Quito Travel Guide 2026: What to Know
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Quito is Ecuador’s capital and the highest official capital city in South America, spread along a long Andean valley at roughly 2,850 meters. It pairs the best-preserved colonial old town in Latin America with a modern north side of parks, cafes, and glass towers, and it works as a base for volcanoes, cloud forest, and Andean markets that are all a day trip away.
Before you go: Ecuador in 2026. Quito itself is rated a welcoming US Level 2 city and sits well outside the coastal and border areas most advisories flag (Guayaquil, Manta, Esmeraldas and similar). Ecuador remains under a national state-of-exception declaration that currently covers Quito’s Pichincha province, though there is no curfew in effect. Treat it like any big Latin American capital: stay aware in crowds, and use only licensed orange-plate taxis or an app like Uber, Cabify, or inDrive rather than flagging a car off the street, since unlicensed taxis are the main route to “express kidnapping” scams here. Check your government’s current advisory before you fly, since conditions shift.
The altitude works backward here
Most high-altitude cities make you climb in from a low airport. Quito flips that: Mariscal Sucre International Airport sits at roughly 2,400 meters, lower than the city itself, so you actually ascend on the drive into town. Soroche (altitude sickness) is real but milder here than in La Paz or Cusco. Keep day one easy, drink more water than usual, and go light on alcohol until you’ve settled in. Onward stops climb higher still: the TelefériQo cable car tops out near 4,050 meters, and Cotopaxi volcano reaches 5,897 meters.
The old town is the headline
Quito’s Centro Histórico was named in UNESCO’s very first World Heritage cohort in 1978, one of a handful of sites honored that year, and UNESCO still calls it the best-preserved historic center in Latin America. Inside its roughly 320 hectares sit the gold-leaf interior of La Compañía de Jesús (the exact quantity of gold is disputed, so treat any hard figure with skepticism), the San Francisco monastery where the colonial Quito School of religious art got its start, and the neo-Gothic Basílica del Voto Nacional, whose gargoyles are carved as Galápagos animals and whose towers you can climb by ladder. It’s worth its own visit; the full rundown lives in the Quito Old Town guide .
A short taxi ride north, the Mitad del Mundo monument marks the equator with fanfare, but the real GPS line sits about 240 meters away at the smaller Museo Intiñan, which also runs the fun (if unscientific) balancing-an-egg demonstrations.
Getting around and staying safe
The Quito Metro’s Line 1 opened in 2023 and, alongside the Trolebús and Ecovía bus corridors, covers most of the city well. For anything else, stick to licensed orange-plate taxis or ride apps. Two spots deserve specific caution: walk up El Panecillo hill and you’re a target for muggings, so taxi to the top instead (the summit itself is fine and patrolled); and La Mariscal/Plaza Foch nightlife strip is easygoing by day but sees real drink-spiking with scopolamine at night, so taxi home rather than walking. La Ronda’s main cobbled street is safe with its usual evening crowds and cameras, just don’t wander its darker side alleys late.
Money, entry, and food
Ecuador uses the US dollar outright, so there’s no currency exchange to think about, though local centavo coins are worthless the moment you leave the country. Entry is visa-free for 90 days for US, UK, EU, Canadian, and Australian passports, and the old yellow-fever certificate requirement was dropped in August 2025. On the plate, expect hornado (slow-roasted pork), llapingachos, and a tomato-and-shrimp Ecuadorian ceviche that has nothing to do with Peru’s version. Same-sex marriage has been legal since 2019, and Quito is broadly comfortable for LGBTQ+ travelers.
For first-day logistics and a fuller safety rundown, see the Quito travel tips guide .