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Virgin of Quito – Start your trip to Quito
with an overview of the city. Take a taxi to the hilltop (Cerro Panecillo)
east of Old Quito. From the Cerro Panecillo, there are glorious views
of the high mountains surrounding Quito. Climb up the stairs inside the
Virgin to the observation balcony (as you're climbing up, you'll see that
the statue is made of thousands of bronze and aluminum pieces.) If it's
a nice day, bring a kite for the kids, and watch your kite soaring high
in the sky towards the mountains in the clouds. |
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Old Quito (Old Town) – To get a feel of the old
Spanish colonial city, take a walking tour around Old Quito. The Plaza Grande
(Independencia), at the heart of the historic district, has a monument to
Ecuadorian independence. |
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 Church
and Monastery of San Francisco (Iglesia and Convento de San Francisco) – San Francisco is the oldest church in Quito (built on the site of an
Inca house). The interior of the church is magnificent baroque architecture
with beautifully carved statues and gilded chapels. Next door to the church
is the convent, which houses the Museo de San Francisco (17th century
paintings and religious art). The tour of the museum also includes a visit
to the organ loft, a view of the whole church from high above. |
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Museo
de la Ciudad – Housed in the old Hospital San Juan de Dios, the
museum exhibits the history of the city from Inca times to the present. |
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Parque La Carolina – Parque La Carolina, the prettiest
park in town, has a nice size artificial lake, natural science museum, soccer
fields, playground with swings and climbing structures.
The artificial lake has pedal boats for rent. |
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Natural
History Museum (Museo Ecuatoriano de Ciencias Naturales) – The
museum is small, but the collection encompasses the incredible variety of
animals, insects, and reptiles from Ecuador. The entrance to the museum
is adorned with a big stuffed condor, wings outspread. Exhibits in the museum
have on display butterflies, tarantulas and scorpions from the Amazon, crabs,
shells, lava rocks, stuffed iguanas, penguins and birds from the Galapagos,
and skeletons of anaconda and boa constrictors. |
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Museo Arqueologico, Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana (Parque El Ejido) – This archeological museum is a gem, with artifacts dating back
thousands of years, including human figurines from 4,000 years ago, masks,
necklaces, and earrings of gold and silver, imaginative ceramics painted
in vivid green, red, yellow and white (clay class will never be the same
…). |
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Parque El Ejido has a playground with slides and climbing structures for little kids
and painting exhibitions on the weekends. |
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Parque La Alameda – In the park, you can rent pedal or row boats on a small artificial lake. Check out the statue of Simon Bolivar in a
heroic pose on his horse. Don't miss the outdoor relief map of Ecuador which looks like a big flounder with the Andean mountains running
down the middle. There is also the 19th century Quito astronomical
observatory, El Observatorio Astronomico, the oldest observatory
in South America, with old telescopes and instruments. |
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Quito day trips |
