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Experience...

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Quito is Ecuador’s capital; a city that rises in the Andes, 2,800 meters above sea level (9,186.35 feet above sea level). Here, past and present coexist framed inside monumental architecture that speaks of history in Pre-Columbian and colonial times, of Independence and the Republic. The city that was named the first World Heritage Site is cozy, modern, artistic, and cultural. It is located only minutes away from forests and paramos, exuberant national parks, snowy volcanoes, and areas designated for birdwatching –recognized as the planet’s hot spots-. Quito, the entrance door to a mega diverse Ecuador, awaits you.Published by Empresa Metropolitana QUITO TURISMO - Year 2013

• Edition and photos: Quito Turismo • Design: Francisco Veintimilla R.

Galapagos IslandsIslas Galápagos

Pacific CoastCosta

Andes

AmazonAmazonía

Lat. 0°0'0"

Galapagos IslandsIslas Galápagos

Pacific OceanOcéano Pacífico

Atlantic OceanOcéano Atlántico

Lat. 0°0'0"

Francisco de Orellana

Nueva Loja

Baeza

Tena

Puyo

Macas

Riobamba

Baños

Ibarra

Tulcán

Esmeraldas

Bahía de Caráquez

Puerto Ayora

Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

Quevedo

Santo Domingo

Latacunga

Ambato

GuarandaBabahoyo

Portoviejo

Manta

GuayaquilSanta Elena

Azoguez

Cuenca

Loja Zamora

Machala

Quito

Welcome Quito

South AmericaEcuador

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Quito provides you with some irresistible reasons to visit it. Here are some of them:

1. In 1978, UNESCO declared the city as the first World Cultural Heritage Site.

2. It offers a combination of colonial and mo-dern lifestyle, filled with tradition, culture, history, and entertainment.

3. Quito has the largest and best preserved his-toric center in America. A colonial bastion that has remained intact throughout the years.

4. Near the city, you can find Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World). Here, it is a ritual for

tourists to take a picture with one foot in the northern hemisphere and another foot in the southern hemisphere.

5. It has dozens of museums that offer a detai-led look at the history of the city, the country and the continent.

6. Its gastronomy. Ranging from typical dishes of the Andean Highlands -like locro de papa (a creamy potato soup), the rosero (a deli-cious drink with chunks of Andean grains and fruits), sweet and salty empanadas, and the exotic cuy (guinea pig)- to fresh seafood from the Pacific Coast.

7. La Mariscal: this lively area of restaurants, bars, and clubs offers atmosphere, food, and music for everyone.

8. Quito has 33 towns within its surroundings, full of enchanting countryside magic.

9. The Avenue of the Volcanoes, where you not only get to see the beauty of these giant mountains that surround Quito; through this route you can also discover the life of the chagra (Andean farmer in Ecuador, dedicated to stockbreeding) in centennial ranches dedi-cated to agritourism activities.

10. Nature in the Northwest, where one of the Andean Chocó’s hot spots is located, home of several bird species (Important Bird Areas).

Why Quito?

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PLAZA GRANDE: this colonial city was built around it. It is here where you can find the Presidential Palace (Carondelet) and the Cathedral of Quito, as well as the Archbishop’s Palace. The enjoyment resides on the centennial trades that remain active within its surroundings: clock shops, traditional coffee shops, artisans’ workshops and more.

CALLE DE LAS SIETE CRUCES: The García Moreno Street gets this name because there are seven churches in it, with different congregations, distributed only a few blocks away from each other. They are remainders of the religiousness that is practiced in the city from the 16th century. The Compañía de Jesús church is one of the baroque icons of this street. The

San Francisco square and church, the Alabado Museum are other important places to visit.

LA RONDA: The most ancient and traditional street in the city, associated to Quito’s former bohemianism and art. Today, it is a synonym for workshops and handicrafts. It is the perfect place to experience Quito’s true essence.

W H A T Y O U C A N N O T M I S S :

Quito is a city where the essence of its past concentrates in Old Town. This is the largest and best preserved historic center in America. With 320 hectares, its narrow streets are packed with houses, monasteries, convents, and colonial churches, which continue to exist thanks to their religious orders, and their inhabitants’ centenary trades and crafts. This area was one of the reasons why UNESCO declared Quito the first World Cultural Heritage Site in 1978. Its impressive architecture, from the 16th to the 20th century, harbors the daily life of its inhabitants, which has changed very little, if anything, in the past few years.

Old Town

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La Mariscal

PLAZA FOCH: The heart of La Mariscal. Bars, restaurants, and coffee shops located in an area with a permanent party atmosphere, which brings out Quito’s cosmopolite side.

AMAZONAS AVENUE: It is La Mariscal’s main street, which goes through the north part of Quito. It is the perfect route to take a walk and explore this commercial and bohemian part of town.

LA FLORESTA: Home of Quito’s contemporary bohemianism. Here, many places of cultural interest –independent film movie theaters, art galleries, and handicraft shops- share their space with houses, universities, hotels, squa-res, and parks.

W H A T Y O U C A N N O T M I S S :

Celebration, tradition, and modernity combined, bringing you several options for daytime or nighttime entertainment. Around Plaza Foch you will find hotels, bars, clubs, coffee shops, antique shops, restaurants, handicraft stores, museums, and plazas. In the highest part of La Mariscal, in La Floresta, you’ll find several culinary and cultural options to choose from.

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Middle of the World

Quito is located in the center of the planet. A French geodesic mission in the 18th century worked for eight years to establish the place where the equatorial line that divides the Earth passes through. Today, it is one of the city’s main attractions. After all, there are few places in the world where a tourist can take a picture with one foot on each hemisphere.

MIDDLE OF THE WORLD CITY: Located where the mission established the center of the world. Here there are several exhibitions, as well as an ethnographic museum so you can get to know more about Ecuadorian customs.

PULULAHUA GEOBOTANICAL RESERVE: A few minutes away from Quito, you can find one of the two volcanoes in the world whose crater is inhabited. It is a magnetic place that you have to visit.

INTIÑÁN SITE MUSEUM: Here, through several experiments (like balancing an egg on the head of a nail) you’ll be able to discover what it means to be in the middle of the world according to physics.

W H A T Y O U C A N N O T M I S S :

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Rural life in Quito can be charming and magical. Here you will find paramos, cloud forests, valleys, volcanoes, waterfalls, and peaceful towns with a rich biodiversity. Spectacled bears, cougars, condors, cu-riquingues, rabbits, and hummingbirds are some of the species you can observe here, as well as ferns and a great variety of orchids. Besides, each parish will allow you to enjoy different culinary, sport, artisanal, and cultural experiences.

RUTA ESCONDIDA (HIDDEN ROUTE), At the North of Quito, there is a trail that crosses five parishes (Puellaro, Perucho, Atahualpa, Chavezpamba y San José de Minas) allows you to travel through the most peaceful Andean landscapes.

QUINDE ECOROUTE: Northwest of Quito, this route was declared an important ecological and landscape area, and it is also part of the Important Bird Areas. In it, you can observe a great variety of hummingbirds. This route crosses Nono, Alambí, Tandayapa and Nanegal.

MASHPI AND PACHIJAL: Two protected areas in the cloud forest where you can hike, do mountain biking, and spot a great variety of endemic birds by Bird Life International.

GUAGUA PICHINCHA AND LLOA: This parish is located 30 minutes away from Quito, where you can hike in the paramo, practice mountaineering, and mountain biking. Lloa’s biggest attraction is the Guagua Pichincha volcano.

Parishes, rural life, with must-places and activities for adventure

W H A T Y O U C A N N O T M I S S :

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OTAVALO: The city of textiles, with a great offer of handicrafts and the capital of the Imbabura province. Otavalo is located 120 kilometers (74.56 miles) north of Quito. Its Plaza de los Ponchos is the quintessential place to purchase objects made with leather, fabric, wood, ceramic, vegetable ivory, wool and seeds. The animal market is another attraction that you cannot miss.

COTOPAXI VOLCANO: Ecuador’s giant. Located in the national park with the same name, the Cotopaxi is one of the tallest active volcanoes in the world (5 897 meters tall – 19,347.11 feet tall), with endemic fauna and flora, typical of these elevated grounds.

PAPALLACTA: A miracle located in the midst of the cold of the Andes, with pools of hot water in the heart of the páramo, surrounded by mist. 50 kilometers (31 miles) east from Quito, you can find several fully equipped resorts for relaxing.

NORTHWEST: A bird sanctuary two hours away from Quito. For years, this town has been considered by ornithological tourism fans as the the top birdwatching spot.

W H A T Y O U C A N N O T M I S S :

Near Quito, whatever direction you take –north, south, east or west- there are many wonderful places to see, like volcanoes, national parks, waterfalls, and hot water springs. This turns the city into the headquarters for any visitor who wants to experience Ecuador’s natural diversity.

Quito’s surroundings

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The train in EcuadorThis is Ecuador’s star creation, because traveling by train is like going back in time and recovering, as a tourist experience, what it was like to travel around the country at the beginning of the 20th century. Now, tourists have the opportunity to travel from the Andes to the Ecuadorian coast, in a ride that recreates the story of a country that dreamt of unifying its regions more than a hun-dred years ago.

Quito Tour BusYou can get to know Quito through its streets, its most important places, through the stories be-hind each place… All of this thanks to the daily and nightly tours that are part of this hop on-hop off bus system. Tourist Quito can be better appre-ciated in these double-decker buses that take you through emblematic places like the Botanical Gar-den, the Basílica, the Independency Square, the Panecillo and the Teleférico (cable car).

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Artisans and trade

GastronomyEL QUINDE STORE: Located in Old Town, this is the perfect store to find a souvenir that accurately represents your trip to Quito.

LA RONDA: The bohemian street in Quito is also a space to admire the traditional art and handicrafts in various workshops and galleries. Artisans work in plain sight, making it an ideal opportunity to take pictures and learn about Quito’s traditions.

This is a city filled with people that’ll bewitch you with their skillful hands. The astonishing work of Quito’s artisans and artists allows visitors to take premium quality objects as souvenirs from their trip. This is the city of creativity and the result of the work of dozens of experts is displayed in va-rious shops, markets, and streets.

Quito offers the best of Ecuadorian food throu-gh hundreds of restaurants with different kinds

of atmospheres and menus. You’ll find places that offer a great variety of exquisite traditional

dishes, which combine tubers (potato), grains (corn), meats and seafood, among other ingre-

dients. You cannot visit Quito and not try the locro de papa (a creamy soup made with potato and cheese), or fritada (fried pork meat), shrimp

ceviche, roasted pork sandwich (made with slices of pork meat), llapingacho (potato cakes stuffed

with cheese) and tripa mishqui (roasted cow’s small intestine), and several other dishes in Ecua-

dorian gastronomy.

Quito is also the city to taste a great selection of international cuisine, which makes it an ideal

place for culinary tourism.

W H A T Y O U C A N N O T M I S S :

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Lodging This is the city you can visit with your friends, family, couple, or by yourself. And to make yours a pleasant stay, Quito offers the best lodging options in boutique hotels, hotels and hostels, located in areas with great commercial, cultural, and entertainment activity. With various options to accommodate your budget, here you will find the security and commodity you are looking for in your trip.

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DAY 1OLD TOWN

Access Duration

Plaza Grande Afoot 30 min

Tienda el Quinde Afoot 30 minCúpulas de La Catedral de Quito Afoot 45 min

Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús Afoot 60 min

Iglesia de San Francisco Afoot 45 min

Museo Casa del Alabado Afoot 60 minBarrio La Ronda Afoot 120 minMirador El Panecillo Afoot 60 min

DAY 4QUITO - OTAVALO (Surroundings - North)

Access Duration

Farms of roses Bus 90 min

Cantón Cayambe Afoot + bus 60 minMirador del Lago San Pablo bus 30 min

Parque Cóndor bus 90 minMercado indígena de Ota-valo (Mercado de Ponchos) Afoot + bus 120 min

Cotacachi Afoot + bus 90 min

Lagunas de Cuicocha Afoot+ bus 120 min

DAY 3TREN - COTOPAXI (Surroundings - South)

Access Duration

Tren Ecuador (Quito - El Boliche - Quito) A foot+ Bus

+ Train 8 horasEl Boliche

Laguna Limpiopungo

DAY 2MODERN QUITO - MITAD DEL MUNDO

Access Duration

El TelefériQo Teleférico + bus 120 min

Ciudad Mitad del Mundo Afoot 60 min

Museo Intiñan Afoot 60 minMirador del Cráter Pululahua Afoot 30 min

Museo Insitu Tulipe Bus 90 min

Capilla del hombre Afoot 60 min

Discover Quito