Overview
A graceful UNESCO city of cobbled streets, blue-domed cathedrals and four rivers in the southern highlands. Cuenca is calmer and more refined than Quito, famed for its craft scene — this is where Panama hats are actually made — and a base for the eerie, lake-strewn Cajas national park.
Top things to do
New Cathedral
The sky-blue domes of the Catedral de la Inmaculada, the unmistakable symbol of the city.
RĂo Tomebamba
A riverside walk beneath the colonial "hanging houses" of El Barranco.
Cajas National Park
A high páramo of more than 200 glacial lakes and walking trails an hour from town.
Panama hat workshop
Tour a traditional workshop to see how the world’s finest "Panama" hats are woven in Ecuador.
Hike Cajas
A day in the misty lake-land of Cajas, where trails wind between paramo lakes and polylepis forest.
Riverside café crawl
Wander the galleries, chocolate shops and cafés of the old town along the Tomebamba.
3-day sample itinerary
- 1
Old town
Cathedrals, the river walk and the craft markets.
- 2
Cajas
Day hike in the high lake park.
- 3
Hats & cafés
Panama hat workshop and a slow café day.