Travel advice for Ecuador
From travel safety to visa requirements, discover the best tips for traveling to Ecuador
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Unique Lodges of Ecuador
Prepare yourself for the epitome of adventure and prestige with not one but two Unique Lodges in Ecuador into the lush and captivating nearby cloud forest to discover Mashpi Lodge. After that, prepare yourself for the wonders at your doorstep at the Finch Bay Galapagos Hotel.
customize ⤍Best Machu Picchu and Galapagos Islands Tour Package
Explore a trio of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in this Machu Picchu and Galapagos tour package! Your journey begins in Quito, home to the Middle of the World. Afterward, fly on over to the Galapagos Islands the best biodiversity hotspot and following with the sublime Machu Picchu in Peru.
customize ⤍Galapagos Cruise and Scuba Diving Adventure
The Galapagos Islands rank as one of the world’s top dive sites, famous for its incredible underwater wonders, and huge quantities of marine life. This package offers a full-day SCUBA diving tour for guests that wish to experience the impressive diving in Galapagos, all in a safe and fun environment
customize ⤍The Best of the Mashpi Rainforest and Galapagos
Begin this journey in one of the first cities to be given the title of UNESCO World Heritage Site – Quito, Ecuador! Afterward, just a few hours away, you’ll head down into the lush cloud forests that surround Quito to experience Mashpi Lodge. You’ll finish this journey with the the Galapagos Islands
customize ⤍The road network is limited by North American and European standards, but expanding and improving all the time thanks to recent investments in the country’s infrastructure, supported by the introduction of road tolls. Less than twenty percent of the highways are paved so expect a bumpy ride if you’re going on any but the most important routes. The Panamericana (Pan-American Highway, often called la Pana by locals) forms the backbone of the country’s road network, linking all the major highland towns and cities from Tulcán to Loja and on to Peru. A handful of other good roads spill down the Andes to important coastal cities including Guayaquil, Manta and Esmeraldas, while in the Oriente the road system is the least developed and exists almost entirely to serve the needs of the local oil industry.
The network’s biggest problem has always been the weather, with floods and landslides both common, knocking out roads sometimes for weeks at a time. Even in fine conditions, rough terrain means travelling around Ecuador’s highland regions is often much slower than you might expect: going the length of the country by bus from the Colombian border to Peru, a distance of 818km on mostly paved roads, takes around 18 hours – an average speed of 45kmh.
The further into the backwaters you go, the more the comfort level is likely to drop. Standard buses will stop anywhere for anyone who wants to get on until every available crack of space has been filled. Obviously, the remoter the area, the less frequent the buses will be and most local and provincial services won’t run much after nightfall. At the margins of the bus network, pick-up trucks (camionetas), minibuses (busetas) and open-sided trucks converted to hold wooden benches (rancheras or chivas) often fill the vacuum. If you’re unsure of the area you’re travelling to, note that most drivers know their routes well and are happy for you to ask them to stop at your destination – they’ll let you know when you’ve arrived. For reasons of safety, avoid travelling at night on buses, when hold-ups and accidents are more likely.
Larger towns usually have a main bus terminal (terminal terrestre), where all the long-distance bus companies are based. In smaller towns, company offices and departure points may be scattered around, though they’re usually never very far from the central square or main thoroughfare. Out of town, it’s easy to hail non-luxury buses if you stand in a place where they have plenty of time to spot you; the standard gesture to flag one down is an apathetic point to the ground in the middle of the road next to you.
You can buy your fare from the conductor (ayudante) on board, who will come and collect it. Generally speaking, bus journeys cost roughly $1 per hour of travel. Overcharging is uncommon, but keep an eye on what others are paying. To get off, make for the door and say “bajo” or “gracias”. Alternatively, if you can, it’s a good idea to buy your ticket at the company office in advance to guarantee yourself a seat, something you can do on all long-distance buses whether luxury class or not – seats towards the front lurch less.
Local city buses in the larger towns generally carry a board in the window showing their route, with a list of street names and key landmarks. There’s normally a flat fare (currently around $0.25), which you pay as you enter. Local buses often stop to pick up and put down anywhere on request, though in some city centres proper bus stops, marked “parada”, are respected.
The network currently comprises three short tourist routes: Riobamba to Sibambe, down the vertiginous Nariz del Diablo (Devil’s Nose); Quito to El Boliche (by Cotopaxi national park); and Ibarra to Primer Paso in the northern highlands. Work is currently ongoing to restore the Quito–Durán (near Guayaquil) line.
At the time of writing, the section from Quito to Latacunga was near completion; check the website of the Empresa de Ferrocariles Ecuatorianos (EFE) for the latest.
When choosing which type of vehicle to rent, remember only a small portion of the country’s roads are paved, and those that are surfaced can be in an atrocious state of disrepair. Four-wheel-drive, or at least high clearance and sturdy tyres, definitely comes in handy on unpaved roads, especially in the rainy season, but isn’t necessary for the big cities and better-maintained parts of the road network. Air conditioning is another consideration for long journeys in the lowlands and Oriente.
Never leave valuables in your car at any time, or your car on the street overnight, as it will almost certainly be broken into; try to stay in hotels with a garage, or else leave your vehicle overnight in a securely locked parqueadero.
In the event of an accident, you should try to come to an agreement with the other party without involving the police if you can. This may not be possible if it is serious, and the upshot often is that both parties are detained until one admits liability. Unsurprisingly, hit and runs are common in Ecuador.
Taxis are also sometimes the best way of getting to out-of-the-way places such as national parks or mountain refuges, particularly if you’re in a group and can share the cost. Hiring a taxi for the day costs from about $60. App-based taxi-services, including Uber, Cabify and Easy Taxi, are available in Quito, Cuenca, Guayaquil. They are easy to book and identify, plus they offer transparent fees and the ability to file a complaint. Never use an unmarked cab.
The most likely place you’ll end up in a boat is in the Oriente, where the best of the jungle is often a boat ride away. On the coast, the coastal highway now runs the entire length of the Ecuadorian seaboard, meaning you’re less likely to need to travel by boat, but it’s still fun to tour through the mangroves around San Lorenzo or Muisne. A few communities in the northern lowlands are still only reachable by river boat.
A chartered boat (flete) is more expensive than going on a public one, though you can reduce costs by gathering a group; the fare is usually fixed for the journey regardless of the number of passengers. Travel around the Galápagos Islands is almost exclusively by boat.
In the UK, the Cyclists’ Touring Club, is an excellent source of information for cycle tourists, and has factsheets on a range of subjects including recommended itineraries for touring in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
From travel safety to visa requirements, discover the best tips for traveling to Ecuador
written by Rough Guides Editors
updated 26.04.2021
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