Quito sits at 2,850 m with volcanoes, cloud forest and the biggest indigenous market in South America all within a few hours’ drive. That is the real argument for using the city as a base: on the best day tours from Quito you can be standing below a glacier by mid-morning and back in the Old Town for dinner.
The catch is that the day tours from Quito do not all run every day. Each trip has its own departure days, its own pick-up point and its own level, so the fastest way to waste a short stay is to choose before checking what actually leaves.
Below is every trip we operate ourselves: what the day involves, when it leaves and who it suits. All of them are shared tours confirmed from a single passenger, with a certified bilingual guide, transport and lunch handled by us. We are direct operators with our own fleet, so the bus, the guide and the plan are all ours.
Look at the calendar before you look at the map
These are the departure days of every trip in our collection of day tours from Quito:
- Half Day Walking Tour Quito: every day, at 10:00 a.m. and at 2:00 p.m.
- Cotopaxi Hike and Bike: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday
- Cotopaxi Horseback Riding: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday
- Quilotoa Culture and Hike: Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday
- Otavalo Cultural and Shopping: Tuesday and Saturday
- Mindo Adventure and Sweet: Friday
That list alone shapes your week. Friday is the only Mindo day, and a Cotopaxi day too. Sunday gives you Cotopaxi or Quilotoa, not both. The Old Town walk fills whatever gap remains.
1. Cotopaxi Hike and Bike – 10 hours, $61
The highest active volcano in the world at 5,897 m, and the day trip most people come to Quito for. Our transport takes you to the parking lot at 4,600 m, so the altitude is handed to you rather than earned. From there you hike past the Jose Rivas refuge at 4,800 m towards the perpetual glacier at 5,100 m, with no ropes, no crampons and no experience required.
Then you ride down: around 45 minutes of downhill biking to the Limpiopungo Lagoon at 3,850 m. Bike and helmet are included, and the descent is optional if you would rather stay in the van.
- Best for: real altitude without technical climbing
- Level: moderate
- Departures: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday
- Pick-up: Foch Square at 7:10 a.m. or Zular Coffee Shop on San Blas Square at 7:20 a.m.
- Included: bilingual guide, transport, lunch, bike and helmet, park permits
See the full itinerary on the Cotopaxi Hike and Bike page, or read our Cotopaxi day trip guide before you decide.
2. Quilotoa Culture and Hike – 12 hours, $56
An emerald lagoon inside a volcanic crater, reached through the parts of the Andes most itineraries skip. The day opens at a working indigenous market where lowland produce is traded for highland produce, not a market built for tourists: Saquisili on Thursdays, Pujili on Sundays.
Then comes a highland home at 3,800 m, the painters of Tigua with their animal faces on sheepskin, and the photo stop above the Toachi Canyon. From the community viewpoint on the crater rim at 3,900 m you hike down to the shore and back up, about three hours in all. The way up is where the altitude makes itself felt.
- Best for: hikers who want culture and landscape in the same day
- Level: moderate
- Departures: Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday
Details on the Quilotoa Culture and Hike page, or see how to visit Quilotoa first.
3. Otavalo Cultural and Shopping – 12 hours, $56
Quito to Otavalo is two hours by direct bus. We take a full day and turn it into six stops, because the point is not arriving, it is everything on the way.
You stand on the equator at the Quitsato solar clock, watch bizcochos come out of the oven in Cayambe, then look over San Pablo Lake with Imbabura behind it. Free time follows in the Plaza de los Ponchos, the largest indigenous handicraft market in South America. The afternoon belongs to the Cuicocha crater lagoon at 3,068 m, an active crater with domes rising out of the water, and 45 minutes in Cotacachi, a town that lives from leather.
- Best for: shopping, culture and easy walking, no hard hiking
- Level: easy
- Departures: Tuesday and Saturday, the days of the biggest fair
Full stop-by-stop breakdown on the Otavalo Cultural and Shopping page.
4. Mindo Adventure and Sweet – 12 hours, $56
West of Quito the Andes fall away into cloud forest and everything changes: warmer air, dense green, and more birds than you can keep track of. Mindo is the day trip that feels like a different country, and the one with no altitude to manage.
The day mixes wildlife, adrenaline and dessert – the hummingbird farm, the walk to the waterfall, the tarabita cable car across the valley, a zip line over the treetops and a chocolate factory with a tasting at the end. Canopy, chocolate factory and butterfly farm are paid on site, so you only pay for what you actually do.
- Best for: birdwatchers, families and anyone who wants variety over effort
- Level: easy
- Departures: Friday only
- Pick-up: the reverse of the other trips, Zular Coffee Shop at 7:00 a.m., then Foch Square at 7:10 a.m.
See what the day includes on the Mindo Adventure and Sweet page.
5. Half Day Walking Tour Quito – 3 hours, $13
Quito’s Old Town is best understood on foot and best explained by someone who lives in it. Three hours from the Basilica del Voto Nacional, through colonial church facades, the places where the city’s history actually happened, and the legends locals still tell about them. It ends with traditional sweets and Ecuadorian chocolate at Yumbos Coffee Shop.
It is the cheapest and most flexible of our day tours from Quito. Our office sits on the corner by the Basilica, so the walk starts on our own doorstep. Best day to do it: the day you arrive.
- Best for: your first day in Quito, or an afternoon-free schedule
- Level: easy
- Departures: every day, at 10:00 a.m. and at 2:00 p.m.
Book it on the Half Day Walking Tour Quito page.
Two more ways to take on Cotopaxi
If the hike does not suit you, or one day is not enough volcano, two other trips cover the same ground differently.
- Ride Cotopaxi with a chagra guide – $112. Three hours in the saddle around the Limpiopungo valley at 3,850 m, in the lower part of the park, with a native chagra guide riding beside you. The volcano without the hiking altitude. No riding experience needed; chaps, poncho and helmet included, breakfast not. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
- Book Cotopaxi and Quilotoa as a 2-day, 1-night trip – $152. Both big names in one go, with a night at a tourist-class hotel in Machachi, near Cotopaxi, so day two starts at 8:30 a.m. instead of before dawn. Two lunches and the second breakfast included. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, confirmed from a minimum of one passenger.
What the day tours from Quito include, and what you pay on site
On Cotopaxi, Quilotoa and Otavalo the price covers a bilingual Spanish-English guide, authorized tourist transport, a menu-type lunch and the protected area entrance permits. Mindo includes guide, transport and lunch. It never includes extra food, drinks, snacks or gratuities.
So bring small cash for the rest:
- Quilotoa: $2 lagoon entrance, $1 Toachi Canyon, optional kayak $3, optional horse for the climb back $10
- Otavalo: $5 for Quitsato
- Mindo: $5 hummingbird farm, $3 tarabita, $10 to $20 canopy, $10 chocolate factory
- Quito Old Town: the $13 covers the bilingual guide, while food, drinks and museum and church entrance fees are separate
Order your days by altitude, not by preference
Quito is already at 2,850 m. The Cotopaxi refuge is 4,800 m, and the Quilotoa hike ends by climbing back to a rim at 3,900 m. Both feel harder on day two in the country than on day five.
In practice, that means putting the Old Town walk and Mindo, warm and low, near the start of the week, and leaving the high days for later. If Cotopaxi or Quilotoa is on your list, give yourself a day or two in Quito first and your body will thank you at 4,600 m.
So which day tours from Quito should you pick?
- One day only, want the volcano: Cotopaxi Hike and Bike
- One day only, want the photograph: Quilotoa
- You want to shop and meet people: Otavalo
- You want warmth, birds and no altitude: Mindo
- You just landed and need to move gently: Half Day Walking Tour Quito
- You would rather ride than hike: Cotopaxi Horseback Riding
- You have two days: Cotopaxi and Quilotoa together, with the night in between
Book directly with the operator
Every one of these day tours from Quito is operated by us, with our own transport and our own guides. Nothing is resold. That is why we can confirm from a single passenger and tell you honestly which day suits you, instead of the one that happens to leave tomorrow.
Compare the whole range in our list of day tours and multi-day trips, or message us on WhatsApp at +593 98 094 2338 and tell us how many days you have in Quito. We will put them in the right order for you.
