Quito’s Pichincha Volcano is a Great Day Trip!

Are you kidding me?! A beautiful place to rest our heads during our stay in Quito, Ecuador PLUS a view that we could not have imagined!

We booked the perfect AirBnB for our stay in Quito, Ecuador that allows us to wake & go to bed everyday with stunning views of the Pichincha Volcano located in the Pichincha Province of Quito in the Andes Mountain range! What an amazing view. We honestly can’t get enough of the site & have easily taken hundreds of photos of that mountain range. Every time we look out towards the range we see a different view. Absolutely gorgeous.

We lucked out & selected the absolutely perfect Airbnb for our month adventure into Quito, Ecuador! Let’s get to it!

Quito’s TeleferiQo Cable Car

The ride on Quitos’s TeleferiQo cable car is a 15-20 minute ride up the east side of the Pichincha Volcano & the views are spectacular! It is one of the highest lifts in the world!

Since there are those who choose to venture out on the hiking trails, you receive two entries when you pay your fee. One entry is for you to get into the cable car, the other receipt you drop into the box when getting back on to head back down the mountain. This is how they can lookout for lost hikers. Should someone’s return ticket [the second stub] not be in the box at end of day, then someone could be lost & need help. I hope that makes sense? I may not be explaining it as easily as it is intended.

There are coffee shops & restaurants at the tram base & at the top should you work up an appetite walking the mountain trails. Be sure to take water with you as well as good walking shoes as part of the trails are pretty slippery & hilly.

If you are an adrenaline junkie, you can ride the bicycle trail down the mountain or climb to the peak of the volcano. There is also a huge playground for the kiddos at the visitor center!

Here are some photos once we got to our stopping point at about 13,200 ft. The photos do not give justice to these mountains!

Pichincha Volcano– A Few Fun Facts!

1] When was the last time Pichincha Volcano erupted?

The most recent eruption was in 1998 which cast a layer of ash over Quito. In 2000, two volcanologists were killed while working on the volcano dome when a steam blast eruption occurred. This type of eruption normally contains rock & steam, rarely lava.

2] How tall is the Pichincha Volcano?

The Pichincha Volcano is 15,696ft tall! The two highest peaks of this range is the Rucu Pichincha standing at 4696 meters & the Guagua Pichincha at 4784 meters!

3] Ecuador is home to 32 Active volcanos on the mainland & another 15 in the Galapogos!

4] The Rucu Pichincha Volcano can be hiked in 3-4 hours once you reach the top of the TeleferiQo summit.

5] Did you know the city of Quito is built on the eastern slopes of the twin peaked Guagua Pichicha Volcano!