Your first time in Ecuador benefits from a simple fact: this is one of the smallest countries in South America, and the Andes, the Amazon, the Pacific coast and the Galapagos Islands all sit inside it. What catches people out is never the distance. It is the altitude, the weather changing within the hour, and the small payments nobody warns you about until you are at a ticket window with no cash.
Here is what we explain most often to travellers on their first time in Ecuador, most of them landing in Quito.
One small country, four very different regions
Do not try to see all four. Ten days works best with two regions, and the Galapagos needs its own block because it depends on flights. The highlands are the easy part: one hotel in Quito, a different landscape every morning. The jungle needs deciding early, because it costs a travel day at each end.
Quito sits at 2,850 m: give yourself two days
Altitude is the one thing first-time visitors underestimate. You feel it walking uphill in the Old Town, and far more on a volcano. On our Cotopaxi Hike and Bike the transport drives to a parking lot at 4,600 m and the walk continues to the Jose Rivas refuge at 4,800 m, the highest point of the day: rated moderate, no technical gear, and still slow, because of the air.
- Land and slow down: keep the first day at Quito level and save the volcanoes for day two or three.
- Pace, not fitness: above 4,000 m, walking slower than feels natural is the technique. Tell your guide about a headache when it starts.
- Build up before a summit: the Rucu Pichincha Acclimatization Hike starts from the cable car at 3,945 m and tops out at 4,698 m.
The money is dollars, but bring small notes
Ecuador uses the US dollar, so there is nothing to change on arrival. What surprises people is how much cash the road demands for the things a tour price does not cover.
- Quilotoa: the lagoon entrance is $2 per person and the Toachi Canyon viewpoint $1, neither included. Horses for the climb back up are $10, a kayak on the lagoon $3.
- Otavalo: the $5 ticket for the Quitsato solar clock is paid on site.
- Mindo: the hummingbird farm is $5, the tarabita cable car $3, the canopy zip line $10 to $20 and the chocolate factory $10, all paid there.
- Galapagos: the national park entrance fee of $200 and the $20 Transit Control Card are paid separately from any programme, and there are no ATMs on Isabela.
Pack for the Andes and the Amazon in one bag
Quito is spring in the morning and winter at 4,800 m. For the Cotopaxi day we ask for warm layers, a windbreaker, gloves plus neck and ear protection, sunscreen and comfortable shoes for mountainous, sandy terrain. The Quilotoa Culture and Hike list adds sunglasses and a sun hat: at 3,900 m the sun burns while the wind keeps you cold.
The jungle needs the opposite bag. Long-sleeved shirts, trousers rather than jeans, mosquito repellent, a torch with spare batteries for the night walk, and dry bags for clothes and documents. Rubber boots and rain ponchos are provided at both of our lodges in EU sizes 34 to 45, so bring your own outside that range. For the islands, add reef-safe sunscreen and shoes with grip for the lava trails.
What a day tour from Quito actually includes
The line between included and not included is where budgets go wrong. Cotopaxi Hike and Bike at $61 per person, Otavalo Cultural and Shopping at $56 and Quilotoa Culture and Hike at $56 all include a bilingual English-Spanish guide, authorised tourist transport, a menu-type lunch and the protected area entrance permits. Mindo Adventure and Sweet at $56 covers guide, transport and lunch, but every activity there is paid on site. Snacks, extra drinks and gratuities never are.
The cheapest start is on foot. The Half Day Walking Tour Quito is $13 per person for three hours, and that price covers the bilingual guide: food, drinks and entrance fees to museums and churches are not part of it. It meets at the Basilica del Voto Nacional every day at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., and ends with a chocolate tasting at Yumbos Coffee Shop.
The day of the week matters more than the date
Shared day tours do not run daily, and in the highlands the day changes what you actually see.
- Cotopaxi Hike and Bike: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with pick-up at Foch Square at 7:10 a.m. or Zular Coffee Shop on San Blas Square at 7:20 a.m.
- Quilotoa Culture and Hike: Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. The market on the way is Saquisili on Thursdays and Pujili on Sundays.
- Otavalo Cultural and Shopping: Tuesday and Saturday, the two days the Plaza de los Ponchos fair is at its biggest.
- Mindo Adventure and Sweet: Friday, leaving Zular Coffee Shop at 7:00 a.m. and Foch Square at 7:10 a.m.
Amazon and Galapagos go in the calendar first
Our Cuyabeno 3-Day Rainforest Escape runs on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays and starts at 11:00 a.m. at the Cuyabeno River Bridge, around eight hours from Quito by road. That transport is not included, so you take the overnight bus or fly in the day before. From the bridge on everything is covered: canoe transport to Cuyabeno Dolphin Lodge, bilingual naturalist guide, all meals and the excursion gear. The community and shaman visits are $10 each, charged only if they take place.
The Napo side is easier. Our 2-day programme at Napo Amazon EcoLodge meets at the Arajuno River Bridge at 12:00, runs any day of the week and starts at $192 per person, with entrance to the Kichwa community and the Pañayaku reserve at $10 on top. For the Galapagos, flights are never part of the programme: our Santa Cruz and Isabela island hopping starts at Baltra Airport at 11:00 on day one, and the transit card needs your passport.
Ready to plan your first time in Ecuador?
We have been running these trips out of Quito for fifteen years, with our own guides, our own transport and our own lodges in the Amazon – that is why the answers above are specific. Start with the Half Day Walking Tour Quito if you land with a free afternoon, browse our tours from Quito to see what fits your dates, or send us a WhatsApp at +593 98 094 2338 and tell us how many days you have.
