The hook
A high Andean capital with one of the best-preserved colonial old towns in the Americas, sitting almost on the equator and strung along a corridor of snow-capped volcanoes that the explorer Humboldt dubbed the Avenue of the Volcanoes.
01Why it's worth it
Quito, Ecuador's capital, sits high in a narrow Andean valley at some 2,850 metres, and its historic centre, one of the first sites ever named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is among the largest and best-preserved colonial old towns in Latin America: a dense, beautifully-maintained warren of whitewashed and pastel buildings, grand plazas, and extraordinarily ornate gilded churches (the interior of La Compañía glitters with gold). The city lies almost exactly on the equator, marked by monuments just to the north where you can straddle the line. But Quito is also the gateway to the Sierra, the stunning highland spine of Ecuador that Humboldt called the Avenue of the Volcanoes for the double row of towering, often snow-capped peaks that line the valley, including the near-perfect cone of Cotopaxi, one of the world's highest active volcanoes, and the turquoise crater lake of Quilotoa. Day trips and short journeys reach these volcanoes for hiking and dramatic scenery, the famous indigenous craft market of Otavalo, and thermal springs. Compact, historic, and superbly positioned, Quito rewards several days as the heart of highland Ecuador.
02How to experience it
Explore Quito's colonial old town and its gilded churches, ride the cable car up the flanking volcano for the city view, and visit the equator monuments. Take day trips or short journeys to Cotopaxi for hiking, the Quilotoa crater lake, the Otavalo craft market, and highland hot springs. The mild highland climate makes any season workable.