When to visit Quito
The honest answer is that it barely matters, and that is not a dodge. Quito sits on the equator at 2,850 metres, which gives it one long spring instead of four seasons. The temperature in January is the temperature in July. What actually changes is how much it rains, how many people are here, and what is being celebrated.
The short version
- Two seasons, not four. Drier June to September, wetter October to May.
- Daytime highs sit around 18–21°C all year; nights around 9–11°C. Every month.
- March and April are the wettest. There is a local saying: abril, aguas mil.
- Rain arrives in the afternoon. Mornings are usually clear, which should shape every day you spend here.
- Twelve hours of daylight, every single day of the year.
- If the Galápagos or the Amazon are also on your trip, let them choose your dates. Quito will be fine either way.
Why there are no seasons here
Sitting on the equator means the sun's angle barely changes across the year, so there is no summer and no winter. Sitting at 2,850 metres means it never gets hot. Put those together and you get a city where the thermometer does roughly the same thing every day of every month: mild in the sun, cool in the shade, cold once it goes down.
What you will notice instead is that a single day contains several kinds of weather. Bright sun at eleven, a downpour at three, and a cold clear evening is an entirely ordinary Tuesday. Locals dress in layers and carry a jacket in a bag. Do the same and the weather stops being a factor.
The twelve-hour day
Because you are on the equator, sunrise and sunset barely move: light comes at about half past six in the morning and goes at about half past six in the evening, in December exactly as in June.
This matters more than people expect. There are no long summer evenings here — at seven o'clock it is dark, every day of the year. Plan sightseeing for daylight and evenings for eating, and do not expect to squeeze in a viewpoint after dinner.
The pattern that actually matters
Forget the season and learn the daily rhythm: clear mornings, cloudier afternoons, showers late in the day. This holds through most of the year and is far more useful than any monthly average.
The practical consequences run through everything else in this guide. Cotopaxi's cone is usually visible at eight and buried in cloud by eleven. The Old Town photographs best before noon. An afternoon downpour is a reason to be in a museum or a chocolate shop, not a reason to have lost the day.
Do the outdoor thing in the morning. Always.
Month by month
| Month | What to expect |
|---|---|
| January | Wet season, but often a brighter spell. Quiet after the holidays. |
| February | Rain, and Carnival — water fights in the streets, moveable dates. |
| March | The greyest month of the year. Fewest sunshine hours. |
| April | The wettest. Also Holy Week most years, which is Quito at its most extraordinary. |
| May | Transition. Showers easing, the city green, few visitors. |
| June | Dry season begins. Clear runs of days. Inti Raymi in the highlands. |
| July | Driest month. Peak season, peak prices, best mountain visibility. |
| August | The sunniest month, and windy. Busy. |
| September | The insider's month: still dry, noticeably quieter. |
| October | Rain returns gradually. Good value. |
| November | Wet, quiet, cheap — and Día de los Difuntos at the start. |
| December | Fiestas de Quito. The best time to be in this city. |
The four dates worth planning around
Fiestas de Quito — early December
The city's founding is celebrated for the first week of December with bullfight-season parades, open-air concerts, street parties and chivas — open-sided buses full of people and a brass band, circling the Old Town until very late. If you want to see Quito being itself rather than being a heritage site, this is the week. Book accommodation months ahead.
Holy Week — March or April
Quito's Good Friday procession, the Jesús del Gran Poder, is one of the great religious spectacles in the Americas: tens of thousands in the streets, penitents in purple robes and conical hoods, and a silence you can hear. It is genuinely moving regardless of your beliefs. It is also the only two weeks of the year when you can eat fanesca.
Día de los Difuntos — the start of November
Families visit cemeteries with food and flowers, and everyone drinks colada morada with bread shaped like swaddled infants. Much older than the Spanish arrival, and quietly beautiful.
New Year's Eve
Effigies of the old year — años viejos, made of papier-mâché and old clothes, often satirical portraits of politicians — are burned in the streets at midnight. The whole city smells of smoke and fireworks. Unforgettable, and not restful.
Carnival and Holy Week move every year. Check the dates for yours before booking.
But let the islands decide
Here is the thing most "best time to visit Quito" articles miss: if you are here as a stopover, Quito should not be choosing your dates. It is pleasant in every month. Your other destination is not.
- Galápagos, December to May — warmer water, 22–27°C, calmer seas, better visibility, easier snorkelling. Sunnier, with short showers.
- Galápagos, June to November — water down to 18–22°C and a wetsuit becomes necessary, but rougher seas bring nutrients and the marine life is spectacular. Whale sharks in the north.
- The Amazon — it rains all year and always will. The Cuyabeno is fine in any month; higher water actually means better canoe access to flooded forest.
- Climbing the high volcanoes — the settled windows are roughly June to August and December to January.
Choose your month for the Galápagos, then read what to pack for that season. Quito will accommodate you whenever you land.
Crowds and prices
Peak season is July and August, driven by the northern summer holidays, plus the fortnight around Christmas and New Year. Expect higher rates and cruises booked out months in advance.
September is the quiet secret — still in the dry season, noticeably fewer visitors, and prices back to normal. April and November are the cheapest months and the wettest; if you are here for the city rather than the mountains, that trade is often worth making.
One note from our own booking data: guests reserve with us around seventy days ahead on average. For December, Holy Week and the July–August peak, that is not enough. Book those months earlier than feels necessary.
What to pack, whatever the month
The answer barely changes across the year, which is the whole point.
- Layers. T-shirt, jumper, light rain jacket. You will use all three most days.
- A small daypack to carry the layers you take off at midday.
- A warm layer for the evening. Once the sun goes at half past six it gets cold quickly.
- Sunscreen and a hat, every month. Equatorial sun at 2,850 m burns through cloud.
- Shoes with grip. Old Town cobbles plus an afternoon shower is a combination.
- An umbrella is less useful than a hood, because the rain usually comes with wind.
What we do here
Tell us your dates and we will tell you what they actually mean — whether you have landed in a festival week, whether your Saturday works for Otavalo, whether the mountain day should be first or last. If your dates can still move by a day or two, that flexibility is often worth more than anything else in your planning.
There is no bad month. There are better days within it.
Nine rooms in a restored 1914 house in San Blas. Book direct for our lowest rate, and send us your dates — we will tell you what is happening in the city that week.
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