Museums · Quito · Ecuador
4 best museums in Quito
The collections worth your time, how long each takes and how to fit them together.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answer
Start with Capilla del Hombre and Casa Museo Guayasamín, Casa del Alabado Museum and Yaku Parque Museo del Agua. Together the 4 picks below take roughly 6–7 hours across 3 areas; all charge for entry.
Key facts
- Places in this guide
- 4
- Free entry
- 0
- Time to see them all
- 6–7 hours
- Areas
- Bellavista (Quito), Centro Histórico and San Juan
Museums in Quito
Gallery · Bellavista (Quito)
1.Capilla del Hombre and Casa Museo Guayasamín
Oswaldo Guayasamín, Ecuador's best-known painter, designed the Capilla del Hombre as a monument to the peoples of Latin America, filled with his large expressionist canvases about suffering and resistance.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- History
- Rainy day
- Views
Museum · Centro Histórico
2.Casa del Alabado Museum
In a restored 17th-century house near Plaza San Francisco, this museum shows pre-Columbian Ecuadorian ceramics, stone seats and gold work arranged around themes of the cosmos and ancestors rather than by date.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Art
- Rainy day
Museum · San Juan
3.Yaku Parque Museo del Agua
Built around Quito's old water-storage tanks on a hillside above the Old Town, this museum explains water and the environment through hands-on exhibits, fountains and outdoor play areas.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Views
- Rainy day
Museum · Centro Histórico
4.Museo de la Ciudad
Housed in the colonial San Juan de Dios hospital on Calle García Moreno, near La Ronda, this museum tells the story of daily life in Quito from pre-Hispanic times to the 20th century, with reconstructed scenes and models that children can follow.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Rainy day
- Kids
Grouped by area
| Area | Places | Time needed |
|---|---|---|
| Bellavista (Quito) | Capilla del Hombre and Casa Museo Guayasamín | 2 hours |
| Centro Histórico | Casa del Alabado Museum and Museo de la Ciudad | 1–1.5 hours + 1–1.5 hours |
| San Juan | Yaku Parque Museo del Agua | 1.5–2 hours |
Booking and timing
Of these 4, 3 low cost, 1 mid-priced. None needs booking far in advance. The longest visit is Capilla del Hombre and Casa Museo Guayasamín; group the rest by area to save travel time.
How to fit them into 2 half-days
Grouped by area and kept to about four hours each, so you walk more than you ride.
- Half-day 1 (Bellavista (Quito) and Centro Histórico): Capilla del Hombre and Casa Museo Guayasamín → Casa del Alabado Museum → Museo de la Ciudad, at least 4 hours.
- Half-day 2 (San Juan): Yaku Parque Museo del Agua, at least 2 hours.
The quietest months for queues
- November: highs of 19°C (66°F), about 13 rainy days, quiet crowds. Mixed sun and showers; bakeries fill with guaguas de pan and colada morada around the Day of the Dead.
- May: highs of 19°C (66°F), about 14 rainy days, quiet crowds. Rain begins to ease towards the end of the month and the countryside is green.
- October: highs of 19°C (66°F), about 15 rainy days, quiet crowds. Afternoon showers return; mornings are usually bright.
The neighbourhoods they are in
- Centro Histórico — Colonial plazas, churches and monasteries on steep cobbled streets
More of Quito
Questions travellers ask
+Where should I start in Quito?
Capilla del Hombre and Casa Museo Guayasamín. Oswaldo Guayasamín, Ecuador's best-known painter, designed the Capilla del Hombre as a monument to the peoples of Latin America, filled with his large expressionist canvases about suffering and resistance.