Day Trip To Mindo

Quito is so central that there are lots of day trips just hours away. One of those is the small town of Mindo located in the nearby cloud forest.
You can get to Mindo by private car, day tour or by bus. Private car is about $50 each way. Day tours vary by company though we found most tours went to Mindo on Fridays. We took the bus which was surprisingly easy, quick and comfortable. The bus leaves from the northern bus terminal Ofelia. A taxi to Ofelia costs about $6 and you should ask the driver to drop you off inside the terminal. The area around the bus station is not safe. You can only buy bus tickets at the ticket office at the Ofelia bus station, but the bus schedule is online. We recommend you arrive at the bus station 30 minutes early to buy your ticket. You can only buy your return ticket at the office in Mindo. We recommend you buy it immediately upon arrival. We took along toothbrush and toiletries just in case we couldn't get a ticket to return and ended up spending the night in Mindo. No problem though.
The 2 hour drive to Mindo is beautiful as you wind through the mountains and into the clouds.

Main plaza in Mindo

Main street in Mindo

There are lots of restaurants, tour companies and souvenir shops on the main street and around the plaza. There are also numerous hostals in Mindo if you want to spend the night. Some activities in Mindo include ziplining or canopy, river rafting, a chocolate factory tour, orchid gardens, butterfly farms, bird watching and hiking to waterfalls. The tour companies along the main street can arrange any tours for you. I would recommend spending at least one night in Mindo. We only spent the day and we could have used more time and would have enjoyed having a hostal so we could relax in a hammock and enjoy the quiet of this small town.

The chocolate tour at El Quetzal

In our day there, we toured an orchid garden, ate Quinoa pudding and ice cream and took the tour of the chocolate factory. We found both tours to be very interesting. The orchid garden was located near the football stadium. It cost $3 per person and a guide showed us at least 30 different types of orchids.

Beautiful orchid

Tour of the chocolate factory

Quinoa pudding with mango and banana ice cream at Mishqui Quinde next door to the chocolate factory

We also took the tour of the El Quetzal chocolate factory where they make Mindo chocolate. It cost $10 per person but included not only the 1 hour tour, but tastings of different chocolates and toppings, cafe or chocolate tea, one of their world famous brownies and a cup of pure chocolate. I can't say enough about how great this tour was. You can also buy chocolate and coffee in their store at the factory.
We ate lunch at a pizzeria just off the main square which was very reasonable and tasty.

If we did this trip again, I would recommend spending the night in Mindo. There is a 6pm frog concert at Lago Mindo that I would have liked to participate in. Also on the way back to Quito, the bus goes right by Mitad Del Mundo and it would make sense to hop off the bus there to tour the Initian Museum at Mitad del Mundo. Check my next post for information on this wonderful hidden gem.