Discover Ecuador
Ecuador packs the equator into a country compact enough to cross in a day yet vast in experience — Galápagos species that inspired Darwin, Amazon tributaries, Andean volcanoes above Quito’s colonial altitude, and highland markets where felt hat and poncho still mark identity.
The Galápagos remain evolution’s open classroom: giant tortoises, marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies — best met by expedition cruise or careful land-based hopping with naturalist guides. Quito’s UNESCO old town, Compañía gold, and Middle of the World line anchor the highlands. Cotopaxi and Chimborazo rise above páramo where condors wheel. Amazon lodges from Coca or Yasuní deliver pink dolphins and canopy towers. Cuenca’s colonial calm and the Avenue of Volcanoes southward add weeks of depth for naturalists and families who want maximum biodiversity with minimal transit between utterly different worlds.
Places to visit
Highlights we often weave into bespoke itineraries—each destination below can be tailored to your pace, season, and interests.
Quito
UNESCO old town at altitude, equator monument, and launch point for Galápagos and Amazon extensions.
- Quito's historic centre, among best preserved in Americas, holds baroque churches on Andean plateau at 2,850 metres.
- La Compañía church interior glitters with gold leaf applied by Jesuits in eighteenth-century baroque exuberance.
- Mitad del Mundo equator monument marks latitude zero with experiments demonstrating Coriolis effect on hemispheric divide.
Galápagos
Evolution's laboratory—giant tortoises, marine iguanas, and expedition cruises with strict conservation protocols.
- Galápagos giant tortoises, isolated for millions of years, inspired Darwin's finch observations that shaped evolutionary theory.
- Marine iguanas—world's only seagoing lizard—graze algae on volcanic coast where species radiated in isolation.
- Expedition cruises with naturalist guides follow strict park protocols limiting visitor impact on UNESCO archipelago.
Cuenca
Andean colonial city of Panama hat workshops and cathedral domes—Ecuador's cultural gem at UNESCO altitude.
- Cuenca's New Cathedral blue domes, completed 1975, anchor UNESCO old town at 2,560 metres in southern highlands.
- Panama hat workshops demonstrate toquilla straw weaving—craft originating in Cuenca despite misleading name.
- Ingapirca Inca ruins, northernmost significant Inca site, hold Temple of the Sun on hilltop east of city.
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