Basílica del Voto Nacional

Basílica del Voto Nacional tickets: which one to buy

Almost everyone who books something here is booking the climb rather than the church. The basilica sits at the northern edge of the historic centre of Quito, a steep few blocks uphill from the main square, and the standard walking tours of the old town either finish or start at its door. There are two tickets: one for the nave, which is inexpensive, and a combined one that adds the towers. Buy the second unless you have a real fear of heights, because the interior alone does not justify the trip.

Guided options split into three kinds. City walks spend half an hour here and move on to the Jesuit church and the Franciscan monastery. Photography-led tours time the visit for late afternoon and go straight up. Minibus tours of the viewpoints pair the towers with the Panecillo statue and the cable car on the western slope, which together give you the whole bowl of the city from three sides. Altitude matters more than fitness, and visitors who arrived from sea level that morning should leave the climb for another day.

Visiting Basílica del Voto Nacional: what to see

The design is Gothic Revival, begun in 1892 after a national vow to consecrate the republic to the Sacred Heart, and it borrows freely from French cathedrals. What makes it particular is the decision to replace the usual gargoyles with the fauna of Ecuador. Along the flanks and around the towers sit giant tortoises, marine iguanas, armadillos, condors, pumas, monkeys and dolphins, carved in grey stone and spouting rainwater like their European cousins. Inside, the stained glass is unusually bright and the nave is long and rather austere.

The climb begins with ordinary staircases in the towers, then crosses the roof, then takes an open plank walkway directly above the vaults of the nave, with the church floor visible below through the gaps. After that a pair of near-vertical metal ladders leads to the clock tower and its small viewing platform, roughly a hundred metres up. Nothing is padded or enclosed in the way a European tower would be, and the handrails are basic. Local tradition holds that the world ends when the building is finally completed, which may explain why it has never quite been finished.

Basílica del Voto Nacional opening hours and the best time to go

Late afternoon gives the best light on the old town and on the Panecillo hill opposite, and the towers are usually open until around five. Mornings are clearer in the wet season, roughly October to May, when cloud builds through the day and can close the view entirely by three. Weekends bring domestic visitors and queues on the ladders, which are single file in both directions, so a weekday is worth arranging if you can.

Wear shoes with grip, because the plank walkway and the roof tiles are slippery after rain and rain here arrives fast. There is a small cafe in one of the towers, halfway up, which is a good place to let a group get ahead of you. The surrounding streets are lively in daylight, but the advice from residents is to take a taxi after dark rather than walk down to the square. Sunday mass in the nave carries on regardless of the tourists overhead, and visitors are asked to keep to the aisles while it is in progress.