Like many others I need to withdraw money from an ATM to pay for our Galapagos cruise. I have found old posts on Tripadvisor about the banks Pichincha and Pacifico who are supposed to have no charges when withdrawing money. Does anyone have any updated info about this and the daily limit? I just wrote to Pichincha and they claim it costs 5 USD per withdrawal plus an additional fee of 5%!!! This can´t be right can it?
3
mongoose23
I withdrew from an ATM twice (I believe Pacifico?); when I was withdrawing the screen said there would be a 50 cent charge per withdraw but when I checked my bank account when I got back to America they had actually charged five dollars per withdraw. -_-
5
mongoose23
Cheers, was that in Ecuador or Galapagos?
In Quito. But I actually called my bank (Bank of America) after posting up there ^ and they said the 5 dollar charges were from them for using Banco Pacifico. Mystery solved.
6
elgreco77
Cheers Mongoose. Mine's a UK bank. They don't charge for overseas withdrawals. I only use them for holidays. We'll see when we get there. We'll be there a week on monday. Any recommendations for things to do in Quito, or places to eat/drink? We have 5 nights there. We're doing the walking tour on day one to get our bearings. Planning on spending day two trying to get a last minute cruise. We also wanted to do the teleferico but I've heard its a bit dodgy
Thanks
7
mongoose23
Ah ok. Perhaps you will only have the 50 cent charge then.
I actually did not spend too much time in Quito. I had two breakfasts and one dinner there, all at different small cafe-like places and got A LOT of food for what I paid for (I think the most I spent was 5 dollars for a dinner). I did see the Basillica and the National Museum; I think both were worth seeing. The Basillica costs two dollars to get inside but honestly just walking along the outside of it is great.
Have fun on your trip!
8
jgcp
The Teleferico is not really dodgy if you don't leave the viewing areas and deice to hike out further on your own. Although we did see a lot of hikers returning from the outlying areas who hadn't seemed to encounter and problems... The air up their is quite thin though so you might to feel like walking around to much if you haven't acclimatised.
As for things to do I also recommend the Guayasamin House and Gallery in the north of the city. We got in free because it was free on Sundays when we went. We particularly enjoyed it as he was related through marriage to my partner's family and we met his daughter and her husband at his niece's home and became good friends with them. The house is particularly lovely and quite spiritual and the gallery is very interesting and next door.
Just walking around the old town is relaxing weekends and lots of the roads are closed on Sunday for cyclists to have a safe ride. The weekdays and Saturday mornings are quite busy. In the small plaza just of the main one behind the archbishops palace there is folkloric dancing and music on Sunday afternoons at 2pm and Friday evenings about 7pm. Check to see if that is still happening and the times though because we were there early 2013 an this might have changed.
9
jgcp
I might add that there are several day trips or half day trips to places not too far from Quito that can also be done. There are two rather fun places marking the Equator you can visit within half day and some ruins and a crater that can be done on the same day. There are also several markets around that can be one on a day trip as well.
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