Ecuador
Ecuador packs a continent into a country the size of Colorado: Amazon lodges, avenue-of-volcanoes hikes, a perfectly preserved colonial capital and — 600 miles offshore — the wildlife laboratory of the Galápagos.
Ecuador packs a continent into a country the size of Colorado: Amazon lodges, avenue-of-volcanoes hikes, a perfectly preserved colonial capital and — 600 miles offshore — the wildlife laboratory of the Galápagos.
Tiny Ecuador crams in the lot: the colonial Andean capital of Quito, the adventure-sports town of Baños, the artisan city of Cuenca, the Pacific coast, and — out in the ocean — the Galápagos. It runs on the US dollar, distances are short, and the famous "Avenue of the Volcanoes" means you can be hiking a snow-capped peak in the morning and in cloud forest by night.
Fun fact
Thanks to the equatorial bulge, the summit of Chimborazo — not Everest — is the point on Earth’s surface closest to the sun.
Getting around
Compact and cheap — comfortable buses link the highland towns in a few hours, and the currency is the US dollar so there’s no exchange hassle. No visa for most travellers (90 days). The Galápagos require a flight from Quito or Guayaquil plus park fees; everything else is easily done overland.
City guides
Quito
Andean capital at altitude
Baños
Adventure capital of the Andes
Cuenca
Ecuador’s most beautiful colonial city
Guayaquil
Pacific port and Galápagos gateway
Galápagos
Islands that rewrote biology
