Quito Old Town Self-Guided Audio Walk: Basilica, Plaza Grande, La Compañía and La Ronda

About this experience

Quito's Spanish founders laid a grid of straight streets square across the slopes of a volcano, so the old town does not wind: it falls. This walk starts at the top of the old town and ends at a ravine the city filled in a century ago. Start beneath the Basilica's towers, look back up a colonial street, and cross the Plaza del Teatro to San Agustín and the Plaza Grande, with the palace, cathedral and an independence column of 1906. Then come the grey volcanic stone front of La Compañía, gilded inside, San Francisco's vast plaza and round stair, the Arco de la Reina, the winged Virgin of El Panecillo across the buried ravine, the balconied lane of La Ronda and Sucre's statue in Santo Domingo. Eleven stops, about 2.3 km and 100 minutes, downhill at both ends with one climb in the middle, in English or Spanish at your own pace. Church and museum entry is not included.

Experience type

Day tour or activity

Duration

1 hour and 40 minutes

Audio guide

Spanish, English

Guide

Spanish, English

Categories

Walking tour · Cultural and theme tours · City tours

What's included

Self-guided audio tour in English and Spanish: 11 stops, 2.3 km, 100 minutes Stops at Plaza Grande, La Compañía's carved stone front, San Francisco's great plaza GPS map and walking directions in your phone browser, no app needed Lifetime access: start any day, at any hour, and replay it

What's not included

A live guide: you set the pace and the pauses A fixed start time: begin whenever you arrive Museum and monument tickets, all optional extras Tip or gratuity Food and drinks Entry or admission fee

Please note

To start the tour, enter the ticket code from your confirmation on the Roamer redemption page linked there. Do this before you set off, while you still have signal. The tour then opens in your phone browser, with no app to download. Bring a charged phone and earphones. Mobile data helps; if you have none, open the tour on wifi before you set off. Best time: Tuesday to Saturday, starting mid-morning and no later than about 15:00, so the whole walk is in daylight. On Mondays the Museo de la Ciudad, Carmen Alto, the Museo Camilo Egas, the Centro Cultural Metropolitano and the Santo Domingo convent tours are closed (La Compañía and the San Francisco museum open every day). On Sundays La Compañía opens only 12:00 to 16:00 and the San Francisco museum 09:00 to 13:00. La Ronda is liveliest in the evening: come back by taxi for that. Checked 5 October 2026. Getting to the start: take a taxi to Calle Venezuela and Carchi, just below the Basilica's west front. Quito Turismo advises the yellow taxis with a registration number on the door and the meter on; the UK and Canadian governments advise booking through your hotel or a radio taxi rather than hailing one. The Metro's nearest station, La Alameda, is about a kilometre away. Checked 5 October 2026. Getting back: the Trolebús stops in the Plaza de Santo Domingo, where the walk ends (USD 0.35 a ride), and the Metro de Quito's San Francisco station is under the plaza at stop 7 (USD 0.45 a single trip, paper QR ticket from the station machines; Monday to Friday 05:30 to 23:00, Saturday 07:00 to 23:00, Sundays and holidays 07:00 to 22:00). Checked 5 October 2026. La Compañía (stop 6): foreign adults USD 6, students USD 3; domes and crypts USD 3 each extra. Monday to Friday 09:30 to 18:00, Saturday 10:00 to 16:00, Sunday 12:00 to 16:00. Checked 5 October 2026. San Francisco museum (stop 7): foreign visitors USD 6, including the church choir and bell tower. Monday to Saturday 09:00 to 17:00, Sunday 09:00 to 13:00. Checked 5 October 2026. Carondelet palace (stop 5): free guided visits by appointment, Monday to Friday 09:00 to 16:00. Book by phone on 02 382 7000 extension 7428 or by email to ucultural@presidencia.gob.ec, bring your passport and arrive five minutes early. Visits have been restricted at times for security. Checked 5 October 2026. The Basilica (stop 1) sells separate tickets for the church and the tower climb; there is no official website, and hours shift around Mass, so check at the door. Checked 5 October 2026. The Museo Camilo Egas (stop 2) is free: Tuesday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00, Saturday and holidays 10:00 to 16:00. The Centro Cultural Metropolitano, across from La Compañía, is free: Wednesday to Sunday 09:30 to 16:30. Checked 5 October 2026. Carmen Alto's nuns sell their sweets from a small shop beside the museum entrance at stop 8; its days and hours are not published. El Panecillo: most visitors go up by taxi from the old town. The statue charged USD 1 in the 2025 Christmas season (Monday to Wednesday 09:00 to 17:00, Thursday to Sunday 09:00 to 21:00); check before you go. Checked 5 October 2026. Tourist police: an office on the Plaza Grande, in the Casa de los Alcaldes on Calle Chile (phone 02 295 5785), and a post on La Ronda, open late on Fridays and Saturdays. Checked 5 October 2026. Altitude: the old town is about 2,850 metres up. Quito Turismo notes that mountain sickness can appear 6 to 12 hours after arriving above 2,500 metres and advises no alcohol on the first day. The walk drops down Calle Venezuela, climbs steeply for one block on Calle Flores, rises gently from the Plaza Grande to the Arco de la Reina, and then drops to La Ronda; take it slowly. Not step-free: cobbles and setts, a steep stretch of Calle Venezuela at the start and raised kerbs at several corners. There are no stairs on the route. The UK Foreign Office (updated 2 October 2026) says mugging and pickpocketing are common and advises care in Quito's old town and at transport hubs, and avoiding quiet areas or walking alone at night. Keep bags closed and in front of you on Calle Guayaquil and Calle Flores, in the Plaza Grande, at the San Francisco Metro exit and in the Plaza de Santo Domingo. Walk in daylight. A fence surrounds the Carondelet palace block on García Moreno, Chile and Espejo, and the arcade shops under the palace are closed. Follow whichever pavement is open. The police can close the Plaza Grande on protest or state days; if it is shut, go round by Calle Venezuela and Calle Espejo. Checked 5 October 2026. The trolleybus runs on Calle Guayaquil and Calle Flores: keep to the pavement and cross at the lights. The crossing of Sebastián de Benalcázar into the Plaza de San Francisco is a zebra with no lights: wait for a gap. The walk ends at the Plaza de Santo Domingo. Do not walk on west along the Bulevar 24 de Mayo or up the slopes and stairs toward El Panecillo: take a taxi. Churches may close at lunchtime and during Mass. If you step inside one, keep quiet during services. Public transportation nearby

Itinerary

1. 1
   Day 0

   Basílica del Voto Nacional: The Top of the Hill

   Venezuela, Quito

   Neo-Gothic towers over the old town, begun in the 1890s and inaugurated in 1988, with Ecuador's animals among its gargoyles.

2. 2
   Day 0

   Calle Venezuela: A Grid on a Mountain

   N9-02 Venezuela, Quito

   A straight street down the hill, lined with the old town's houses of earth under whitewash and red clay tile.

3. 3
   Day 0

   Plaza del Teatro: Meat Market to Theater

   Guayaquil, Quito

   A meat market became a theater, now fronted by the white neoclassical Teatro Sucre of 1886.

4. 4
   Day 0

   San Agustín: Rebuilt After Earthquakes

   Chile, Quito

   Where the 1809 act was signed, its tower and roofs brought down by earthquakes and rebuilt.

5. 5
   Day 0

   Plaza Grande: One Power on Each Side

   Espejo, Quito

   The founding square of Quito, with one power on each side: palace, cathedral, archbishop and city hall around a column of 1906.

6. 6
   Day 0

   La Compañía and El Sagrario: Stone and Gold

   García Moreno, Quito

   Stone front with gold leaf inside. A Jesuit church of carved grey volcanic stone, gilded with 23-carat gold leaf over 160 years.

7. 7
   Day 0

   Plaza de San Francisco: A Stair from a Book

   Plaza de San Francisco, Quito

   The first great convent of Quito, founded in 1535, behind a vast stone plaza and a round stair copied from a printed drawing.

8. 8
   Day 0

   Arco de la Reina: The Linking Arch

   N1-42 García Moreno, Quito

   A 1726 arch over the street, beside the convent of Saint Mariana de Jesús.

9. 9
   Day 0

   Bulevar 24 de Mayo: The Buried Ravine

   Bulevar 24 de Mayo y Garcia Moreno, Quito

   A boulevard over a filled ravine, with the best view of the winged Virgin on El Panecillo.

10. 10
    Day 0

    La Ronda: The Lane on the Ravine's Edge

    oe3-61 Calle de la Ronda, Quito

    Balconies on the old ravine's edge, quiet by day and full of music at night.

11. 11
    Day 0

    Plaza de Santo Domingo: Sucre's Square

    Plaza de Santo Domingo, Quito

    Sucre's statue and a chapel arch. Sucre's Paris-made bronze was unveiled in this plaza in 1892. Beside it, a Dominican church and a chapel built over a street.

Meeting point

Basílica del Voto Nacional, Quito Venezuela, Quito, Pichincha, EC

Pick up

Pickup is not provided.

Cancellation policy · Quito Old Town Self-Guided Audio Walk: Basilica, Plaza Grande, La Compañía and La Ronda

Standard Viator policy

• Cancellation 0–24 hours before departure: 100% cancellation fee.
• Cancellation 24–24000 hours before departure: 0% cancellation fee.

Good to know

Operated by Roamer and sold by AGORA. Your voucher and booking reference arrive by email straight after payment.