The Otavalo Market is the largest artisan market in South America with seemingly endless blocks of merchants selling everything you can imagine. You’ll find all sorts of textiles, art prints, jewelry, dishes, and so much more. If you’re looking for souvenirs from Ecuador, this is a great place to visit.
So, on my last day in Quito, a friend and I took a series of local buses to reach the Otavalo Market and do some shopping. Here’s everything you need to know.
Visiting Otavalo Market
If you’re planning to visit the Otavalo Market, you need to pay attention to the day of the week. The market doesn’t run every day, so if you’re going to make the long journey out, you want to make sure you pick the right day.
The best day to visit the Otavalo Market is on Saturday. This is the biggest market day where stalls line the streets and the merchants seem to go on for blocks in all directions. On Wednesdays, you’ll find a smaller version of this market.
That’s not to say that you can’t visit Otavalo other days of the week, but you just won’t find the big market, which is the biggest reason to visit Otavalo in my opinion.
Once at the Otavalo market, take your time to browse through the vendors. Don’t fall into the trap of buying the first item that you see. Many booths sell the same things. If one booth sells a sweater, another booth is almost certainly selling that same sweater. I say this because there’s no set prices. If you don’t like a price, you can always walk away. You’re sure to find the same item (or something incredibly similar elsewhere).
I wanted to buy a plate and the number the lady gave me was more than I wanted to spend. I told her I’d think about it and I left. A bit later, I found another booth with a similar plate. This lady started with a price that was half of the lowest price of the first seller (and a third of the starting price from that first seller). I’m all about supporting local economies, but when the starting price is that different, I know I’m getting charged a significant gringo tax.
Before the market I looked online and read conflicting reports about haggling. In general, I took the prices that I was given, provided I was happy with them. For most of the items, I was happy with the first price offered and I took it. In the one instance that I wasn’t, I just walked away and knew that I was ok if I didn’t purchase it.
The bottom line is to enjoy yourself at the market. There’s so much to see and if you’re in a mood for shopping, you’ll have a fabulous time.
Do You Need to Take a Tour to Otavalo Market?
Tours exist that will take you to Otavalo. To me, the biggest benefit is that they take care of all of the transportation. It’s not hard to visit the Otavalo Market on your own, but it is a lot of transportation. The other benefit is that the tours will also make a few other stops along the way so you can see just a little bit more.
Still, I’m glad I visited on my own. Navigating public transportation wasn’t fun, but it means that we could go at our own pace which was absolutely lovely.
How to Reach Otavalo Market via Public Transportation
If you don’t want to take a tour, here’s exactly how to visit the Otavalo Market on your own.
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 Carcelen
From the El Labrador Metro Station, you’ll want to go to the transit area and find a bus that connects to Terminal Carcelen. I’ll be completely honest. I didn’t go this route on the way to the Otavalo Market, so I do not know exactly what bus to take, but I know that a bus does go between Terminal Carcelen and El Labrador Metro Station because I took one on the way back.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you exactly what bus I took. It said El Labrador and that’s the bus we boarded.
Alternative – Historic Old Town to Terminal Carcelen
Since we were traveling on a Saturday morning and didn’t want to deal with transfers, we took a bus all the way across Quito. We boarded near Ejido (at this spot on Google Maps) and rode all the way to Terminal Carcelen. It cost us just 35 cents and took about an hour.
While it was slow (though not as slow as it could have been since there wasn’t a ton of traffic on a Saturday morning), I don’t think it was any slower than what would have happened had we taken the metro and connected to a bus to reach Terminal Carcelen.
Terminal Carcelen to Otavalo Market
At Terminal Carcelen, you’ll need to find a bus to Otavalo. The buses leave frequently (despite what you’ll find online), so ask around and you’ll be able to find someone departing for Otavalo.
My biggest recommendation is to try to find someone who is going to the Otavalo terminal. This will bring you right into the heart of Otavalo and will put you just a few blocks from where you want to be.
Our bus did not enter the city of Otavalo and instead made two stops in Otavalo. There was the first stop which was on the southern side of the city and the second stop which was on the north side of the city. Both were along the side of the highway (but easily connected to pedestrian paths) and both would work for a stop if you’re visiting the Otavalo Market. We got off at the second stop but in hindsight, we should have gotten off at the first stop when they said it was Otavalo. Oh well.
The bus costs $3 and will take about two hours (depending on how often you stop).
Returning Back to Quito
When you’re ready to return, walk to the Otavalo Terminal. Like in any terminal in Ecuador, bus drivers will be calling out their destinations. Find someone who is going to Quito and board their bus (or buy a ticket—our ticket was purchased on the bus after boarding). All of the buses going to Quito end up at a terminal and all of the buses from Otavalo end up at Terminal Carcelen.
Back at Terminal Carcelen, there are helpful signs for all of the local buses. You’ll purchase your bus ticket for 35 cents, scan it to go through a turnstile, and then go to wait by the appropriate platform for El Labrador Metro Station. At El Labrador Metro Station, you can purchase another ticket to ride the metro to your final stop.
How Long Do You Need at Otavalo Market?
It really depends on how long you plan to shop. My visit to Otavalo was in the very last week of my trip so this is where I picked up not only souvenirs for myself but also all of the gifts for my family. Unlike so many other markets I’ve visited in South America, this is one where I actually planned to shop. So, we spent nearly two hours walking through the various stalls and we still didn’t see everything!
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.
For independent travelers, you can visit Mitad del Mundo, which marks the equator line.
Final Thoughts
Otavalo is a fun market to explore. While it boasts itself as the largest artisan market in South America, I definitely saw some of those same items for sale in other places in Ecuador. That said, I found the prices to be better at the Otavalo Market than in other places in Ecuador, so if you’re looking for some souvenirs, the Otavalo Market is a great place to check out.
