You will be picked up early in the morning from either your hotel or the Quito airport and taken in a private air-conditioned vehicle to the Northern Highlands and the famous Otavalo Market. The drive takes about two hours. An English-speaking guide will accompany you on this tour.
Heading north, you will pass by small villages, the snow-capped Cayambe volcano, the San Pablo Lake, and the Imbabura volcano. Along the way, you will also see valleys filled with of rose plantations.
Arrive at the Otavalo Market, the largest indigenous market in South America.
At the market, you will find a large collection of indigenous handicrafts from the seventeen-plus surrounding communities that compose the Otavalo ethnic group. Learn to bargain for ponchos, sweaters, and local handcrafted goods produced in different small villages, all specializing in their own type of craft. You can wander from market to market, explore the food and produce market, the arts, crafts and textiles market and make a purchase from the artisan market. Woodcarvings, tapestries, wool sweaters, ponchos, Andean musical instruments, and paintings can all be bought at cheap prices – after some hectic bargaining, which is part of the fun!
Lunch will be served at one of the haciendas (family ranch) of the area. There are many restaurants around the market square that offer set meal menus that may consist of an appetizer, soup of the day, main course, and dessert.
Continue towards the La Mirage Spa, a short distance from Otavalo.
Check into the Spa.
You have the afternoon free to enjoy the various services of the Spa.
Overnight at the La Mirage Spa. The only member of the Relais and Chateaux Association in Ecuador, La Mirage Garden Hotel and Spa provides the most luxurious accommodation in the Otavalo region. Located in spacious gardens in the grounds of a 200 year-old hacienda on the outskirts of the leatherworking town of Cotachi, the hotel has 23 beautifully furnished and individual rooms. La Mirage is famous for its spa treatments, and is equipped with a well equipped spa area with numerous rooms for many different types of treatments. Guest facilities include a tennis court, a solar heated swimming pool, a Spa Centre complete with steam bath, Jacuzzi and aroma therapy massages. For those looking for more activity, the hotel can arrange mountain biking and horse riding, and there is great hiking in this area.
After breakfast at the hotel, you have the morning free to indulge yourself at the Spa in La Mirage.
Set out for Quito, stopping for lunch on the way.
Arrive in Quito where your tour ends with a drop-off either at your city hotel or at the Quito airport.