3 days / 2 nights hiking the Quilatoa Loop

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
9
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
5
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
9
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
9
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
2
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
6
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
82 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
31st/454
Top 10%
continent
South America
country
Ecuador
Length of time
3-4 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$30 (typically $20 - $40)
Time of year visited
February
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Adventure Hiking Local villages
All Tags
Altitude Isolation Mountains Volcanic Lake Volcanoes Wildlife - Llamas/Alpacas/Guanacos/Vicunas
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐

Summary

The Quilatoa loop was the highlight for us of mainland Ecuador:

✅ 3 days of hiking through luscious mountain valleys like something from a Lord of the Rings movie

✅ Stopping off in hostels to share stories with fellow travellers whilst also having hours where you don’t see anyone else

✅ Passing by the local villages with their friendly smiles and, bizarrely, bowler hats

✅ Finishing off with the view looking over the Quilatoa Crater itself

A great few days and a must if visiting Ecuador.

 

Views of the valleys on the Quilatoa Loop, Ecuador

Table of Contents

Highlights

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#1 Walking through the beautifully lush valleys of this gorgeous part of central Ecuador

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#2 Looking over the famous volcanic crater of Quilotoa as you walk around its side

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#3 Walking through and stopping to talk with some of the locals in the blissful villages that are scattered along the route

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#4 Meeting with fellow travellers as you stay in some of the lovely backpacker friendly hostels along the way

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#5 That adventure feeling as you head off with just the (light) things you're going to carry in your backpack and a, vague, idea of where you're going

Itinerary

  • Day one:
    • Leave your bags you don’t want to carry in one of the hostels or hotels in Latacunga
    • Take one of the regular buses to Sigchos
    • Hike the relatively flat(ish) 14km  / 3 hours to Isinlivi
    • Stay at the Hostal Taita Cristobal
  • Day two:
    • Hike the 12km / 4 hours to Chugchilan to have lunch
    • Hike the difficult 6kms / 3 hours to the foot of the Quilatoa Crater
    • Stay at Hostal Rosita
  • Day three:
    • Hike up to the Quilatoa crater and walk around the crater from the North West point to the South West point
    • Take a bus back to Latacunga

Travel tips

The Route

The Quilatoa loop is technically from the Panamerican highway through Tigua, the Quilatoa Crater, Sigchos and back to the highway at Saquisili – a whopping 180kms.  But most focus on the section between the Crater and Sigchos, which is around 40km.  See below the screenshot from the route and the All Trails Route link.

 

All Trails Route for hiking the Quilatoa Loop

All Trails Route Map for the Quilatoa Loop

 

You can start / finish at Sigchos or the Quilatoa crater.  We went for Sigchos first and ending up at the crater mainly because we thought it would be nice to finish with the crater and made sense with the altitude to go from the 3180m of Sigchos / 2700m of Isinlivi to the higher 3900m of the crater.

First night make sure you stay at Hostal Taita Cristobal which has wonderful views of the valley and, through eating all together for dinner and breakfast, gives you a great chance to chat with fellow travellers and share routes / tips for the days ahead.

Second day – you have two choices on where to stay depending on how far you want to walk that day.  Option 1 is the standard route which is to walk Isinlivi to stay in Chugchilan.  We decided against this because we arrived there for lunch (Black Sheep Inn is fine) and had the energy to keep going.  So, your second option is to continue for an additional roughly 7kms to near the base of the Quilatoa crater.  We stayed at Hostal Rosita which doesn’t have the views of Hostal Taita Cristobal and is more basic, but its location is perfect.

Third day – you will walk up to the crater, walk around the rim from the North West point to the South West section where there are shops and restaurants, and from where you can take a bus back to Latacunga.  Only around 7kms for the day.

 

Time taken and what to bring

Most take between 2-4 days for the walk.  We did 3 days / 2 nights which was perfect.  You could definitely do it in 2 days / 1 night if you started in Isinlivi.  You could also take longer so that you have the afternoons free, especially if you’re a bit worried by the distance and the altitude.  But we found the 3 days / 2 nights was ideal for the distances and having the first morning and last day afternoon for buses from Latacunga to Sigchos and then the Crater back to Latacunga fitted perfectly.

Pack light – you’ll be carrying whatever you take for the 3 days, so pack light and leave your bags in Latacunga.  There are a few hostels / hotels that allow you to leave your bags there.  We took a private room in Hostal Tiana for the third night (and then on to Cotopaxi) and was perfect.

 

How hard is it?

The total walk is around 40kms and, according to my iPhone, 80k steps and 580 flights of stairs climbed, so its fairly challenging especially if you are not acclimatised to the altitude.  If fairly fit, I’d say the 3 days should be more than manageable.  For those not so fit, the 4 days gives you the time in case you’re super knackered.  Bear in mind a few things though to put you at ease.  Firstly, you can be very flexible with regards to places to stay on the second night, so can adapt depending on how you’re feeling.  Secondly, the walking path regularly passes by some of the roads, so you can ask someone to pick you up and take you to the next town if needed (as we did on the first day when we got hideously and idiotically lost).  There is no climbing or anything like that.  Only walking.

You’ll get lost – the route itself is not as clear as could be at times, which is all parts of the fun and adventure.  To make things even more fun, the locals often give you the wrong directions and the google maps / maps.me etc routes are not always correct.  Just accept that you’re most likely going to get lost!  But to help, follow some of the other hikers and ask for some clear directions from the hostels / hotels who tend to be spot on.

 

General tips

Rain – it could well rain, so so make sure have waterproof boots, jacket, backpack etc.

Altitude – it’s something you have to deal with in this part of the world and, generally speaking, giving yourself some time to acclimatise is key.  You can do various things to help such as take various pills (we took acetazolamide and felt like it helped), drink coca tea (less so in Ecuador interestingly), take pain killers to help with the headache etc, but the main way is simply to give your body time to get used to it.  For the Quilatoa loop, you should be fine by spending a couple of days in Quito at 2850m and then the first two days of the hike are at lower altitudes before the push on the last day to the crater at 3900m.  For those who haven’t been at high altitudes before, expect yourself to become tired quicker than normal and, as you get higher, the feeling a bit like various degrees of a hangover.  The good news is though that the nasty feelings of altitude sickness disappear as you descend.  I’ve had some brutal feelings of altitude sickness and have always been pleasantly amazed at how quickly they disappear by going down.

Safety – we felt safe throughout the time walking the Quilatoa loop.

Bring cash.  No ATMs on the route.

For something more challenging, try Climbing to the summit of Cotopaxi Volcano.

For general tips on having a great week in Ecuador, see A week for the best of mainland Ecuador.

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

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Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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