7 Best Day Trips and Multi-Day Trips from Quito, Ecuador

In this blog post we’ll detail some of the best day trips from Quito, the capital city of Ecuador. If you’re heading to Ecuador soon, you’re probably trying to put together your own itinerary. Ecuador is a much smaller country compared to its neighbours, Peru and Colombia. Thanks to Quito’s position within the country, the city provides an excellent base for some fantastic day trips.

Most of the locations below can be visited as a day trip. However, some of them are actually better done as multi-day trips. We will highlight the locations where we believe that going on a multi-day adventure is the best option. That way you can decide which places you might like to visit for longer, and this will hopefully help you to adjust your itinerary to fit everything in.

If you’d like to see our adventures from these places, then check out the Ecuador Playlist on our YouTube Channel. 

Things to Know Before Travelling to Quito

If you’re looking for answers to common questions such as where to stay, how to stay safe during your visit and how best to get around Quito, then make sure to check out our detailed blog post below.

The blog post includes answers to the following frequently asked questions:

• Is Quito Safe?
• How To Get to Quito?
• Where to Stay in Quito
• What to Eat in Quito
• Best Ways to Move Around Quito
• Quito’s Bus Terminals

7 Best Day Trips and Multi-Day Trips from Quito

We’re going to start the list with locations that are closest to Quito, before adding destinations that could be more of a multi-day trip rather than a simple one-day adventure.

Hopefully this list will help you decide whether you’d rather visit certain places for a day or longer when you’re planning your Ecuador itinerary.

1. TeleferiQo and Rucu Pichincha

Probably the easiest day trip you can do from Quito is to take its popular cable car, the TeleferiQo, up to Pichincha volcano.

The TeleferiQo runs from the northwest edge of the city centre all the way up to a lookout called Cruz Loma on the east side of Pichincha volcano. It only opened in 2005 and it’s considered one of the highest cable cars in the world.

Once you’ve enjoyed the views during the nearly 20-minute long gondola ride, you can then wander around the mountainside and admire the views of the surrounding volcanoes. There’s a perfectly positioned swing, where you can quite literally swing above Quito. You can also just take a stroll around the area or, if you’re a big hiker, you can climb Rucu Pichincha. Make sure to do the climb during the morning and only if you’ve already acclimatised.

If you decide to summit Rucu Pichincha, then it’ll be a full day trip. However, if you just want to enjoy the views from Cruz Loma, then the TeleferiQo is the perfect half-day trip from the city. This also means that you’ll have some time to explore other parts of Quito too, such as La Floresta neighbourhood or La Carolina Park. You can find more details about these areas in our 3-day Quito guide.

2. Mitad del Mundo, Quito’s Equator Line

Another popular and easy day trip from Quito is to visit Ciudad Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World City). Mitad del Mundo is the best place to visit the equator line, since it’s the only location in the world where it runs through a big city.

Located around 25km to the north of Quito’s centre, Mitad del Mundo is home to an impressive monument dedicated to the equator as well as a big, bright yellow line marking the ‘equator’.

Now, it’s worth noting that this yellow line isn’t actually the real equator. Thanks to modern GPS, it turns out that the initial measurements taken back in the 1700s were off by about 240m. Today, there’s a site just north of Mitad del Mundo called Intinan Site Museum where you can see the ‘real’ equator line. Although, as it turns out, this one also might be slightly off.

Nevertheless, both sites are well worth a visit if you want to learn a bit more about Ecuador and the equator line. Not to mention all the creative photos you can take standing between the two hemispheres.

3. Otavalo

Located about 90km to the north of Quito, Otavalo is one of the most popular day trips from the city.

Situated at 2,532 m (8,307 ft) above sea level and surrounded by impressive volcanoes, lakes, and waterfalls, Otavalo has a lot to offer its visitors. However, the main reason many people come to Otavalo is the indigenous market, which is considered the largest of its kind on the continent.

The majority of Otavalo’s population is made up of indigenous people, who are famous for their textiles. You can browse through a large variety of handmade items from clothes, accessories, and jewellery to other souvenirs. The market is open every day, although the main day is Saturday, when it expands beyond Otavalo’s Plaza de Ponchos.

During your visit, you’ll notice that a lot of Otavaleños will be wearing their traditional attire. Women are normally dressed in beautifully embroidered white blouses and dark skirts. Their main accessories are gold beaded necklaces and red beaded bracelets. You’ll see men in white, calf-length trousers, poncho’s and a hat.

We actually spent 2 days in Otavalo but most people would only visit as part of a day trip. Depending on how much time you have in Ecuador, if you can, we recommend spending at least one night in Otavalo.

4. Quilotoa Lake

One of the furthest places you can visit on a day trip from Quito is Quilotoa Lake (Laguna Quilotoa). It has to be one of the most beautiful crater lakes in the country. Located about a 3-hour drive to the south-west of Quito, just to the west of the city of Latacunga, Quilotoa is the westernmost volcano in the Ecuadorian Andes.

Its 3 km wide and 250m deep caldera lake was formed after the volcano erupted in 1280. The lake has a beautiful green and turquoise colour which comes from the dissolved volcanic minerals from its past eruption.

The most popular way to visit Quilotoa Lake is by joining a day tour from Quito. On the tour, you’ll normally get the chance to descend down to the shore of the lake, where you can rent a kayak or just enjoy the scenery. The tours normally include a few more stops along the way, such as at viewpoints and local markets.

If you’d like to spend a bit longer at the lake and would like to do some hiking, then you can plan a multi-day trip to Quilotoa. That way, you can complete the Quilotoa Lake rim hike which would take you the majority of the day.

In addition, if you love trekking then you can consider completing one of the best multi-day self-guided hikes in the country: the Quilotoa Loop. This 3 to 5 day long hike will take you through the stunning Ecuadorian countryside before finishing at the crater lake.

5. Mindo Cloud Forest

Another favoured location to the north of Quito, where you’ll find plenty of both local and foreign visitors, is called Mindo Cloud Forest. The small village of Mindo is located about 1,250 m (4,100 ft) above sea level in a lush valley to the northwest of Quito.

The valley is home to the Mindo-Nambillo Ecological Reserve, and within the reserve is the beautiful Mindo-Nambillo Cloud Forest, covering over 19,000 hectares. The cloud forest and reserve are known for their biological diversity and countless natural attractions.

You can chase waterfalls along the popular Ruta de las Cascadas, which leads you to 7 stunning waterfalls through the cloud forest. Mindo is also a popular place amongst bird watchers thanks to the rare bird living here called the Cock of the Rock. You can visit a butterfly sanctuary if bird watching isn’t your thing, go on a chocolate tour or do something more adventurous, such as a night walk in the cloud forest.

There are plenty of different types of one-day tours offered from Quito. You can book onto some dedicated hiking tours or more adventurous ones that offer zip-lining and tubing. However, if you want to make the most of your visit, we recommend spending at least a night or two in Mindo.

6. Cotopaxi National Park

One of the most popular places to visit in Ecuador is Cotopaxi National Park. It is the second largest national park in the country and also home to the second highest peak: Cotopaxi volcano. The nearly symmetrical cone shaped active volcano is definitely the park’s main attraction.

Located to the south of Quito, there are quite a few tours offering day trips from the city. There’s plenty to do in the park, from hiking up to José Rivas Refuge on Cotopaxi volcano itself at 4,864 m (15,958 ft), or even going up higher to the glacier at 5,000m (16,400 ft) above sea level. You can mountain bike down the side of Cotopaxi too, which is definitely an activity you’ll never forget. In case you’re after something a bit more relaxing, you can just explore the park on horseback.

Whilst taking a day trip to Cotopaxi is perfect for those short on time, if you can, we recommend planning a multi-day visit. There’s so much more to do in the national park, from climbing other dormant volcanos such as Pasochoa or Rumiñahui to even summiting Cotopaxi itself.

7. Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve in the Amazon Rainforest

Visiting the Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador is definitely not a day trip. In fact, it’ll take almost a full day just to get to your accommodation. However, if you’re visiting Ecuador, then you really cannot skip spending a few nights deep in the Amazon Jungle.

Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve is located in the northeast corner of the Ecuadorian Amazon. It’s a biodiversity hotspot with hundreds of species of birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals calling it home. There are also over 12,000 species of plants in the reserve.

You can normally choose between a 3-day, 4-day or 5-day tour depending on how long you can spare. If you’d like to get the most out of your visit, we recommend booking either the 4 or 5-day tour. This way you’ll be able to do all the main activities Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve has to offer.

Activities normally include sunset canoe rides, swimming in the lagoon, and nightly canoe rides to spot wildlife such as tarantulas, snakes and caiman. You’ll also have the chance to hike through the jungle during the day and at night. Most tours will also offer a visit to one of the indigenous communities to learn about their way of life, and you’ll also get to meet their shaman.

If you only have time for one multi-day trip from Quito, then the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest should be high on your list.

Final Thoughts on Day Trips and Multi-Day Trips from Quito

As you can see, there are plenty of trips you can go on from Quito. Each of them is unique and it would be hard for us to pick one favourite. However, if we had to choose, then we would probably say the Amazon Rainforest and Cotopaxi National Park. We visited both as multi-day trips and are so glad that we didn’t rush either. The memories we made from these places are some of our fondest from the country.

Have you ever been on any of these day trips or multi-day trips from Quito? If so, which ones? If not, which ones would you add to your Ecuador itinerary? Let us know in the comments below.