice since 1858, the oldest ice cream parlour in Ecuador.
Tip: Order blackberry and taxo flavours; you will not find them outside Ecuador.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Guias locales · Quito Turismo · Viral en TikTok
Show on mapVicente Rocafuerte · San Roque
Quito convent sweets: colaciones, figs with cheese and artisan Andean fruit ice creams.
Tip: Try figs with cheese, the traditional Quito dessert almost no tourist orders.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Guias locales
Show on mapGarcia Moreno S1-47, Museo de la Ciudad · Centro Historico
The old hospital courtyard turned cafe, with 1565 arcades and zero street noise.
Tip: You can enter the cafe without a museum ticket; the quietest corner of the old town.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Museos de Quito · Guias locales
Show on mapGeneral Leonidas Plaza · La Mariscal
Historic cultural cafe in La Mariscal: live sets, Tuesday tango and poetry nights for decades.
Tip: Tuesdays there is a milonga with a free class beforehand; arrive at 8pm even as a beginner.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Time Out · Guias locales
Show on mapAv. Gonzalez Suarez · Gonzalez Suarez
Bohemian cafe on Gonzalez Suarez, small terrace and a valley view on the way down to Guapulo.
Tip: Stop here before walking down to Guapulo; few tables and the view pays for the hill.
🚇 La Pradera — Metro L1
Featured in: Guias locales · Viral en Instagram
Show on mapAv. Pichincha y Esmeraldas · San Blas
Quito's historic market: juices, hornado, corvina and the best cheap lunch downtown.
Tip: Go upstairs to eat and stay downstairs to buy odd fruit like taxo and naranjilla.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Quito Turismo · Viral en TikTok
Show on mapVersalles y Antonio de Ulloa · Santa Clara
La Mariscal's neighbourhood market: flowers, cleansing herbs, Andean fruit and honest set lunches.
Tip: Get a ruda-and-egg cleansing in the herbalists' aisle; it costs a couple of dollars.
🚇 Santa Clara — Trolebus
Featured in: Quito Turismo · Guias locales
Show on mapJorge Washington y Reina Victoria · La Mariscal
Two hundred stalls of Otavalo textiles, toquilla straw hats, silver and tagua under one roof.
Tip: Haggling is expected: open at 60 percent of the asking price and close around 75.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Lonely Planet · Quito Turismo
Show on mapFrancisco Galavis · La Floresta
Small market in the creative quarter, with a Saturday organic fair and very cheap set lunches.
Tip: Saturday mornings there is a farmers market; bring a bag and try the Intag coffee.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Primicias · Guias locales
Show on mapImbabura y Chile · Centro Historico
Ecuador's most chaotic and cheapest bazaar; whole blocks of imports where you find everything.
Tip: Go by day, no backpack and little cash; it is safe but it is pickpocket kingdom.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Guias locales · Quito Turismo
Show on mapAv. Cristobal Colon · La Paz
Ecuador's most legendary designer craft store, founded by Olga Fisch back in 1942.
Tip: Upstairs there is a free museum of Olga Fisch's personal collection; just ask them to open it.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Conde Nast Traveler · Lonely Planet
Show on mapToledo · La Floresta
Concept store of contemporary Ecuadorian design: ceramics, textiles and designer jewellery.
Tip: Best shop in Quito to take home something made by young Ecuadorian designers.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Time Out · Guias locales
Show on mapAv. Isabel la Catolica · La Floresta
The Cuenca house of toquilla straw hats, the misnamed Panama hat, since 1972.
Tip: The Panama hat is Ecuadorian, not Panamanian; ask them to measure and block it for you.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: UNESCO · Conde Nast Traveler
Show on mapEspejo · Centro Historico
Old town hat shop selling toquilla straw hand-woven in Montecristi and Cuenca.
Tip: A fino Montecristi takes months to weave; if it costs twenty dollars, it is not fino.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: UNESCO · Guias locales
Show on mapSebastian de Benalcazar · Centro Historico
Fine-aroma chocolate made in Quito with Nacional cacao; you watch production from the shop.
Tip: Try the dark bar with Salinas salt; the most Ecuadorian edible souvenir there is.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Guias locales · Quito Turismo
Show on mapVenezuela N5-44 · Centro Historico
Ecuadorian single-origin chocolate brand that supplies patisseries across half the world.
Tip: Order the hot chocolate while you shop; they make it with their own single-origin cacao.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Guias locales · Quito Turismo
Show on mapJulio Zaldumbide · La Floresta
The world's most awarded Ecuadorian chocolate: organic, biodynamic and full of Andean flavours.
Tip: Take the Andean salt, Loja coffee and golden berry bars; you will not find them abroad.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: International Chocolate Awards · Time Out
Show on mapBolivar · Centro Historico
Workshop where you make your own bar from the roasted bean, right in the old town.
Tip: Book the workshop; you leave with your own bar made and wrapped as a souvenir.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Quito Turismo · Viral en Instagram
Show on mapBolivar · Centro Historico
Colaciones made in a copper pan by the same family since 1915, unique in the world.
Tip: Go in the afternoon and watch them spin the copper pan by hand; hypnotic and free to watch.
🚇 San Francisco — Metro L1
Featured in: Quito Tour Bus · Patrimonio inmaterial
Show on mapAv. Naciones Unidas, Quicentro · Inaquito
Ecuador's most important bookshop since 1971, with the best Andean literature section anywhere.
Tip: Ask for contemporary Ecuadorian fiction recommendations; the booksellers really know their stuff.
🚇 Inaquito — Metro L1
Featured in: Guias locales · Time Out
Show on mapAv. 12 de Octubre · La Floresta
Publisher and bookshop specialised in Indigenous peoples of the Americas; titles found nowhere else.
Tip: They publish in Kichwa and Spanish; the smartest intellectual souvenir you can take from Quito.
🚇 La Mariscal — Trolebus
Featured in: Guias locales
Show on mapAustria · La Carolina
Northside bean-to-bar chocolatier with Amazonian fruit bonbons and guided tastings.
Tip: Ask for the origin tasting: cacao from Esmeraldas, Manabi, Napo, Los Rios and El Oro.
🚇 La Carolina — Metro L1
Featured in: Guias locales · Viral en Instagram
Show on mapAv. Naciones Unidas y 6 de Diciembre · Inaquito
The northside flagship mall, with international brands, cinemas and a huge food court.
Tip: A few blocks from Inaquito metro station, the best-connected mall in the city.
🚇 Inaquito — Metro L1
Featured in: Quito Turismo
Show on mapAv. Interoceanica · Cumbaya
Open-air valley mall with a central plaza, gourmet market and the sunniest terraces around.
Tip: The valley sits 500 m lower and is usually sunny when Quito is grey; a perfect plan B.
🚇 Terminal Rio Coca — Ecovia
Featured in: Quito Turismo · Guias locales
Show on mapMaldonado y Lauro Guerrero · Chimbacalle
Working-class southside market next to the train station, with the cheapest lunches in Quito.
Tip: Combine it with the science museum and the train station; all three within a few blocks.
🚇 El Recreo — Metro L1
Featured in: Quito Turismo · Guias locales
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