Ecuador is small enough to cross in a morning. So a family can walk a colonial street on Monday and stand on a volcano on Wednesday. By Friday, they can paddle an Amazon river. The problem is almost never distance.
The two things that really shape a family trip here are altitude and the length of the days. This guide covers how to sequence them and which tours suit which age. It also covers what the Amazon and the Galapagos actually ask of a family.
Plan around altitude before anything else
Quito sits at 2,850 m, and children handle thin air about as unpredictably as adults do. The remedy is the same for everyone: arrive, then do nothing ambitious for a day or two. After that, put the high days in the middle of the trip rather than the morning after the flight. Our day tours are not interchangeable on this point:
- No altitude gain: the Half Day Walking Tour Quito, three hours on foot in the historic centre, rated easy.
- Gentle: Otavalo Cultural and Shopping, rated easy, average elevation around 2,500 m and 14C / 57F.
- Downhill: Mindo Adventure and Sweet drops into warm cloud forest, also rated easy.
- High: Cotopaxi Hike and Bike is moderate. The parking lot sits at 4,600 m and the Jose Rivas refuge at 4,800 m.
- Demanding: Quilotoa Culture and Hike is moderate. Expect a viewpoint at 3,900 m, then about three hours down to the lagoon and back up.
Quito is an easier first stop than parents expect
The half day walking tour is three hours on foot for $13 per person, and it runs every day. Also, there are two departures: 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. You meet at the Basilica del Voto Nacional, and the price covers a bilingual English-Spanish guide. The route takes in colonial church facades, the squares that shaped the city and the legends locals still tell. It also includes a tasting of traditional sweets and Ecuadorian chocolate at Yumbos Coffee Shop.
That second departure matters more to a family than it looks. In short, a 2:00 p.m. start means a slow morning on the day you land. The price does not cover entrance fees to museums and churches, food, drinks or tips.
Which day trip suits which age
The full days below leave Quito between 7:00 and 7:20 a.m. and return in the evening. Each one comes with a bilingual guide, authorised transport and lunch. Two of these in a week is fine; three days running is punishing.
- Mindo, 12 hours, Fridays, $56. Rated easy, and the activities are optional one by one. For example, the hummingbird farm costs $5, the tarabita cable car $3 and the canopy zip line $10 to $20. The chocolate factory and tasting costs $10, and you pay everything on site. A child who does not want the zip line stays with the group. Bring a swimsuit, repellent and a change of clothes.
- Otavalo, 12 hours, Tuesdays and Saturdays, $56. Rated easy and built around free time in the Plaza de los Ponchos. The day also includes bizcochos fresh from the oven in Cayambe. Next comes the Quitsato solar clock on the equator line ($5, not included). Then you visit the Cuicocha lagoon at 3,068 m, where the walks are short.
- Cotopaxi, 10 hours, Wed, Fri, Sat and Sun, $61. Moderate. Transport does the hard altitude work up to 4,600 m. After that, the bike descent to Limpiopungo at 3,850 m is optional, bike and helmet included. Average temperature is around 5C / 41F, so warm layers, a windbreaker and gloves are not negotiable. A three-hour horseback ride can replace both for $50 extra, booked in advance.
- Quilotoa, 12 hours, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, $56. Moderate. Walking down into the crater is the easy half. The climb back out at altitude, however, decides whether this day works for your family. Horses for the climb cost $10. Carry cash for the $2 lagoon entrance, the $1 Toachi Canyon stop and the optional $3 kayak.
The Amazon asks less of children than the Andes
Our lodge on the Arajuno river carries an easy rating and departs any day of the week. You meet at the Arajuno River Bridge at 12:00 and ride 20 minutes upriver by motorised canoe. The three-day programme at Napo Amazon EcoLodge starts at $243 per person with full board included.
There is a pool, solar-powered electricity in every room and Starlink internet in the common areas only. The lodge provides life jackets, rain ponchos and rubber boots in EU sizes 34 to 45. So if a child’s foot is smaller than a 34, bring boots from home. The days are a night walk listening to frogs and insects, then birdwatching at a natural clay lick. After that comes a day with the San Bartolo Sharayaku community, cooking maito and yuca over the tulpa. Finally, a chocolate workshop lets you roast, grind and taste. Entrance to the community and the Pañayaku reserve is USD 10 per person. Also, the price does not cover transport from Quito to the bridge, though we can arrange it door to door.
Deeper in, our own Cuyabeno Dolphin Lodge also carries an easy rating. It comes with mosquito nets, private bathrooms and all meals included. Departures meet at Puente Cuyabeno at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. You reach the bridge by overnight bus from Quito or by flying in the day before. That bus is usually what decides it for families with small children.
Galapagos: sleeping on land changes everything
A cruise cabin with a small child is a different proposition to a hotel room. Our five-day island hopping programme on Santa Cruz and Isabela carries an easy rating and sleeps on land. That means four nights in a hotel with air conditioning and a private bathroom, plus breakfast and lunch every day. You also get snorkel gear, towels and a National Park naturalist guide in the water with the group.
The part families ask about is Los Tuneles on day four, where the water is shallow and calm. There, you snorkel straight from the beach several times. The counterweight is the crossings: two hours each way by speedboat between Santa Cruz and Isabela. Budget separately for the USD 200 National Park entrance fee, the USD 20 Transit Control Card and flights. Also carry cash, because Isabela has no ATMs.
Tell us the ages and we will tell you what fits
We run these tours ourselves, with our own guides and our own lodges in the rainforest. So we can tell you honestly which day to drop instead of selling you all of them. Start with the Half Day Walking Tour Quito, or look through the full list of tours from Quito. Better yet, send us a WhatsApp at +593 98 094 2338 with the ages of your children. Then we will build the week around what they can actually enjoy.
