Duration

10 Days / 9nights
🚩 Starts: 🗓️Jul 11 - 2026
where:🛬Quito 🇪🇨
🏁 Ends: 🗓️Jul 20 - 2026

where:🛫Guayaquil 🇪🇨

 

Price per person

10 Days - Hosted tour
Price US$5,560 double
Single Sup. US$1,490

 

Tour Details & Inclusions

Accommodation: 5 star hotels Quito, Cuenca & Guayaquil.
Meals: All breakfasts, lunches, and dinners included

Activities & Excursions: All included

Transport: Domestic flights/catamaran/transfers included

Park Fees: All entrance fees included

Group Size: 14 travelers (small group experience)

Host: Professional tour leader Felipe Soto & local experts

Itinerary – 10 Nights / 9 Days

Day 1 – Arrival in Quito - Friday July 11 - 2026

Welcome to Ecuador! Upon arrival at Quito’s international airport, you will be met and transferred to your hotel. Depending on your flight schedule, you may choose to spend the afternoon exploring one of the world’s great UNESCO World Heritage Sites – Quito’s Old Town, or simply relax and recover from your journey at the hotel.

At 6:00 pm, your Tour Host will meet you in the hotel lobby for a welcome orientation and briefing. This will be the perfect opportunity to review the itinerary, ask questions, and get to know your fellow travelers before beginning your adventure.

 

Hotel: Plaza Grande or GO Quito Hotel or similar 5★
 

 

Day 2 – Quito Walking Tour + Lunch + Equator Experience

Morning: Hosted walking tour of Quito’s historic center (Plaza Grande, La Compañía de Jesús, San Francisco, and the colorful streets of La Ronda).

Lunch at a traditional Andean restaurant with local specialties.

Afternoon: Visit the Equator Line – Mitad del Mundo and the Intiñan Museum for fun science demonstrations.
Dinner.
 

Day 3 – Full-day hosted excursion to Cotopaxi National Park

After breakfast, we set out on a scenic drive to Cotopaxi National Park, a vast protected area of more than 34,000 hectares. The park offers a spectacular landscape of trails, rivers, waterfalls, and high Andean plateaus dominated by the majestic Cotopaxi Volcano (5,897 m / 19,347 ft), one of the highest active volcanoes in the world.

Our visit begins at the Limpiopungo Lagoon (3,830 m / 12,565 ft), where a short walk around the shore reveals a rich variety of Andean flora and birdlife. Keep your eyes open for highland species such as Andean lapwings, caracaras, and perhaps wild horses grazing nearby.

We then continue by vehicle up to the Cotopaxi Staging Area (4,500 m / 14,764 ft). From here, weather permitting, there is the chance to spot the legendary Andean condor in flight. Adventurous travelers may also choose to hike up to the José Rivas Refuge, the basecamp located on the volcano’s slopes.

In the late afternoon, we return by road to our hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 4 – Otavalo → Cuenca

Transfer to Quito airport for the flight to Cuenca (1:00 hrs).

Arrival in Cuenca, transfer to hotel, lunch and Walking tour of Cuenca’s Historic Center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Explore Calderón Park, the Old and New Cathedrals, San Francisco Market, and the riverside.

Visit a Panama Hat workshop, where travelers learn the process of weaving these world-famous hats.

Dinner included in a local restaurant or hotel.

Hotel: Mansion Alcazar or similar 5★

Day 5: Scenic Drive Cuenca – Guayaquil via Cajas National Park

Morning departure to Guayaquil, passing through the Cajas National Park with stunning highland landscapes, lagoons, and short photo stops.

Lunch included en local farm.

Afternoon arrive into Guayaquil. Dinner

Hotel: Oro Verde or Wyndham Guayaquil or similar 5★
 

Day 6 – Guayaquil → Galapagos (Baltra)

Transfer to airport, morning flight Guayaquil → Baltra Island (2:00 hrs)

Sail across the stunning Itabaca Channel to Santa Cruz Island. Visit a highlands ranch to see giant tortoises in their natural habitat and explore the Twin Craters—dramatic volcanic formations surrounded by native flora and birdlife. After a local lunch, check in at the hotel and relax before dinner.

Hotel: Angermeyer or similar 4★

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Day 7 – Galápagos Excursion (Boat Tour)

Explore Santa Fe Island

Embark on a dinghy ride to the sandy-white shores of Santa Fe Island, home to sea lions. Look for Galapagos hawks and Santa Fe land iguanas. Conclude with snorkeling or a glass-bottom boat ride.

Discover South Plaza Island

After lunch, dry land in a channel with turquoise waters and a coastline of white sands and black lava. Experience a vibrant landscape with scarlet sesuvium succulents and green prickly-pear cacti, home to yellow-grey land iguanas and lively sea lion colonies. Watch frigates, swallow-tailed gulls, and shearwaters gracefully soaring overhead.

 

Day 8 – Galápagos Excursion (Boat Tour)

Experience Prince Phillip’s Steps on Genovesa Island

Start your day with a scenic panga ride along the cliffs of “Bird Island,” also known as Genovesa. Then descend a wooden staircase to a plateau and observe colonies of Nazca boobies, red-footed boobies, frigatebirds, and storm petrels. Keep an eye out for the short-eared owl. You can also take a longer panga ride along the cliffs or enjoy snorkeling and kayaking, weather permitting.

Explore Darwin Bay on Genovesa Island

After a satisfying lunch, we reach the pristine white sands of Darwin Bay. Here, you can observe many bird species, including frigatebirds, red-footed and Nazca boobies, gulls, herons, finches, and mockingbirds.
 

Day 9 – Galápagos Excursion 

Enjoy breakfast at the waterfront before heading to Tortuga Bay, famed for its white sand, turquoise waters, and marine iguanas.
After lunch, visit the Charles Darwin Research Station to learn about conservation projects and see giant tortoises. Dinner by the ocean completes the day.
 

Day 10 – End - Sunday July 20 - 2026 (Flight)

Savor your final breakfast before your transfer to Baltra Airport, leaving with memories of an unforgettable island journey.

Flight to Guayaquil or Quito airport for your connection back home. Safe travels