La Ronda Quito Ecuador

This street is in the heart of the Old Town in Quito. Quito has a World Heritage area with the most colonial etc buildings in South America. For many years it has been a very dangerous area but the government is making a huge effort to attract tourists by making it safer. That being said, there are police on every corner, and still very few tourists comparatively. Imagine walking through Paris as we walked through Quito and seeing maybe a dozen tourists.

This street used to be one of the most dangerous, and I'd still be unsure about walking it after dark, and certainly not alone.

However during the day it's fine, and the locals bring out all sorts of old fashioned games and you are encouraged to join in and play in the street - skittles, table soccer, quoits etc.

We stayed at a hotel called the Casona de la Ronda and I would really recommend it - small quiet historic, beautifully restored, terrific personal attention, they are really trying to make a go of it.