Cotopaxi Volcano with an altitude of 5987m (19.347.11 ft.), is the highest active volcano in the world and thousands of tourists visit it every month because it is the main tourist attraction near Quito. The most popular activities are climbing to the top, hiking, horseback riding, and biking. Our 1-day tour, combines up to 3 activities, starting with the hike to the Jose Rivas refuge 4864m (15748.03 ft.). It’s easy to climb to this height without technical equipment and without experience because our transportation brings you to the parking lot. After descending from the refuge, we have an optional bike ride down from the upper part of the volcano parking lot to the lower part of the park to the Limpiopungo Lagoon 3850 m (12.631.23 ft.). Another option is a horseback ride in the camping and springs area.
Otavalo is located in the Imbabura province known as the Province of the Lakes, a few minutes from our main destination. We will stop to see the view of San Pablo lake and Imbabura’s beautiful mountains. Then we go to the biggest and most important indigenous handicraft market in South America open everyday of the week. Our 1-day tour coincides with the biggest days of the market with the maximum number of artisan vendors in the La Plaza de los Ponchos. Here we have 2 hours for shopping in Otavalo. Following Otavalo we will go to Cotacachi, a small artisan town specializing in leather products with 45 minutes for shopping. Our last destination is the Cuicocha Lagoon located at 3068m (10.065.62 ft) in an active volcanic crater with islets or domes and plant observation.
Quilotoa is a couple of hours away from Quito in the capital of the Province of Cotopaxi, canton Latacunga and there are two important indigenous markets in the area. The Thursday tour visits the Saquisilí market and Sunday’s tour visits the Pujilí market. Next we reach the highest point of the highlands 3800m (12467.19 feet) where we will visit an indigenous house in the highlands to learn about daily life. As we begin our descent we will arrive at the community of Tigua. Most of its people live from agriculture, livestock, handicrafts, and traditional painting. Tigua’s paintings and handicrafts are world famous – with brightly colored wooden animal masks and paintings on sheepskin. We will stop to take photos from the viewpoint of the Toachi river canyon. The Quilotoa lagoon is located inside a volcanic crater and has emerald-colored water. The beautiful landscape draws many people from all over. Many weddings and engagements have been photographed in front of the impressive lagoon. The lagoon has two viewpoints; the viewpoint of Shalalá and the viewpoint of the community. In our 1-day tour, we will visit the community’s lookout point that has its access to the crater and we can hike to the lagoon. Adventure lovers can practice kayaking at 3914 m (12.841.21 ft) and the more adventurous can even swim in its cold waters.
Operated by: Ecosport
Operated by: Via Natura
© 2025 Fundacion Bolivar Education – Created by Betelmarket
