| Quito and Around |
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The first city in South America declared as "World Cultural Heritage of Humanity", presents a great culture and historical richness. Although the main traces are found in Quito from the colonial era, you can not deny the importance of this city as a meeting place even before the arrival of the Inca to Ecuador.
Trip SummaryAbout the Tour The first city in South America declared as "World Cultural Heritage of Humanity", presents a great culture and historical richness. Although the main traces are found in Quito from the colonial era, you can not deny the importance of this city as a meeting place even before the arrival of the Inca to Ecuador. Itinerary
Detailed ItineraryDay 1: Arrival Arriving in the capital Quito where one of our bilingual guides will meet at the airport and takes you to the hotel where you will stay, your guide will give you important information about the country and the next day's journey, the rest of the day will be free for you to relax a bit before starting to explore our country. Day 2: Tour of the City and the Equatorial line During a three-hour introduction to colonial Quito, will visit the most important, attractive and prominent places in the city, allowing you to experience fascinating religious and cultural sites in the city center. This tour is an excellent way to see Quito before a visit lonely! The first stop is Guápulo, a natural terrace at the foot of the Pichincha volcano. From this standpoint, we can admire a spectacular view of Quito, and Tumbaco Cumbayá Valley and the eastern mountain range. On a clear day, it is also possible to see the magnificent snowy: Antisana and Cayambe, the third and fourth highest mountain in Ecuador! The tour continues in the old part of town, the "Historic Center" where the story feels like it was yesterday! A measure of our trip takes us through the magnificent cobblestone streets, you will be able to see the extraordinary preservation of all colonial buildings in the city center. For this reason, Quito was declared by UNESCO cultural heritage in 1978. Your guide will take you through the history of Quito, while you have a look closer to the heart of the city, visiting the Plaza Grande (Independence Square) and surrounding buildings as the Palacio de Carondelet (presidential palace ), The Cathedral of Quito, City Hall (City Palace) and the Archbishop's Palace (Archbishop Palace). Throughout our trip, will also visit the Church of the Society of Jesus, which has the most ornate and richly carved facade and interior of a cathedral in the city, and the Plaza de San Francisco, the home church of San Francisco, the largest and one of the oldest churches in the city, built in 1535. As a last stop on our tour before visiting the equator line, visit the famous landmark of Quito, El Panecillo, where you can visit the huge statue of the Virgin of Quito, and also a spectacular view of the colonial city and surrounding neighborhoods. If you want the option to a traditional Ecuadorian food, we are going to visit a superb restaurant. There are two sites you visit: Let's visit the monument of half the world for a photo op. The use of GPS technology, it was discovered in Ecuador, come to visit the real equator line to Inti-Nan, a small and very entertaining museum where you can try their hands with the "scientific experiments" and learn about Andean culture . From there, we will return to Quito. Day 3: Otavalo full day We will head north along the Avenue of Volcanoes to Otavalo. Along the way, we stop at Calderon, to visit a small workshop where "figures of mass bread," a type of bread miniature colorful graphics, are baked. On a clear day, we will be able to stop and see the huge, snow-capped Cayambe volcano, which is in the line of the equator and is the highest point on the equator. We will continue our journey through the valley and people of Guayllabamba. After 40 minutes on the way, it will come to the city of Cayambe, where we will have the opportunity to visit a bakery where the traditional biscuit cake. After a short pause (and probably some Biscuit), we will continue to Lake San Pablo and the huge rock Taita Imbabura, where he performed photos! After our scenic journey, we arrive at the famous city of Otavalo, notable for its textiles, where you will discover the famous indigenous craft market located in the Plaza de los ponchos. The indigenous residents of the area have achieved economic prosperity as a result of their stunning fabric and the popularity of this particular market. Artisans make a great variety of items such as belts, ponchos and tapestries, and community residents often travel to Europe and other countries in the Americas to sell their specialized products. Otavalo's indigenous population still living with a traditional lifestyle, colorful costumes and making use of Quechua as their mother tongue. Of course, there will be time to shop around! The souvenirs are sold around the world, so you can be sure that you are purchasing something truly unique and skillfully prepared. Otavalo is the best place to buy any souvenirs in Ecuador! After some time in Otavalo, we will continue to Cotacachi, where we will enjoy a delicious traditional lunch. After lunch, we will have time to enjoy the famous Cotacachi with leather of excellent quality, amazing prices. After a full day of shopping and enjoy the fantastic culture in the area, we will head back to Quito. Day 4: Cotopaxi National Park Exit from Quito and drive for two hours along the impressive avenue of volcanoes (a large portion of the Panamerican highway). There are several volcanoes along the winding road that are visible, if the weather cooperates. At the entrance to the park, we will have the opportunity to visit a small market that sells local indigenous warm clothing especially for a tropical country - a great place to pick up a pair of gloves if you forget yours at the hotel! Once inside the park, your guide will direct drive through the park, stopping often to talk about the geomorphology and volcanism of the park - and, of course, take some pictures of the light fantastic! Our first stop is at the center of interpretation, Mariscal Sucre, located at 3600m (11,800 feet) above sea level. We'll have some time to see the display of flora and fauna, and also have a great view of one of the natural drainage of the volcano: a huge cannon 80 m deep, and home to a nest of hawks variable ! Your guide will take you to Limpiopungo course, which is a flat located in the valley 3800m (12,450 feet), where you can take in a view of the volcano Cotopaxi (provided that the weather is cooperating!). We can take a short trip across the lake Limpiopungo, where you might spot on earth Andean birds, and wild cows, horses, llamas and alpacas! Usually stay for 20 minutes to acclimatize to the altitude. If the weather conditions permitting, we will further up the mountainside to the stationing of the base camp of Cotopaxi volcano, at 4500m (14,760 feet). If you feel ready for the challenge, it is possible to climb to base camp at a whopping 4800m (15,744 feet), a hike that takes about an hour. Then, your guide will take you past the hotel you chose to spend the night Day 5:Baños door of the jungle In the morning, we will continue driving to the south LATACUNGA city where you can visit an interesting and colorful food market, your guide will prove some of the exotic fruit traditional Ecuadorians will be available in the area, then continuing to drive up the small town of Banos, famous for the active volcano which is in the process of eruption since 1999, Baños are also known because there is a route that a city with the Amazonian region of Ecuador where we will see the impressive canyon of the river Pastaza, waterfalls and will also be possible to use the cable car that moves from side to side in the canyon, tonight we are going to happen in the city so it is always a good idea to make this trip, rent a bike (around 5 usd for the whole day, be sure to test the bike first, and give you a helmet and bicycle-repair kit also) the trip is approximately 24 km, but most of it is down so it's not tiring, there are some interesting restaurants in the area where you can try some food, nothing really fantastic, but very decent food, if you rent a bicycle normally again Baños You can rent a small track is always available and cost 2.00 usd per person. Free night so you can dine at one of several local restaurants in operation for the local population Day 6:Driving back to Quito Free morning, departure time to Quito depends on the policy of the hotel between 12:30 am to 2 pm estimated travel time from Quito to 3 ½ hours, end of service after arriving in Quito. Hotels: Rio Amazonas (four stars) in Quito Double room The Finance Ciénega (Colonial farm 320 years old) double room and simple guide driver
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