Alright, send the hate mail in. I’m ready.

Friends. Readers. People I’ve never met. When I did research about Quito, and when I meet foreigners visiting Quito, all I hear about is one thing – the Mariscal.

“Yeah, we heard you should check out the Mariscal,” “The Mariscal is so dangerous,” “The Mariscal is where it is at.”

For some reason the reputation of the Mariscal seems to overshadow Quito’s internet presence, and I am here to tell you that 99% of the beauty and wonder of Quito is found outside of the Mariscal party scene. And to compare that statistic, 99% of the bad things that could happen to you will probably happen to you within the Mariscal party scene.

I made those numbers up, but still.

If that’s your jam, go. I’m just trying to shed a little perspective on an over-advertised part of the city.

When I travel, I have a rule: No alcohol. I realize that doesn’t work for most of you. For me, a tall blond beautiful foreigner (thank you) who is already having the time of her life traveling (it’s my natural high) doesn’t need an alcohol boost or whatever ’cause I’m already high on life, and I already love taking risks and eliminating alcohol eliminates many traveling risks. So just consider my approach, but I respect people who also responsibly drink.

I definitely recommend at least passing through the Mariscal, I always enjoyed going through it during the day. The restaurants are incredible, the area is adorable, and there are fun signs to take pictures by (Foch yeah!).

In general, the restaurants are much more pricey, so I like to treat the area as a tourist attraction and leave the rest of your time and money in other parts of town.

Plaza Foch is the epicenter of the Mariscal, and then it furls outward from there. One must-see area of the Mariscal would be the beautiful Artisan Market, with thousands of hand-crafted goods. Think alpaca blankets, colorful tablecloths, scarves, wood boxes, chocolate, Panama hats.

But partying at night in the Mariscal?

I’d pick anywhere else in Quito.