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A picturesque volcanic crater lake and a real indigenous market, on a private day trip.
A private day trip from Quito along the Avenue of the Volcanoes to Quilotoa, a striking crater lake, with a walk down to the shore, a stop at an indigenous market, and lunch included.
This is a private day trip with your own guide and vehicle — lunch is included, and the drive follows the scenic Avenue of the Volcanoes.
A popular starting point — every Voyzo itinerary is fully customizable, so we'll shape the order and stops around your group.
Private hotel pickup in Quito.
Browse a traditional market where local farmers and craftspeople trade their goods.
Admire stunning Andean landscapes on the drive south from Quito.
Walk the steep path down to the shore of this striking blue-green volcanic lake.
Back to your hotel, home, or the airport — whenever your day wraps up.
A private day trip from Quito along the Avenue of the Volcanoes to Quilotoa, a striking crater lake, with a walk down to the shore, a stop at an indigenous market, and lunch included. This is a private day trip with your own guide and vehicle — lunch is included, and the drive follows the scenic Avenue of the Volcanoes.
The route to Quilotoa passes through a string of small Kichwa-speaking villages — Zumbahua, Chugchilán, and Isinlivi among them — that make up what's known as the Quilotoa Loop, and many of these communities still farm the surrounding hillsides using methods passed down through generations. The best-known stop along the way is Zumbahua's market, traditionally held on Saturday mornings and considered one of the most authentic Indigenous markets in this part of the Andes, second perhaps only to Saquisilí's — a place where local farmers and craftspeople trade produce, livestock, and handmade goods rather than put on a show for visitors. Depending on which day you travel, your private guide will tailor the stop to whichever real local market is active that day.
Quilotoa's lake itself sits inside a roughly 3-kilometer-wide caldera formed when the volcano's summit collapsed following a catastrophic eruption around 800 years ago — geologists date the event to approximately 1280 CE, following a dormant period of roughly 14,000 years. The lake that filled the resulting crater now reaches an estimated 250 meters deep, and its striking turquoise-to-emerald color comes from a combination of dissolved volcanic minerals and algae, shifting noticeably with the light and weather through the day. Fumaroles are still active on the lake floor and hot springs bubble on the volcano's eastern flank — quiet reminders that Quilotoa, though dormant, isn't considered extinct.
The walk down to the shore that this tour includes is a genuinely steep one — a loose, switchbacking path that descends several hundred meters from the rim — which is why the return climb is the part most visitors remember most. It's a shorter, out-and-back version of the fuller rim trek some hikers do independently, a roughly 10.5-kilometer loop around the entire crater edge that typically takes four to six hours; this tour's shore walk gives you the same close-up view of the water and the volcano's interior without committing to the full day-long circuit.
Every Voyzo tour is a starting point — tell us what you have in mind and we'll build it.
