Otavalo Saturday market Otavalo is an historic and beautiful small city about 2 hours drive from Quito, in the beautiful Imbabura valley. The centre of the city is charming Spanish American colonial with many of the buildings having been well maintained or restored and presenting a lovely splash of colour. The indigenous market is held on a Saturday morning, starting... more

Just visited Otavalo on business August 2008. My business is buying. This market is amazing. Yes Saturday is the day to go but if you are a serious shopper you can find just about anything during the week too. To the people that said it was too touristy or all the same stuff-shame on you-you didn't dig deep enough. The... more

The Saturday Otavalo market is the biggest in Ecuador and frankly, since you can read about it in every tour guide I'll limit my comments on it except to say that we got up at 6 to see the animals (our "cultural activity") got shopping by 7 and had most of our Christmas gifts purchased by 11. Bring lots of... more

The Otavalo market was recommended by a great deal of people but I found it disappointing. We went to the market mid-week, which I think could be partly responsible. The best day to go is Saturday. It still had a healthy number of stalls, but where I was hoping to find high-quality crafts/artisan goods produced by local people I found... more

If you cannot make the Saturday market give this town a skip. There is a daily market but it is the same as every other market and not worth the trip. more

The market is famous for Saturday, when it overflows onto several blocks, and includes all kinds of non-handicraft items as well. Interesting to see, but also possible to visit another day, and you will have less crowds and lower prices. The main market is open every day in the Plaza de Ponchos. more

You will probably never find another market like Otavalo on a Saturday. We went ready to spend and we were not disappointed. There is so much to feast your eyes on you will not believe it! Fruits and vegetables, the mountains, the people and the colorful handicrafts! A lot of the goods are manufactured, but they are still nice and... more