El Mercado Artesenal is the best place to find some really good handcrafted Ecuadorian goods. It’s a tightly-packed, colorful market woven together by assertive sellers and more vivid colors and alpaca wool than you can imagine.

Here’s a tip: You’ve got to bargain.

Even better, just know a good price, speak a little Spanish, and it’s a win-win. You don’t want to rip these people off, heck, they’re just trying to get by, but you also don’t want to get ripped off either. Please don’t. You’ll make it harder on the next gringo.

Good prices (as of 2019):

• Scarf – 5 dollars
• Thin alpaca blanket – 12 dollars
• Thicker alpaca blanket – 22 dollars
• Fluffy llama – depends on size, can range from 5 to 22 dollars…

Find more things to do in The Quito Bucket List: Sights Edition