Ecuador Things to Do

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Most Viewed Things to Do in Ecuador

1.

Colonial Quito   Quito

Colonial Quito, Quito

 169 Reviews  Construction of La Merced started in 1701 and the church was inaugurated in 1747. There had been an earlier church at the same site, but it was destroyed in an earthquake in 1660. Beside La Merced... 

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2.

Diving and Snorkeling   Galápagos Islands

Diving and Snorkeling, Galápagos Islands

 47 Reviews  The snorkeling along the edge of the lava flow at Sullivan Bay was excellent and we stayed in the water for 1.5 hours. We visited several great snorkeling locations during the cruise with M/S... 

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3.

Mitad del Mundo   Quito

Mitad del Mundo, Quito

 26 Reviews  Take a short trip out of downtown Quito to mitad del mundo ... the Equator! We took a blue line public bus for $0.80 each way and it was a harrowing 1 hour journey with crazy drivers, but we survived... 

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4.

Charles Darwin Research Center   Galápagos Islands

Charles Darwin Research Center, Galápagos Islands

 16 Reviews  Also known as Solitary George, Lonesome George is the last turtle of his sub-species (Geochelone elephantopus abingdoni). His turtle buddies were all killed by either whalers in the 19th century (who... 

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5.

Museums   Quito

Museums, Quito

 44 Reviews  Museo Nacional del Banco Central is situated in a large round building in the south end of Mariscal, in Parque Arbolito. It is a great museum displaying many masterpieces of Ecuadorian pre-Colombian... 

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6.

El Panecillo   Quito

El Panecillo, Quito

 25 Reviews  El Panecillo, which means the Little Bread Loaf, is a small round hill south of Centro Histórico. On top of El Panecillo there is a big statue of La Virgen de Quito. The statue has got wings like an... 

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7.

Local Markets   Quito

Local Markets, Quito

 9 Reviews  On weekends, El Ejido becomes the sight of a large outdoor market featuring handicrafts typical of Ecuador. Everything here is the typical sort of tourist souvenir that you might expect from the... 

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Cuenca

by MalenaN

Cuenca is the third largest city in Ecuador with an urban population of 330 000 inhabitants. Cuenca is situated in the highlands, in a valley surrounded by mountains, at an altitude of 2530 metres, and 441km south of Quito. Like Quito the city has an old historic centre which is an Unesco World Heritage Site.The historic centre of Cuenca is the city centre and here you can walk along cobblestone streets admiring the historical buildings. There are many churches, small plazas and museums to visit, so it is a nice place to spend a few days in. From Cuenca you can also make excursions to Cajas National Park, the Inca ruins of Ingapirca or one of the nearby villages known for their traditional handicrafts and Sunday markets.The Cañari people founded a settlement called Guapondeleg, probably around 500AD, in the area where Cuenca is situated. Later, in the 15th century, the Incas conquered...

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Daytrip to Parque Nacional Cajas, from Cuenca

by MalenaN

I decided to go on an organised daytrip to Cajas National Park from Cuenca. It is possible to take a public bus to some visitor sites in the park (the Cuenca - Guayaquil road passes through the area), but as I didn’t have a good map and I knew that it is often wet and foggy in the national park, with low visibility , I thought it was better to go with a guide and a group if I wanted to do some hiking. I had read good recommendations about Expediciones Apullacta before coming to Cuenca, and as they were situated in the building opposite the hotel where I stayed I went there to book the tour, one day ahead. The daytrip was $40 (July 2011). I was picked up at the hotel at 8 in the morning and then we went to pick up some other tourists. We were 10 tourists in the group in total. Before leaving Cuenca we went to pick up rubber-boots for everyone as it was very wet along the paths in the...

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Santa Lucia Cloud Forest Reserve

by MalenaN

Santa Lucia Cloud Forest Reserve is situated about 80km northwest of Quito. It is an area which is great for hiking and bird-watching. The mornings can be clear and sunny with good views, but in the afternoon it is always cloudy. Landless families bought land here after a land reform in 1976 and started an agricultural cooperative. It was not easy to farm the land as it led to environmental problems, and then the area was also declared a Protected Forest. Eventually the families turned to ecotourism and built a rustic lodge. The lodge is owned and run by the local families and besides tourists also volunteers and scientists come here to work with different projects.I did several hikes while staying at Santa Lucia Eco Lodge. Some of the hikes can be done without a guide and on some of them you must be accompanied by a guide. On most of the hikes you follow trails through beautiful primary...

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Sullivan Bay, Santiago, Galapagos Islands

by MalenaN

On the 6th day with M/S Cachalote we had visited Cerro Dragón on Isla Santa Cruz in the morning and there we had a nice and sunny weather. Unfortunately there was no wind, because if there had been wind we would have used the sails for the first and only time during the cruise, when navigating to Santiago. Approaching the island sailing would have been very nice. Now we used the engine as usual and it took 2h from Cerro Dragón to Santiago and Sullivan Bay.As we approached Santiago the sky had become very grey and it seemed the rest of the day would be like that. But after lunch and some rest it had luckily become clear with blue sky again. Also the night continued to be clear with one of those beautiful skies you never see near civilisations. Even if there were some lights on the boat you could see the Milky Way, millions of stars and shooting-stars. Amazing!Santiago (Isla San Salvador)...

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Latacunga

by MalenaN

Latacunga is situated along the Pan-American Highway, 89km south of Quito. It is a quite large town with about 52 000 inhabitants. As Latacunga is situated at an altitude of 2850m it can be quite cold, especially at night time, and the average temperature is 12°C. Latacunga was founded in 1534 under the name of Asiento de San Vicente Mártir de Latacunga. Since than it has been destroyed several times by earthquakes and eruptions of Volcán Cotopaxi, which is only 25km away. Only between 1698 and 1798 Latacunga was destroyed four times by earthquakes and in 1742, 1768 and 1877 it was destroyed by Cotopaxi. Despite all these natural disasters people of Latacunga has rebuilt their town and in the centre many old buildings has been preserved. Walking around in Latacunga you will come across several plazas and historical buildings, and on clear days you might see Cotopaxi from some locations...

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Market in Zumbahua

by MalenaN

Every Saturday there is a market in Zumbahua and it is a very colourful and interesting market, especially the animal market. The animal market begins already at 5am when people from the surrounding villages are coming in to Zumbahua with their llamas, sheep, pigs and cows to sell. I arrived at 6.30 and then the muddy market ground was filled with men and women dressed in colourful ponchos and scarves with their animals. After visiting the animal market in the outskirts of town I walked up to the central plaza where there are fruits, vegetables, bread, grains, clothes, chicken meat, DVDs and much more for sale. There are also many food stands and a couple of stands selling souvenirs.There were mot many tourists at the market, which I liked. However, I visited early so more tourists might arrive a little later.Zumbahua is a small town with a population of about 3000 inhabitants. It is...

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Festival in Sigchos

by MalenaN

Sigchos is a small dusty town along the so called Quilotoa Loop. It is mostly visited on the way to or from the villages Chugchilan, Quilotoa and Isinliví, as there is a quite good bus connection with Latacunga. When I travelled by bus back to Isinliví I regret I hadn’t asked for a hiking route, as I think it could have been a beautiful walk.I had not planed to visit Sigchos but when I was in Isinliví the volunteer at Llullu Llama said there was a festival in Sigchos the next day. The children at school had practised for a parade and the whole village were going. We, all the tourists staying at Llulu Llama, thought it would be interesting to go as well, so early next morning we went to Sigchos. The bus stopped at the central concrete plaza and so did many other buses arriving with people from other nearby villages.After visiting a restaurant and a short walk around town we took a seat on...

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Otavalo Market

by MalenaN

Otavalo is situated at an altitude of 2550 metres in the north Andes, 145km north of Quito. It is a medium sized town with a population of almost 50 000. In the vicinity there are several volcanoes and the mountain slopes are fertile Most tourists visit Otavalo for the famous Saturday market, but there are other things to see or do in and around Otavalo. There is an Anthropological Museum, A Condor Park outside the town and also outside the town there is a magical tree, El Lechero. The hiking is supposed to be good around Otavalo and you can visit several villages to learn about the traditions in the villages and craft being made, weaving, wood carvings and leather work. I am one of those tourists who only visited Otavalo for the market though, on a daytrip from Quito.Otavalo Saturday market is said to be the larges handicraft market in South America with lots of craftsmen coming to town...

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Floreana (Isla Santa Maria), Galapagos Islands

by MalenaN

The 5th day of the cruise with Cachalote we visited Floreana, also called Isla Santa Maria. In the morning we visited Punta Cormorant, where you can see the Greater Flamingo, and snorkelled at Devil’s Crown. In the afternoon we visited the Post Office Bay, a place where British whalers in the end of the 18th century placed a post office barrel. We mailed our own post cards there, visited a lava tunnel and snorkelled and relaxed on the beach. It was another great day!Floreana is one of four inhabited islands in the Galapagos , but it has the smallest settlement. In the village Puerto Velasco Ibarra there are only about 150 inhabitants, and there are two hotels. It is a place we didn’t visit on the cruise and I didn’t have time to go there after the cruise either.Charles Darwin visited Floreana in 1835. At that time the island was a penal colony.In the 1930s some German immigrants settled...

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Send a postcard from Post Office Bay, Galapagos

by MalenaN

Post Office Bay on Floreana is visited because of its history. Already in 1793 British whalers put up a Post Office Barrel here. At this time the whalers could be on the ship, away from home, for as long as two years. Crew on outbound ships could leave a letter in the barrel and it would be picked up by members on a ship returning home. This tradition is now continued by tourists who leave postcards without a stamp in the barrel. At the same time they go through the postcards already in the barrel to see if there are any they can bring with them home to deliver. A man in my group found a postcard to someone living near Boston, where he lived. While we were still standing there looking through the postcards a group passed on the path and a woman asked if someone had picked up the card she had just left. It was the postcard the man from Boston had picked up. So he got the woman’s telephone...

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Fun things to do in Ecuador

Top 3 Hotels in Ecuador

Four Points by Sheraton Quito  Quito

 6 Reviews and 82 Opinions  I knew this hotel as the Sheraton Quito, but I suppose that it was, at least at one time, a Four... 

 Hotels in Quito

Hotel Victoria  Cuenca

 1 Review and 46 Opinions  I arrived without a reservation at the end of a long and exhausting day (see my Alausi page). The... 

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Samari Spa Resort  Baños

 33 Opinions

 Hotels in Baños

303 Hotels in Ecuador
 
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Things to Do: Cities in Ecuador
  1. Quito Things to Do
  2. Cuenca Things to Do
  3. Guayaquil Things to Do
  4. Montañita Things to Do
  5. Baños Things to Do
  6. Otavalo Things to Do
  7. Manta Things to Do
  8. Riobamba Things to Do
  9. Latacunga Things to Do
  10. Mindo Things to Do
  11. Bahía de Caráquez Things to Do
  12. Laguna Quilotoa Things to Do
  13. Vilcabamba Things to Do
  14. Isla Isabela Things to Do
  15. Atacames Things to Do
  16. Cayambe Things to Do
  17. Puerto Villamil Things to Do
  18. Ambato Things to Do
  19. Puerto Ayora Things to Do
  20. Isla Santa Cruz Things to Do
  21. Mompiche Things to Do
  22. Puerto López Things to Do
  23. Ruinas de Ingapirca Things to Do
  24. Cuyabeno Things to Do
  25. Isla Baltra Things to Do
  26. Canoa Things to Do
  27. Cotundo Things to Do
  28. Isla de La Plata Things to Do
  29. Isla Santa María Things to Do
  30. Ingapirca Things to Do
  31. Chugchilán Things to Do
  32. Hacienda La Ciénega Things to Do
  33. Guaranda Things to Do
  34. Salinas Things to Do
  35. Nanegal Things to Do
  36. Machachi Things to Do
  37. Zaruma Things to Do
  38. Tigua Things to Do
  39. Pujilí Things to Do
  40. Isla Española Things to Do
  41. Crucita Things to Do
  42. Esmeraldas Things to Do
  43. Isla San Cristóbal Things to Do
  44. Isla San Salvador Things to Do
  45. Puerto Velasco Ibarra Things to Do
  46. Papallacta Things to Do

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Popular Regions in Ecuador

Provincia de Pichincha Things to Do  Galápagos Islands Things to Do  Provincia del Guayas Things to Do  Provincia del Azuay Things to Do  Provincia de Manabí Things to Do  Provincia de Cotopaxi Things to Do  Provincia de Imbabura Things to Do  Provincia del Tungurahua Things to Do  Provincia de Napo Things to Do  Provincia del Chimborazo Things to Do  Provincia de Esmeraldas Things to Do  Provincia de Loja Things to Do 

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Questions and Answers

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Q:  Hello I leave in Ecuador next month and i'm looking a spanish school, located in the Pacific Coast. I know there is a school in... 

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A: Hello Enrico You're right, Montanita is such a touristic place. I understand you want to avoid it. Last year, I have spent one month in a spanish school in Sua, near... 

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