Quito

Currency budget Ecuador

Ecuador uses the US dollar, which it adopted in 2000, so there is nothing to change if you arrive with them. Small notes are essential — a twenty is refused everywhere for a two-dollar purchase, and the one-dollar Sacagawea coins are in constant circulation.

ATMs & cards

Banco Pichincha and Produbanco machines are common and charge two to three dollars. Withdraw inside a bank or a mall, not on the street — this is standard local practice rather than caution.

Ecuador uses the US dollar, so there is nothing to change. Keep small notes and the one-dollar coins — a twenty is refused for a small purchase almost everywhere.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety all of Ecuador

Ecuador's security situation deteriorated sharply from 2023 and the coast, particularly Guayaquil and Esmeraldas, is a different country from the highlands. Quito itself is manageable with the usual rules: no phone in the street, apps rather than street taxis, and nothing in the old town or La Mariscal after dark on foot. Check the current advisory before booking.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa Ecuador visa rules

Health & emergencies all of Ecuador

Required to enter

• Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present

Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

Locro de papa, a potato and cheese soup with avocado. Encebollado for a hangover, which is the national position on it. And the fruit — tree tomato, naranjilla, granadilla — in juices that cost a dollar and do not exist anywhere else.

Nightlife

La Ronda for a canelazo in the old town, and La Floresta for the bars people under thirty actually go to.

• La Ronda — the restored colonial street, and canelazo
• La Floresta — the good bars and the cinema
• La Mariscal — the backpacker strip, and the one to be careful in

Closing: 02:00 or 03:00.

A beer in a bar: $2–4

Canelazo is hot aguardiente with cinnamon and naranjilla, and at 2,850m in the evening it is exactly right.

Getting around

• Trolebús and Ecovía — the trunk bus lines, cheap and crowded
• Metro — one line, opened recently, and genuinely useful north to south
• Uber and Cabify — the sensible way to move at night
• Walking — the old town is compact and steep, and the altitude makes the hills count
• Airport: Mariscal Sucre (UIO), 45 minutes from the centre

Internet speedall of Ecuador

Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Ecuador, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.

Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026

Must-see

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

Spanish (Latin American)

• HelloHolaOH-la
• PleasePor favorpor fa-VOR
• Thank youGraciasGRA-syas
• Yes / NoSí / Nosee / no

The c and z are said as an s here, not the Spanish "th" — gracias is GRA-syas.

Religion

Catholic

Catholic majority blended with indigenous Andean tradition, most visible in highland festivals.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Greet with a single kiss on the right cheek between women, or a woman and a man; men shake hands
• Say buenos días on entering any small shop or waiting room
• On the Galápagos, stay two metres from every animal and on the marked trails, always
• Dress warmly for the highlands — Quito is at 2,850m and the evenings are cold

Don't

• Do not touch, feed or block the path of any Galápagos animal, however unbothered it appears
• Do not take any organic material between islands; the biosecurity checks are serious and so are the fines
• Do not display phones or jewellery in Quito or Guayaquil streets
• Do not refuse food offered in a home; it is a genuine slight