The country of Ecuador gets its name from the equator line, so it feels like you have to go visit the monument when you are in Quito. There are numerous tours that will bring you out to Mitad del Mundo, but it’s completely possible to visit Mitad del Mundo without a tour. With a little planning, you can visit yourself and save a decent amount of money.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Mitad del Mundo without a tour.
Visiting Mitad del Mundo
Mitad del Mundo is a monument that marks the zero degree latitude line that is the equator. Kind of. This was where the line was marked, but with more accurate GPS, it was determined that the true equator is nearly kilometer away. Still, people treat this as the equator line for tourists.
So what do you do at Mitad del Mundo?
Obviously, the biggest thing to do is to take your photo straddling the equator line. It’s painted on the ground and you can stand with one foot in the southern hemisphere and one foot in the northern hemisphere. Technically, since as mentioned earlier, the actual equator isn’t here.
Beyond the typical tourist photo, there is even more to do here. You can climb the monument, though this was undergoing renovations during my visit, so we couldn’t climb all the way to the top. Still, inside the monument you’ll find exhibits about the local indigenous people of the various regions in Ecuador.
Speaking of the indigenous people of Ecuador, there’s also a model village that shows a bit more about local life including tools, garments, and even more.
For museums, you’ll find a beer museum and a chocolate museum. There’s also a planetarium with a short show about the solar system (in Spanish only) and some science experiments that help to illustrate earth’s magnetic field.
If that’s not enough there’s loads of shops and restaurants as well.
The entry is $5 ($10 if you pay with a card) and includes all of this. All in all, I don’t think it’s a bad deal. So many tourists just want to take the iconic photo of themselves standing in two hemispheres, but they have really tried to make it something more than that.
Do You Need to Take a Tour to Mitad del Mundo?
It’s easy to think that you need to take a tour to visit Mitad del Mundo, but that’s not the case. In fact, if you’re feeling a bit adventurous, it’s pretty easy to visit Mitad del Mundo on your own (I’ll lay out detailed instructions next). After visiting Mitad del Mundo without a tour, I’m very glad I did it independently.
At the time of writing, the tours to Mitad del Mundo typically cost $40 to $50, which feels pretty expensive considering you can visit by yourself for less than $10 if you use public transportation. Of course, some of these tours do offer other stops and that’s important to consider.
But if your only goal is to visit the Mitad del Mundo monument and you want to travel on a budget, you do not need to take a tour.
How to Reach Mitad del Mundo via Public Transportation
I think the biggest draw for the tours to Mitad del Mundo is that tourists don’t have to deal with public transportation. Quito’s doesn’t have the best reputation so it’s very important to keep an eye on all of your things while taking buses and the metro. I had no issues, but I’ve read numerous stories from other tourists who have been pickpocketed on Quito’s public transportation.
Most tourists stay in the Historic Old Town of Quito. This is where I stayed and it’s great for sightseeing within the city. But it’s very far from the northern bus terminals, so you’ll need a bit of patience to get there.
Historic Old Town to El Labrador Metro Station
The first step in this journey is to get to El Labrador Station. This is the easiest part of the journey in my opinion because the metro is the easiest form of public transportation. Enter the closest metro station near you (likely San Francisco or Alameda) and purchase your ticket for 45 cents.
If you have exact change, you can use one of the automatic machines. Note that you can’t overpay for your ticket. If you try to put in more than what you owe, the machine will reject the coin. It must be exact change.
If you don’t have exact change, get in line at the ticket window to purchase your ticket.
With your ticket, board the next train to El Labrador Station. It’s the northern terminus of the metro, so as long as you board the right train, just stay until you reach El Labrador.
El Labrador Metro Station to Terminal Ofelia
From El Labrador Metro Station, you need to reach Terminal Ofelia. There is a transit center at El Labrador and I’m sure that you could probably find a bus directly do Terminal Ofelia from here.
However, we walked just a few short blocks to La Concepcion bus stop. This bus stop is great because you’ll board a bus that has dedicated bus lanes and can avoid some of the worst traffic in Quito.
You’ll arrive at the stop and buy your ticket from the person manning the stop. The ticket costs just 35 cents and you will be able to get change. Wait for the next bus and ride all the way to Terminal Ofelia.
Note that all of the buses in Quito have destination placards in the lower right window in the front of the bus. Just make sure that your bus says Ofelia and stay on all the way to the end.
If it helps, we used bus C2. It’s not always easy to find a bus number, but this is the bus we took in both directions.
Terminal Ofelia to Mitad del Mundo
At Terminal Ofelia, you need to make one more transfer. My best piece of advice is to arrive at the station and ask for a bus for Mitad del Mundo. Locals are so helpful and will be willing to point you in the right direction.
Don’t fall into the trap we did. We arrived at a station and just boarded a bus that said Mitad del Mundo. This wasn’t quite the bus we wanted. We got there in the end, but at the time, we didn’t realize that every bus in this region says “Mitad del Mundo”.
Ideally, you want a bus that is going to drop you off at the roundabout to Mitad del Mundo. Our bus went a different route and we had a 15 minute walk to reach the entrance. We got there in the end, but had we asked questions or paid closer attention to the signs in the front of the bus, it would have been better.
That said, we were the only gringos on the bus so when the bus stopped, the driver’s assistant looked at us, asked “Mitad del Mundo?”, and motioned for us to get off and then pointed us in the right direction. Ecuadorians are some of the most helpful people I’ve encountered while traveling.
The bus costs 35 cents and you will be able to get change.
Coming Back to Quito
On your return to Quito, you just need to do these instructions in reverse. At the roundabout near Mitad del Mundo, you should see a bus stop not too far from the entrance to Mitad del Mundo. Make sure you are on the correct side of the road for the buses heading back to Quito. Then, just wait for a bus that says it’s heading to Terminal Ofelia.
At Terminal Ofelia, transfer to your bus back to El Labrador. There are signs at Terminal Ofelia that should point you to which platform you need. Note that we never had to pay for this bus. We’re not sure why, but we were not charged the 35 cents for this bus on our return journey.
At La Concepcion, walk the few blocks back to El Labrador and purchase a metro ticket to head back to the historic center.
How Long Do You Need at Mitad del Mundo?
It really depends on the traveler, but I recommend budgeting one to two hours for your visit to Mitad del Mundo (excluding transportation time). While the biggest draw is unsurprisingly the equator line, they’ve really tried to build up the area around it. You’ll find shops, museums, and restaurants in the area, so you could probably spend even longer there if you’re truly interested.
For most travelers though, I think one to two hours is plenty of time at Mitad del Mundo.
More in Quito, Ecuador
Quito surprised me and turned out to be one of my favorite big cities in South America. The historic old town is beautiful and is fun to wander. You’ll find the typical shops and restaurants, but also a seemingly endless supply of beautiful churches. And if you step into a chocolate shop, you’ll almost certainly be given a chocolate tasting.
Beyond the city itself, there’s plenty of great day trips in the area.
I took a guided day trip to Cotopaxi where we climbed to Cotopaxi base camp and took a short bike ride through the national park.
If you’re in Quito on a Saturday, consider visiting Otavalo Market. It’s a long day trip, but it brings you to the largest artisan market in South America which is a great place to pick up your souvenirs.
Final Thoughts
Mitad del Mundo isn’t the most exciting attraction in Ecuador, but it’s still a fun experience nonetheless. Most people, including myself, just travel for the quintessential photo of straddling the equator, so there’s no judgment if that’s your only reason to visit. That said, if that’s your only reason to visit, I’d highly suggest visiting Mitad del Mundo without a tour. It’s not that difficult and it saves a lot of money.
