Things to do on your holiday in Quito
The City of Eternal Spring
Quito's not the only city in South America to claim this title - Medellin in Colombia, Sucre in Bolivia and Arequipa in Peru all share Quito's balmy, spring-like climate, and all fancy themselves as challengers, but what is certain is that it's one of the nicest. So nice, in fact, that it was the first city in South America to be designated a World Heritage Site.
It's easy to see why the city was chosen for this honour - the immaculately-preserved and still-buzzing Old Town gives you a real taste of what life in Colonial South America must have been like, with its intriguing mixture of grand public squares and narrow cobbled streets. The Plaza del Teatro and Plaza de Independencia house some of the finest colonial buildings in South America, and are great places to just sit and absorb a little bit of Ecuadorean life, perhaps with a cup of excellent Ecuadorean coffee...
Look at a holiday visiting Quito
Towering above the city are two very different sights: one man-made, the other most definitely not. The "Virgen of Quito" statue sits atop the Panicillo hill and is believed to act as Quito's guardian in times of trouble. One obvious source of trouble is the other sight dominating Quito's skyline - the huge volcano of Cotopaxi. This beautiful snow-capped volcano is far from extinct, although as Quiteños will tell you - the Virgin must be doing something right as Quito is clearly still thriving!
The Middle of the World
As well as the many sights in the city itself, one of Quito's major attractions is that it lies only 25 kilometres from the Equator - the conquistadores were many things but imagination in choice of names was not one of their strong points! An easy half-day trip from Quito takes you to the "Middle of the World" monument, where the offical equatorial line was declared by a French expedition under Charles-Marie de la Condamine in 1763. It's a great place to get a picture of yourself jumping from one hemisphere to the other but there is one slight problem with it... modern GPS shows that the actual Equatorial line is about 200m to the north! It's no problem, however, as there is now a new museum on this spot where you can do all sort of things with water and plugholes to prove to yourself that this really IS the Equator!
Things to do in Quito
Apart from the cultural delights of the colonial centre, Quito is also packed with everything that you could want a modern city to offer. Whether it's fine dining, lively nightlife, great shopping or the latest in world cinema, Quito's New Town has something for everybody and is famous among South America buffs for its laid-back and friendly atmosphere. Quito is a very popular place to learn Spanish, in part because of this atmosphere and so if you'd like us to help out with that then please just mention it!
Gateway to the Andes... and the Amazon!
As well as being a great destination in its own right, Quito is also ideally placed to start a wider holiday in Ecuador - it's privileged location puts it at the gateway to the famous "Avenue of the Volcanoes" that heads south to Cuenca, Loja, and the border with Peru. This route takes you right through the Cotopaxi National Park and past many amazing sights - see our Andean Explorer holiday for more details. Quito is also at the head of roads down into the Amazon rainforest so if you fancy a walk on the wildside then bear this in mind too!
Real World Holidays Ltd | Tel/Fax: 0113 216 1440 | Registered in England No. 5881408
Our Policies | About this website | Sitemap | Contact Us