1 week Ecuador itinerary

I am supposed to spend two weeks in Quito in August with a volunteer teaching project, so I can’t comment on your proposed itinerary. However, are you aware that Ecuador is experiencing a great deal of civil unrest and demonstrations right now? Apparently Quito has been shut down with curfews, food and fuel shortages, etc. This is worrisome as I consider travel there later this summer.

Google “Ecuador news” and many articles and videos will pop up. Here is a link to just one:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/25/ecuador-at-standstill-after-two-weeks-of-protests-over-cost-of-living-crisis

You might also want to register with the U.S. State Department’s STEP program to get updates from the U.S. embassy there. Here is the link to do so:

https://step.state.gov/STEPMobile/Default.aspx

Consider taking a tour.

Gate 1 has a great tour of Ecuador.

PeruAgency.com has some of Ecuador as well as Peru. We did a great tour of Cusco, Sacred Valley and MP.
https://www.peruagency.com/tours-to-peru-ecuador-and-bolivia/page/2/?lang=en

When we stayed in Quito we stayed at a Radisson hotel in the financial district. No idea if it’s still there, but we hired a driver from the hotel to visit the equator/Mitad Del Mundo and the indigenous market in Otavala. We also visited a couple other towns the same day. In addition, we took the cable car to the top of the mountain and had dinner one evening at a restaurant on the Panecillo.

One thing to beware of in visiting Quito, pickpockets. Our tour group of about a dozen persons had a guide and a minder that was supposed to make sure we didn't get lost. We discovered later that the minder was more to protect us from being pickpocketed, which is a problem in Quito.