10 days in Quito help with itinerary

Given your short time frame, I'd skip Papallacta, as you are going to Banos anyway (and it's in the opposite direction). Unless you have your heart set on Cotopaxi/Quilotoa (which are mainly good for hiking) you could extend your stay in the Otavalo area instead and go to Lake Cuicocha instead, it's a beautiful area and there are shorter, gentler hikes than Quilotoa.

To travel between places you can take a bus, a tour or hire a driver. Car hire is expensive and personally I find it more of a hassle than a benefit.

Booking accommodation is up to you. If you aren't here over a holiday/long weekend, you'll be able to find accommodation when you arrive. If you have a strong preference for where you stay, you might still want to book in advance.

We arrived about 9 PM at the Quito airport and got a hotel close by. It was actually cheaper for us to get a taxi to Papallacta than to get one to Quito and a bus to Papallacta. Not to mention that it saved us a lot of time. The thermals in Papallacta a so much better than those in Banos that we didn't even go in them. Papallacta to Banos might take the better part of a day. Maybe a stop at Tena (or Misahualli) for a day or two on the way to Banos. You could eliminate Mindo, but really enjoyed our 3 days there.
Regards,
Bob

Should I book accomodations in advance? Rent a car or not?

Except for arriving in Quito, you don't really need to book in advance.

Is this a doable schedule? What is to do at Cotopaxi if we don't hike? How about Quilotoa lake? What's to do there? Can we get there by bus or there is a lot of hiking envolved? My husband can't do a lot of hiking, couple of hours ok.

No, you've included way too many places, and haven't left enough time for travel between places. Ecuador is a small country for SA, but it's not that small. For Cotopaxi, the normal thing is a tour on a shared minibus from Quito or Latacunga. There is some hiking involved on the standard tour, on a slope of the mountain, to get to the viewpoint, but it's a short hike. If you are thrill seekers, it is possible to book a cheap tour that will include a bike ride down the mountain.

How do we travel from one place to another? Should we book day trips or do it on our own?

For Quilotoa, Cotopaxi, or Otavalo, it's possible to do those on organized daytrips from Quito, where they pick you up at your hotel. I'd only recommend Otavalo for a daytrip if it's a Saturday. For everything else, you'd be relying on buses or on taxis in he Quito region.

That's the short answer. More detail available, if you want.

As far as I know, the viewpoint and the trails up the slopes are all still closed on Cotopaxi, and the bikes are having to use the road with cars, so if the bike rides are still operating at all, they must be restricted to just the lowest part of the road.

Do you know a nice place to stay just for one night close to the airport as we arrive there at midnight?
Thank you

http://airporthotelquito.com/ Quito airport suites is probably the closest, and they have a good reputation. There are lots of other options in Tababela and Puembo though.

I went to Quilotoa from Chugchilan, but am certain there are buses from Latacunga as well. And definitely there are buses connecting Banos to Latacunga. Latacunga is also an easy place to pick up daytrips to Cotopaxi, if you're allowed to visit.

Most likely you can hire private cars to and from Latacunga as well. By the way, if Cotopaxi is off the table you may want to spend the night in lovely little Chugchilan instead. You can also reach it by bus from Latacunga, and there is a 4AM bus from there to Quilotoa which I believe it returns to Chugchilan around 2pm. I returned by share taxi because I was ready to go back well before noon, due to being a hopeless pathfinder who couldn't figure out the walking route to Chugchilan! But it's unlikely my taxi price would be accurate so many years later :). Anyway, since you'd be nearby, you can also try to time it to be in Saquisili for the market on Thursday (3AM bus from Chugchilan!).

Yes, you need to cut down the number of places by half or more. We had 2.5 weeks. One week for Galapagos. Then four days in Quito, four nights in Chugchilan (wonderful place, walked from Quilotoa back to Chugchilan, about 5 hours, but there are many shorter hikes around Chugchilan), then several nights in Cotopaxi where we walked to the refuge (but I think that's all closed now). We rented a car for the Quito to Chugchilan to Cotopaxi back to Quito part. It was handy to do it this way but some of the road are rough, so you don't get anywhere very fast. Yes, near the new Quito airport, stay at Quito Airport Suites or Quito Airport Inn (both owned by the same person). It was fine.

Keep in mind that the #1 rule of travel is to travel as though you will be coming back to the place (even if you doubt that you will) and don't try to do too much. The #2 rule of travel is: never pass a toilet without using it.

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