The route to the "summit" (the small town of Quilotoa) is generally traveled by hired truck or bus from the town of Zumbahua 17 km to the South. Visitors must pay one US dollar to look from the lip of the caldera. A number of simple hostales have developed in the immediate area, and offer services such as mules and guides for the five-hour hike around the caldera (whose diameter is about 9 km), a 45 minute hike down (and 1-2 hour hike back up the 400 meter vertical ascent), and very basic lodging down in its bowl
