Guided, full-day tours of the UNESCO World Heritage city serve up hidden treasures, historic sites, and hands-on workshops with local artisans and healers

Inspired travelers headed for the historic capital of Ecuador will find plenty to feast upon with four new cultural tours from Metropolitan Touring. Now marking its 71^st year of satisfying appetites for luxurious travel to the natural and cultural wonders of Ecuador, Metropolitan Touring is refreshing its portfolio of popular excursions in Old Town Quito with guided, full-day offerings featuring hands-on activities and behind-the-scenes access to local artisans and healers.

Known as the largest, best-preserved, least-altered historic center in Latin America, Quito sits snugly in a thin valley in the Andes Mountains. The center has undergone a revival in the last few months since the inauguration of an impressive new Metro system, forming a welcome backbone to Quito’s public transport system at the affordable rate of 45 cents per ride. The Metro includes a station in the Old Town which gives easy access to its plazas and churches. Locals and visitors alike have flocked to enjoy the neighborhood’s wonders as a result.

Whatever travelers desire in Ecuador, Quito should be at the top of their list. One of the first two cities declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO, the capital is welcoming and relaxed, with history and culture at every turn. Each of Metropolitan Touring’s tours is designed to heighten appreciation for the city through deep dives into unexpected attractions as well as significant settings such as the Church and Convent of San Francisco, the oldest religious site in the country; La Compañía Church, revered for its gold-bedecked interior and façade carved in volcanic stone; the Middle of the World complex with its Monument to the Equator where the sun casts no shadow at midday at the equinoxes and solstices; the neo-Gothic Basilica; and iconic San Francisco Plaza in the heart of Old Town, one of the city’s main public squares and a center of commerce and culture for centuries.

Led by local bilingual guides (Spanish & English), several tours include drinking and dining experiences at Casa Gangotena, Metropolitan Touring’s restored historic mansion overlooking San Francisco Plaza, twice ranked among the World’s Best Hotels by Travel + Leisure.

• Take a bite out of the capital with A Taste of Old Town Quito, exploring the most popular flavors and culinary traditions beloved by locals. Settings include San Francisco Market, the oldest market in the city, brimming with fresh produce, traditional foods, and generational healers performing cleansing rituals; Agua de la Vida, a small establishment in the San Roque neighborhood known for healing herbal drinks prepared from medicinal plants. Just off Plaza de San Francisco, visit Chocolatería Yumbos with a workshop for guests to shell, grind, and mold their own chocolate bars, while the Archbishop’s Palace at Independence Square will offer mistelas – candies filled with liquor – and sweets. Also, take in the dazzling beauty of La Compañía Church before concluding the day with a cocktail class on the rooftop terrace of Casa Gangotena.

• Journey through history to discover Old Town on Art and Culture in Historic Quito. Sites include El Panecillo, a scenic overlook of the statue of the winged Virgin of Quito standing 45 meters tall and assembled from 7,000 pieces of aluminum; Santo Domingo Church and Convent, whose magnificent religious museum displays exquisite works from the Quito School of Art; and La Compañía Church, the crown jewel of Old Town, where Yolanda, one of the few female gold-leaf artisans in the city, will demonstrate her craft and guide guests in applying gold leaf. Following lunch at Casa Gangotena, continue on to Casa del Alabado Museum in one of the oldest buildings in Old Town, now perfectly renovated, for insight into pre-Columbian art and social developments of pre-Hispanic Ecuador.

• The most famous landmarks in the capital are on the itinerary for Iconic Quito, enlivened by incredible stories of churches, monuments, and plazas of Old Town. Stops include the Middle of the World monument and museum marking the equator; the neo-gothic icon Basilica del Voto Nacional, arrayed with gargoyles, stained-glass windows, and towers boasting the best views in Quito; and the La Compañía Church, unfolding as a gold-leafed symphony to Baroque design. Guests will also be guided through Independence Square, busy with vendors purveying traditional delicacies and surrounded by the Presidential Palace, Archbishop’s Palace, Municipal Palace, and the Cathedral of Quito. Also, visit Casa del Higo, which dates back to 1650, with original volcanic stone construction and a fig tree in the main courtyard, declared a Patrimonial Tree of Quito.

• Follow cobblestone streets into the culture of artisanship in Old Town on Quito Crafts and Treasures. The exploration begins at the San Francisco Market to meet traditional healer Rosita Lagla, one of a long line of women who’ve practiced with medicinal plants. Visit the workshop of Gonzalo Gallardo, a fourth-generation artisan who, with his wife, has spent more than three decades restoring religious figures and being sought out by locals for a secret recipe of pigments and oils to heal rashes, cuts, and open wounds. At La Compañía Church guests can work with Yolanda, one of the few female gold-leaf artisans in the city, to learn the techniques of her craft insider the opulent interior. Guests can also join in planting geraniums in collaboration with De Vuelta al Centro, a local NGO that promotes connection with the city’s history and people. Finally, following lunch at Casa Gangotena, stroll past quaint, pastel-colored houses on Junin Street to reach the art workshop of Bolivar Araujo, who will open his Colonial-era house and invite guests to create their own masterpieces.