10 Best Photo Spots in Quito
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Quito’s old town alone can fill a memory card, and a handful of viewpoints beyond it round out the set. Here are the 10 worth building a morning or two around.
1. Plaza Grande
Quito’s Independence Square, ringed by the Cathedral and the Carondelet Presidential Palace, is at its best photographically in the softer morning light before the crowds and street vendors fill in.
2. La Compañía de Jesús
The gold-leaf interior of this baroque Jesuit church is one of the most photographed single interiors in South America; a steady hand or a fast lens helps in the low, warm light inside.
3. San Francisco Church and Plaza
The plaza in front of this 1535-36 monastery, the largest religious complex in South America, gives you room to frame the full facade, something harder to manage at the more enclosed La Compañía.
4. Basílica del Voto Nacional
Climb the towers here for a rooftop view over the old town, and look closely at the gargoyles on the way up: this neo-Gothic basilica carves them as Galápagos animals rather than the usual grotesques.
5. El Panecillo
The hilltop’s 41-meter aluminum Virgen de Quito statue frames one of the city’s best skyline shots, looking back over the old town from roughly 3,000 meters. Taxi up rather than walking; the summit itself is safe and patrolled, but the approach on foot has a real mugging history.
6. TelefériQo and Cruz Loma
The cable car ride up to about 4,050 meters gives you a wide, elevated shot of the entire city against the Andes; go in the morning before afternoon clouds move in.
7. La Ronda
This restored colonial street photographs well both by day, when the colored facades and balconies are easy to frame, and by night, when the lit-up cafes and canelazo stalls give it a different mood entirely.
8. Mitad del Mundo
The equator monument is built for photos, with the line itself painted across the plaza for the classic straddle shot. Just know that the true equator, and the more offbeat photo ops, are actually about 240 meters away.
9. Museo Intiñan
Right next to Mitad del Mundo, this smaller museum has the real GPS equator line and the playful “balancing an egg” demonstration setups, both good for a different kind of shot than the main monument offers.
10. Guápulo
This steep hillside village below the modern city center gives you a quieter, more residential angle on Quito, with narrow lanes and a colonial church largely free of other photographers.
For more on the neighborhoods behind several of these shots, see our Quito hidden gems guide .