Explore Quito Through These Fabulous Photos: You’ll Fall in Love

With its gorgeous mountainous landscapes, the city of Quito offers tons of beautiful places to explore. Its juxtaposition of colonial architecture and outdoor markets with modern buildings, classy dining, and exciting nightlife have something for everyone. Because a picture speaks a thousand words, we’ve put together this collection of photos of this beautiful Andean city to show you some of the top sites you can explore when visiting Quito, the Light of America.

While on your Global Volunteers adventure in service in Ecuador, you have free time in the afternoon-evenings and weekend to explore Quito. Nestled high in the Andes Mountains at 9,200 feet above sea level, Quito is the capital of Ecuador and the highest constitutional capital in the world. Due to its very well-preserved colonial center, it was the first city ever to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. You’ll fall in love with Quito’s Old Town with its cobblestone streets, colonial architecture, neo-gothic Basilica, colonial balconies, and outdoor cafés. Global Volunteers lodge in the contemporary part of Quito, close to beautiful parks and more modern conveniences. Quito is surrounded by snow-capped volcanoes that, as Ecuadorians commonly say, are vain and so can often be seen, creating a breathtaking skyline. Check out these photos of beautiful sites in Quito, and we’ll save the other incredible sites of Ecuador for another post.

Click on the photos to flip through them in larger size.

Quito is the site of Global Volunteers’ service program in Ecuador, providing a beautiful and fascinating city backdrop to your service adventure. On the weekend, volunteers have free time to get out of the city, should they choose, and explore the countryside, volcanic hot springs, Cotopaxi National Park, Mindo cloud forest, Otavalo indigenous market, Ciucocha Lagoon, just to name a few. While volunteering in Ecuador, you can learn about Ecuadorian culture, biodiversity, and heritage, and will never run out of things to do.

For more information on some of the best sites to visit in Quito, check out this more informative post: