Best Traditional Ecuadorian Quito and Otavalo Heritage Tour Destinations
Browse more guides: Ecuador travel | South America destinations Best Traditional Ecuadorian Quito and Otavalo Heritage Tour Destinations TL;DR Ecuador - straddling the equator (after which it is named), South America's smallest Andean country - packs the best-preserved Spanish colonial city on the continent ( Quito , the first UNESCO World Heritage Site ever inscribed in 1978), the largest indigenous market in South America ( Otavalo ), the colonial city of Cuenca (UNESCO), the Galápagos Islands (covered in a separate guide), the Amazon basin (Yasuní), and the volcanic Avenue of the Volcanoes (Cotopaxi, Chimborazo). Plan a 7-10 day mainland Ecuador trip. This is one of the most accessible Andean destinations and one of South America's best cultural-tourism values per dollar. Background Quito was founded by the Spanish in 1534 on the ruins of the second Inca capital (the largest concentration of Inca temples north of Cusco was here, all destroyed). Otavalo's ind...