Things to Do in Ecuador: 20 Places to Visit, from Local Guides

These are the things to do in Ecuador we would pick if a friend asked us where to go. We guide most of them from Quito every week, so the times and prices come from our own trips. The country is about the size of Colorado, which means you can stand on a volcano on Tuesday and swim with sea lions by the weekend. The table gives the short version, and the sections below explain each place.

Our tour prices are per person for two travelers, except the two Galápagos trips, which assume four people sharing a room. The Galápagos also need a flight and $220 in fees.

Around Quito

Give the capital at least two days. You will adjust to the altitude, and most of these places work as day trips from your hotel.

Walk Quito's Old Town

Start at Plaza Grande, go inside the Compañía church, and finish with dinner on La Ronda street. Take the hills slowly, because the city sits at 2,850 m. Our list of things to do in Quito fills two or three days.

Ride the TelefériQo

The Quito cable car costs $9 and climbs 1,100 m in about 20 minutes, to a ridge near 4,000 m on Pichincha. Go on a clear morning and walk slowly at the top. It helps your body adjust before Cotopaxi.

Stand on the equator

The monument at Mitad del Mundo costs $5, and the Intiñan Museum nearby charges another $4 or $5. Half-day tours run $25 to $40, or you can take the public bus for under a dollar.

Shop the Otavalo market

Kichwa weavers have traded here for centuries. Saturday is the big day, from 5 am to 5 pm, and smaller markets run the rest of the week. Read about the Otavalo market day trip, or come with us on our Otavalo tour from $162.

Look for hummingbirds in Mindo

Mindo is a small cloud forest town about 90 km from Quito. You come for the waterfalls, the chocolate and the birds, and half-day tours cost $30 to $50. Keen birders should sleep there, because the feeders are busiest early. Our guide to birding in Ecuador has more.

Soak at Papallacta

Hot pools at 3,300 m, with the mountains around you. A day pass at the main Papallacta hot springs costs $12 to $15, and it pairs well with a morning at Cotopaxi if you travel with a driver.

The central Andes, down to Cuenca

This is the Avenue of the Volcanoes. Our 7 day Ecuador tour runs the whole road without a single internal flight.

Walk up Cotopaxi

The park gate is about two hours from Quito, and entry is free. From the upper car park you walk 45 minutes to the José Rivas refuge, close to 4,800 m. The cone is usually clearest between 8 and 11 am, so leave early. Our Cotopaxi day trip starts at $200.

Hike down to Quilotoa

Quilotoa is a turquoise crater lake at 3,900 m. The walk down takes 30 to 45 minutes, and a mule can carry you back up. The water looks best before midday, and the wind on the rim picks up after about 1 pm.

Trek the Quilotoa Loop

The Quilotoa Loop links farming villages by footpath, with lodges to sleep in along the way. If you only have time for a taste, our 14 day tour gives you a free day in Isinlivi to walk one section.

Go up Chimborazo

At 6,263 m, Chimborazo is the highest mountain in Ecuador. A road reaches the first refuge at 4,800 m, and the second refuge is a slow 200 m walk further on. Bring gloves, and watch for vicuñas on the way up. Our Chimborazo day trip starts at $195.

Chase waterfalls in Baños

Baños sits at 1,800 m, about three hours from Quito, and the evenings are mild. Rent a bike for $5 to $10 and ride the Route of the Waterfalls, stopping at Pailón del Diablo for about $3. Our list of things to do in Baños covers the hot springs and the swing.

Ride the Devil's Nose train

After years without service, the short line from Alausí down to Sibambe reopened on June 6, 2026. A foreign adult pays $30 plus tax. Schedules have changed often, so check our Devil's Nose train page before you plan around it.

See Ingapirca

Ingapirca is the largest Inca site in Ecuador, about two hours north of Cuenca, built around a sun temple of fitted stone. Entry costs $2, and there is a new reservation rule to read about before you go.

Spend two days in Cuenca

Cuenca has blue domes, a flower market and workshops where you can watch Panama hats being made. It is nine hours by bus from Quito or 50 minutes by plane, at $50 to $90 one way. At 2,500 m it feels milder than the capital.

Cross Cajas National Park

More than 230 glacial lakes lie across this high moorland, half an hour from Cuenca. Cajas is free, but bring your passport to register. You climb to nearly 4,000 m in under an hour, and the weather can change fast, so pack layers.

In the Amazon

The rainforest gives you two options: far and wild, or close and easy. Our guide on how to visit the Amazon rainforest explains the choice. Our Ecuador Amazon tours cover both.

Stay at a lodge in Yasuní

Yasuní National Park holds at least 596 bird species, plus monkeys and pink river dolphins. You fly from Quito to Coca in about 45 minutes, then go two to four hours by boat. Our 3 day Yasuní tour starts at $1,150.

Travel the Napo River near Tena

You can reach this part of the Amazon by road. Wild capuchin monkeys roam the town square in Misahuallí, and local families show you how cacao becomes chocolate. Choose between our 5 day Tena tour from $700 and 4 days at Casa del Suizo from $1,022.

On the Pacific coast

See whales and Playa de los Frailes

Humpback whales pass the coast from June to September. Playa de los Frailes, inside Machalilla National Park near Puerto López, has nothing built on the sand. Parts of the coast carry higher travel advisories, so read our guide to Ecuador's beaches and the current advice before you choose a town.

On the Galápagos Islands

The islands are the most expensive part of any trip here, and the part people talk about for years. Our guide to the Galápagos trip cost adds it all up, and our list of things to do in Galápagos goes island by island.

Meet giant tortoises on Santa Cruz

Giant tortoises walk through the highland pastures, and marine iguanas nest at Tortuga Bay at the end of a paved trail through cactus forest. Our 4 day Santa Cruz tour keeps you in one hotel with no crossings between islands.

Snorkel Los Túneles on Isabela

Los Túneles is a maze of collapsed lava arches where sea turtles, rays and seahorses swim in clear, shallow water. Isabela also has penguins at Las Tintoreras and one of the largest calderas in the world at Sierra Negra.

Santa Cruz, Isabela and a yacht day to an uninhabited island

7 Day Galapagos Tour from Quito

Santa Cruz, Isabela and a Yacht Day

• 7 days
• Medium effort

From $1,279 per person

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How to fit them into one trip

Most of Ecuador's famous places and tourist attractions sit along one road through the Andes, so a route comes together easily. Road time is what limits you, more than the size of the country. With a week, follow the Andes from Quito to Cuenca. With 9 or 10 days, join the Andes, one night in the Amazon and Santa Cruz, as our Ecuador 10 day itinerary shows.

Two weeks is the length we suggest most. You get a full week on the mainland and six nights on the islands, and our 14 day Ecuador itinerary goes through it day by day. Our Ecuador travel guide covers visas, money and safety, and the best time to visit Ecuador covers the seasons.

Most of this list in one trip, with one guide on the mainland

14 Day Ecuador and Galapagos Tour

Volcanoes, Cuenca and the Islands

• 14 days
• Medium effort

From $3,390 per person

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Want this turned into a route for your dates? Tell us what you want to see and we will send a plan with prices.

Things to do in Ecuador: questions we get