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Top 10s across Ecuador

Four worlds inside a country smaller than Italy: Pacific coast, Andean spine, Amazon basin and the Galapagos. Ecuador is the shortest distance between beach, volcano and rainforest anywhere on Earth.

City guides

16,938,986

People

Video guides

Region

Best months

Jun · Sep

Ideal length

10–14 days

Budget / day

$40–110

Language

Spanish

Getting around

Buses & short flights

When to visit Ecuador

Four regions running four seasons at once. Pick the one you are actually going to.

Full month guide →

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Best, the highland dry months with clear volcano mornings Peak, the northern summer and the Christmas and New Year weeks Good, warm and bright on the coast and calm seas in the Galápagos Off, the wettest weeks in the Sierra and low cloud on the volcanoes

Quick answer · where to go in Ecuador

Start in Quito, whose old town was on the first World Heritage list UNESCO ever published, and give the Sierra the first few days: Otavalo for the market, the volcano road south past Cotopaxi, Baños for the waterfalls, and Cuenca for the best-kept colonial streets in the country. West, the Costa runs from Guayaquil out to the surf towns and the mangroves. East, the Oriente drops into Amazon lodges reached by road to Tena or a short flight to Coca. The Galápagos need their own flight, a park entrance paid on arrival and a transit card bought before you board, which is why they are planned as a separate trip rather than an add-on.

All regions The Sierra The Coast The Amazon Galápagos

Jump to City guides Fun fact Stereotypes Famous Ecuadorians Food FAQ

2 Ecuador city guides

Sorted by what travellers are saving this month.

Cuenca

South America · 10 picks

Quito

South America · 10 picks

Fun fact

One number worth knowing

Ecuador wrote the rights of nature into its constitution in 2008, the first country in the world to do so. Article 71 gives ecosystems standing in court, and Ecuadorian judges have since ruled for a river and for a cloud forest against mining concessions.

Stereotypes, sorted out

The clichés you have heard, what is actually true, and how to fit in.

"Ecuador is the Galápagos, plus an airport"

The realityThe islands are one province of twenty-four. The mainland holds the second-highest capital in the world, a volcano corridor you can drive in a morning, cloud forest an hour from Quito and Amazon rivers reached by road. Most people who come for the islands leave wishing they had given the mainland more than the two nights either side.

"It is Peru with fewer ruins"

The realityDifferent country, different history. The Inca held the northern highlands for only a few decades before the Spanish arrived, so Ecuador's set pieces are colonial and volcanic rather than Inca. Ingapirca is real and it is modest. Quito's old town, on the first World Heritage list UNESCO published, is the reason to come.

"You need weeks to see anything"

The realityIt is the smallest of the Andean countries. Quito to the coast is a morning's drive, Quito to an Amazon lodge an afternoon, and the volcano corridor runs alongside one road. A week covers two of the four regions without a rushed itinerary.

"The equator means it is hot"

The realityAltitude sets the temperature here, not latitude. Quito sits at 2,850 metres and runs to cool spring weather all year with cold nights, while Guayaquil is humid and tropical. Pack a fleece and shorts, and expect to use both in the same week.

"It is cheap because it uses dollars"

The realityDollarization cuts both ways. Set lunches, buses and markets are genuinely inexpensive; imported goods, island flights and park fees are not. The Galápagos are priced like a different country because, in cost terms, they are.

The Mitad del Mundo photograph, one foot in each hemisphereA Panama hat, which is woven in Ecuador and not in PanamaThe swing at the end of the world above BañosBlue-footed boobies doing the courtship danceOtavalo market on a Saturday morningA guinea pig on a spit, photographed rather than eatenDarwin's finches explained on a beach

Cultural notes that actually help

Greetings are close. One kiss on the right cheek between women, and between a woman and a man, is standard on first meeting; men shake hands.
Lunch is the main meal, and the almuerzo (soup, a main and a juice for a set price) is what most of the country eats at midday. It is also the best value on any menu.
Punctuality is loose socially and firm professionally. Arrive on time for a meeting and comfortably late for a house invitation.
Ecuador calls itself plurinational in its own constitution, and indigenous identity is political rather than folkloric. Ask before photographing people at Otavalo or Saquisilí.
Titles get used in full. Doctor, ingeniero and licenciado are ordinary courtesy rather than deference, and dropping them reads as brusque.
Altitude is a real constraint, and locals will tell you to slow down before you notice it yourself. Take the advice on the first day.
Carnival means water. In February, being soaked by strangers with buckets and foam is a national pastime and not an insult.

Famous Ecuadorian faces

The names behind the country's painting, writing, music, sport and science. Pick a field.

Oswaldo Guayasamín

Painter and sculptor of Kichwa and mestizo heritage, whose Capilla del Hombre stands above Quito

Jefferson Pérez

Race walker who took the 20 km at Atlanta 1996, the first Olympic medal Ecuador ever won

Richard Carapaz

Cyclist from Carchi, the first Ecuadorian to win a Grand Tour (the 2019 Giro) and Olympic road race champion in Tokyo

Julio Jaramillo

Guayaquil singer of pasillos and boleros whose Nuestro Juramento is still sung across Latin America

Eugenio Espejo

Physician and satirist of the Quito Enlightenment who founded the country's first newspaper in 1792

Eloy Alfaro

Leader of the Liberal Revolution of 1895 and twice president, who separated church from state and finished the Guayaquil to Quito railway

Jorge Icaza

Novelist whose Huasipungo (1934) put the treatment of Ecuador's indigenous labourers in front of an international readership

Manuela Sáenz

Quito-born revolutionary and Simón Bolívar's partner, called La Libertadora after she saved his life in 1828

Eugenio Espejo

Physician and satirist of the Quito Enlightenment who founded the country's first newspaper in 1792

Manuela Sáenz

Quito-born revolutionary and Simón Bolívar's partner, called La Libertadora after she saved his life in 1828

Eloy Alfaro

Leader of the Liberal Revolution of 1895 and twice president, who separated church from state and finished the Guayaquil to Quito railway

Pedro Vicente Maldonado

Geographer from Riobamba who mapped the country and worked alongside the French Geodesic Mission in the 1730s

Eloy Alfaro

Leader of the Liberal Revolution of 1895 and twice president, who separated church from state and finished the Guayaquil to Quito railway

Rosalía Arteaga

Vice-president who briefly held the presidency in February 1997, still the only woman to have done so

Nina Pacari

Kichwa lawyer, the first indigenous woman elected to Ecuador's congress and later the country's foreign minister

Daniel Noboa

President since November 2023, re-elected in April 2025 for a term running to 2029

Jorge Icaza

Novelist whose Huasipungo (1934) put the treatment of Ecuador's indigenous labourers in front of an international readership

Juan Montalvo

Essayist from Ambato who wrote against a run of Ecuadorian strongmen from exile, best known for Siete tratados

Juan León Mera

Novelist and poet from Ambato behind Cumandá and the lyrics of the national anthem

Julio Jaramillo

Guayaquil singer of pasillos and boleros whose Nuestro Juramento is still sung across Latin America

Carlota Jaramillo

Singer known as the queen of the national song, who carried the pasillo through the twentieth century

Sebastián Cordero

Director of Ratas, ratones, rateros and Crónicas, the films that put Ecuadorian cinema on the festival circuit

Tania Hermida

Writer and director from Cuenca whose road movie Qué tan lejos became the country's biggest domestic hit

Jefferson Pérez

Race walker who took the 20 km at Atlanta 1996, the first Olympic medal Ecuador ever won

Richard Carapaz

Cyclist from Carchi, the first Ecuadorian to win a Grand Tour (the 2019 Giro) and Olympic road race champion in Tokyo

Alberto Spencer

Forward from Ancón and still the all-time leading scorer in the Copa Libertadores

Andrés Gómez

Tennis player from Guayaquil who beat Andre Agassi to win the 1990 French Open

Enner Valencia

Ecuador's all-time leading scorer, who captained the national side through two World Cups

Moisés Caicedo

Midfielder from Santo Domingo who moved to Chelsea for a British record fee and now captains Ecuador

Oswaldo Guayasamín

Painter and sculptor of Kichwa and mestizo heritage, whose Capilla del Hombre stands above Quito

Eduardo Kingman

Painter of the indigenist generation, remembered for the enormous hands in his portraits of highland labour

Manuel Chili "Caspicara"

Eighteenth-century sculptor of the Quito School whose polychrome saints fill San Francisco and the cathedral

Pedro Vicente Maldonado

Geographer from Riobamba who mapped the country and worked alongside the French Geodesic Mission in the 1730s

Must-try Ecuadorian food

Highland roasts, a coast that eats seafood for breakfast, and the festival dishes with dates attached. Pick a category.

Llapingachos

Potato patties stuffed with cheese and browned on a griddle, plated with peanut sauce, chorizo and a fried egg.

Fritada

Pork simmered in its own fat with orange juice until it falls apart, served with hominy, plantain and toasted corn.

Mote pillo

Hominy scrambled with egg, onion and milk. Cuenca's breakfast, and the argument for hominy being a breakfast grain.

Cazuela de mariscos

Green plantain and peanut ground to a paste, baked with seafood in a clay bowl until the top sets.

Fanesca

Twelve grains and beans with salt cod in a milk broth, cooked only in Holy Week. The twelve stand for the apostles.

Colada morada

Spiced purple corn and berry drink served warm on 2 November, alongside guaguas de pan, sweet breads shaped as swaddled figures.

Helado de paila

Fruit ice churned by hand in a copper pan set over ice and salt, a technique Ibarra has kept since the nineteenth century.

Canelazo

Hot aguardiente with cinnamon and naranjilla, drunk standing outside on cold Quito nights.

Chicha de jora

Fermented corn drink from the highlands, poured at festivals and older than the Inca.

Hornado

Whole pig roasted in a wood oven, pulled to order and served with potato cakes, hominy and a fistful of crackling.

Locro de papa

Potato soup thickened almost to a purée and finished with avocado and fresh cheese. The highland comfort dish.

Seco de chivo

Goat braised slowly with naranjilla and chicha until the sauce turns dark. Ordered with rice and fried plantain.

Cuy asado

Guinea pig, salted and turned whole over coals. An Andean festival dish long before the Spanish arrived, and still one.

Yaguarlocro

Potato soup with blood sausage crumbled over the top, plus avocado and an onion salsa. Braver than it looks, and better.

Encebollado

Albacore tuna, yuca and pickled red onion in a cumin broth. The national dish, eaten for breakfast and after a long night.

Ceviche de camarón

Shrimp cooked in lime with tomato and onion, served loose with popcorn and plantain chips alongside.

Encocado

Fish or shrimp stewed in coconut milk with coriander, the signature of the Esmeraldas coast.

Corviche

Green plantain and peanut dough stuffed with fish and fried, eaten standing at a roadside stall.

Bolón de verde

A ball of mashed green plantain packed with cheese or crackling and pan-fried. The coastal breakfast.

Empanadas de viento

Thin cheese empanadas fried until they puff up like a balloon, then dusted with sugar.

Patacones

Green plantain smashed flat and fried twice. Chips wherever chips would go, and better than chips.

Humitas

Fresh ground corn steamed in its own husk, taken with coffee in the morning.

Choclo con queso

Boiled highland corn, kernels the size of a thumbnail, with a slab of fresh cheese. Sold at every mountain pass.

Tigrillo

Green plantain mashed with egg and cheese, the breakfast plate of Loja and the Amazon foothills.

Ecuadorian chocolate

Arriba Nacional cacao, the fine-flavour variety Ecuador grows more of than anywhere else. Quito and Guayaquil sell it by single estate.

Jugo de naranjilla

A sharp green fruit, part citrus and part tomato, that becomes the country's default juice and the sauce under seco de chivo.

Ecuador travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Ecuador?+

Ten days covers two of the four regions comfortably: the Sierra from Quito down to Cuenca, plus either the coast or an Amazon lodge. Add a week if the Galápagos are on the list, because the islands are a separate flight and, in every practical sense, a separate trip.

When is the best time to visit Ecuador?+

June to September is the highland dry season and the clearest window for the volcanoes, which is why the Quito and Cuenca guides point there. The coast runs the other way: January to April is warm and bright between showers, June to November cool and overcast. The Galápagos work all year, wetter and calmer from December to May, cooler and rougher from June to November.

Do you need a visa for Ecuador?+

Most European, North American and Australasian passports do not. You are stamped in for up to 90 days within a rolling twelve-month period. A short list of nationalities needs a visitor visa arranged in advance, so check the foreign ministry site against your own passport before booking.

Do the Galápagos cost extra?+

Yes, and they are worth budgeting separately. There is the flight from Quito or Guayaquil, the national park entrance paid on arrival, and a transit control card bought online before you fly. Island hopping from a base on Santa Cruz or San Cristóbal is the cheaper way in; a live-aboard reaches the islands day trips cannot.

Is the altitude a problem in Ecuador?+

It is worth planning around rather than worrying about. Quito sits at 2,850 metres, the second-highest capital in the world, and the passes on the volcano road are higher. Give the first day to the city instead of a hike, drink more water than you think you need, and leave the summits until you have slept two nights up high.

Know before you go

The essentials for planning an Ecuador trip.

Currency

US dollar (USD)

Ecuador retired the sucre and adopted the dollar in January 2000, so there is nothing to change on arrival. It mints its own centavo coins in US sizes and both circulate. Carry small notes: markets, buses and taxis rarely break a fifty.

Language

Spanish, plus Kichwa

Spanish is the working language everywhere. The 2008 constitution also makes Kichwa and Shuar official for intercultural relations, and Kichwa is what you will hear around Otavalo and Saraguro. English is common in Quito and Galápagos tourism and rare outside it.

Power

120V · Type A & B

120 volts at 60 Hz on flat-pin sockets, the same standard as the United States and Canada. European and UK plugs need an adapter, and anything that is not dual voltage needs a converter as well.

Emergency

911

One number, run as ECU 911, covers police, fire and ambulance across the country. Operators in the larger centres can usually route an English speaker.

Entry

Visa-free for most

Most European, North American and Australasian passports are stamped in for up to 90 days within a rolling twelve-month period, with nothing applied for in advance. A short list of nationalities does need a visitor visa first, so check your own on the foreign ministry site before booking.

Getting around

Buses & short flights

Long-distance buses are the backbone of the country: frequent, inexpensive and reaching almost everywhere on the mainland within a day. Quito to Guayaquil and Quito to Coca are the flights that buy back real time, and the Galápagos are reachable only by air.

Altitude

Quito at 2,850 m

The capital is the second-highest in the world after La Paz, and the passes on the volcano road are higher still. Give the first day to the city rather than a summit, drink more water than feels necessary, and sleep a night up high before anything strenuous.

Galápagos entry

Park fee & transit card

Every visitor pays the national park entrance on arrival at Baltra or San Cristóbal, and carries a transit control card bought online before the flight. The card is now issued online only and is checked at the mainland airport, so it is not something to sort out on the day.

Time zones

Islands run an hour behind

The mainland and the Galápagos sit in different zones, one hour apart, and neither changes clocks through the year. Read a Galápagos flight time off the ticket rather than doing the arithmetic.

Tipping

Often already on the bill

Sit-down restaurants usually add a service charge alongside tax, so check the total before adding more. Taxis are not tipped. Galápagos boat crews, Amazon guides and porters are, and that is where it counts.

Tap water

Bottled or filtered

Municipal water is treated in the big cities but is not what locals drink straight from the tap. Bottled or filtered is the norm, and hotels and hostels almost always have a dispenser.