Quito in 7 Days on a Budget (Daily Costs)
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7 days covers Quito’s core plus three real day trips
This week-long route covers the Old Town’s free sights, the TelefériQo, an honest Mitad del Mundo visit, and three real day trips, Otavalo, Mindo, and the Pululahua crater, roughly $35-70 a person per day including a hostel bed, almuerzo lunches, and transit. Day 1 stays deliberately light for altitude; Quito sits at about 2,850m and the airport is actually lower, so you ascend into the city on arrival. For a shorter version of just the city core, see the 2-day or 4-day itineraries, both are the first chunk of this route.
Book or plan before you go
- A hostel or budget hotel in the Old Town, so most of week one is walkable
- Small dollar bills, $20s are hard to break at markets, buses, and small shops
- An app (Uber, Cabify, inDrive) or licensed orange-plate taxi for every taxi ride, never an unmarked street car
Day 1: Arrival and the Old Town core
Arrive at Tababela and take an app ride or licensed taxi into the city (~$25-30, about 45 minutes). Treat today as a light acclimatization day, mild altitude sickness is common on arrival. Once rested, walk the free core: Plaza Grande, La Compañía’s carved facade (interior $6, free the first Sunday), and San Francisco Monastery’s courtyard (museum ~$2). Lunch is an almuerzo at a market comedor for a few dollars.
Day 1 costs: roughly $45-90. Day 1 tip: skip alcohol and hydrate tonight, the rest of the week goes better if today is genuinely easy.
Day 2: Basílica, El Panecillo, and La Ronda
Climb the Basílica del Voto Nacional’s towers (~$2 plus a few dollars for the towers) past the Galápagos-animal gargoyles. Take a taxi up to El Panecillo, don’t walk, the ascent has a real mugging history even though the summit is safe and popular; the 360-degree view and the winged Virgen de Quito statue are worth the short fare. In the evening, walk La Ronda for a canelazo and empanadas de viento, safe on the main lane, skip the side streets after dark.
Day 2 costs: roughly $30-70. Day 2 tip: go to El Panecillo in the afternoon for the clearest light over the Old Town.
Day 3: TelefériQo, Guápulo, and La Floresta
Ride the TelefériQo (~$8.50) up to roughly 4,050m at Cruz Loma in the morning, when skies are usually clearest. In the afternoon, take a short taxi or bus to Guápulo, a steep bohemian hillside village with a free church and viewpoint, then wander La Floresta’s arty cafes and street art back toward the center.
Day 3 costs: roughly $25-55. Day 3 tip: check the TelefériQo’s weather before you queue, the ride isn’t worth it under heavy afternoon cloud.
Day 4: Mitad del Mundo, Museo Intiñan, and Pululahua
Head north to Mitad del Mundo; worth knowing that the famous monument actually sits about 240m off the true equator line. The real GPS line and the “gravity” experiments are next door at Museo Intiñan, worth the separate small entry fee if the science matters to you, not just the photo. Pululahua’s volcanic crater rim is a short taxi or hike further on, free to view and a genuinely different landscape from the rest of the trip.
Day 4 costs: roughly $25-55. Day 4 tip: visit Museo Intiñan, not just the monument, if you actually want to stand on the real equator line.
Day 5: Otavalo Market day trip
Take the public bus from the Quitumbe terminal to Otavalo, roughly 1.5-2 hours each way, for one of South America’s best indigenous markets, for the cost of a city meal in bus fare. Saturdays are the biggest market day, but a smaller daily market runs every day of the week.
Day 5 costs: roughly $20-45. Day 5 tip: bring small bills, vendors haggle happily but rarely have change for a $20.
Day 6: Mindo cloud forest day trip
Take the public bus from the Ofelia terminal to Mindo, roughly 2 hours each way, for cloud-forest birding, waterfalls, and chocolate. Pace yourself to one or two paid activities, guided tours here add up fast if you book more than that.
Day 6 costs: roughly $25-55, depending how many guided activities you add. Day 6 tip: book one activity in advance and decide the rest once you see how the day is going, Mindo rewards flexibility.
Day 7: Old Town wander and departure
Spend the morning revisiting whichever Old Town corner you liked best, or catch a museum you skipped, Casa del Alabado’s pre-Columbian collection is a good low-cost pick. Have a final almuerzo before heading to Tababela for your flight, budgeting the same ~$25-30 for the airport transfer as arrival day.
Day 7 costs: roughly $35-65 including the airport transfer. Day 7 tip: book your airport taxi or app ride the night before, don’t leave it for the morning of a flight.
Is 7 days enough for Quito and its day trips?
Yes, this pace covers the Old Town core, the TelefériQo, an honest Mitad del Mundo visit, and three real day trips without rushing. Quilotoa and Baños are both left off this route on purpose, they genuinely need their own overnight rather than a rushed day squeezed in here, see our day trips guide for why.
For the cheap-eats picks behind these lunch and dinner numbers, see our where to eat guide .