Visit the highlands, with sights of extraordinary beauty, cities and picturesque villas, white colonial churches and multicolor Indian markets.

North Area
At the north area of the highlands we can visit the province of Imbabura, whose main characteristic is its beautiful lakes, indian markets like the Otavalo market with its famous weavers. Visit the "plaza of the ponchos" a touristic hotspot where you can acquire embroidered blouses, hand made purses and sandals.
Cotacachi has an important leather industry and is also known as the musical capital of Ecuador because of the great popular interest. The San Pablo Lake is a place where the practice of water sports like sailing is common, here handicrafts are made with "totora" fibers.

Central Area
Quito, the capital of Ecuador, was declared Cultural Heritage of Humankind in 1979 because of its colonial churches, narrow streets full of history and the works of art of the "Escuela Quiteña" (Quito art school). Close by to Quito is the monument to the "middle of the world" very visited by the tourists.
You can enjoy the "Avenue of the Volcanoes" observing or climbing the Ilinizas, the Cotopaxi, the Altar, or the Chimborazo, or if you prefer to visit the Indian markets of Saquisilí, where indigenous communities commercialize a wide variety of agricultural produce and bovine live-stock.
Further south, is Ambato, famous for its annual celebration of the flowers and fruits. Baños is right under the active volcano Tungurahua, famous for its mineral and medicinal waters of curative properties.

South Area
The city of Cuenca was declared in 1999 Cultural Heritage of the World, its a city full of color and contrasts, here we will find incomparable plazas and monasteries. the jewelry is one of the distinctive handcrafts of Cuenca.
Very close are the ruins of Ingapirca, main archaeological complex of Ecuador and the second in its type in South America. It was an Inca temple where the stones are precisely united without any mortar.