Ecuador: Quito, Cotopaxi, Banos and the Amazon

1. Day 1: Arrive in Quito

   Mariscal Sucre International Airport to your hotel by Quito's Old Town

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Quito
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO) at Tababela, about an hour east of the city, where a driver meets you in arrivals and takes you to your hotel in or beside the Old Town. Quito sits at about 2,850 m in a long Andean valley under the Pichincha volcano, so the first day is gentle on purpose: walk slowly, drink plenty of water and go easy on alcohol tonight. If you land early, the Plaza Grande is a short stroll from the hotel and a good place to sit in the sun while shoe-shiners and office workers cross the square. At about 7 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week ahead, from how the altitude feels to what to pack for the Amazon. Then we walk a few minutes to a welcome dinner of Ecuadorian dishes such as locro de papa, a potato and cheese soup served with avocado. If your flight lands after about 5 pm, your guide catches up with you at breakfast.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner in the Old Town

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

   Activity: Quito is at about 2,850 m. Rest, drink water and keep the first evening light.

2. Day 2: Otavalo market and the equator

   Quito to Otavalo, then the Mitad del Mundo on the way back to Quito

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Quito
   Day 2 details

   This is one of two days that run over our four-hour driving cap, by about half an hour, because Otavalo and the equator monument both lie north of Quito and pairing them saves an extra night; the market, a sit-down lunch and the monument break it into three short legs. We leave at 8 am and drive about two hours north on the Pan-American Highway, past the flower farms around Cayambe and, on a clear morning, the snow cap of Cayambe volcano. In Otavalo, at about 2,550 m, we walk the Plaza de los Ponchos, the craft market that runs every day and spreads into the surrounding streets on Saturdays: woven ponchos and blankets, alpaca wool, embroidered blouses and tagua-nut carvings. Your guide explains how bargaining works here, then leaves you an hour to browse. After lunch in the valley we drive back south to the Ciudad Mitad del Mundo, where a 30 m monument marks the equator line measured by the French Geodesic Mission in the 1730s, a couple of hundred metres from where GPS puts it today. A short walk away, the private Intinan museum demonstrates the equator experiments. We are back in Quito by about 5:30 pm.

   Included

   • Plaza de los Ponchos craft market in Otavalo, with time to browse
   • Sit-down lunch in the Otavalo valley
   • Ciudad Mitad del Mundo equator monument
   • Intinan museum

   Easier option: Skip the museum and wait in the monument park's cafes while the group visits.

   Free time: Evening free in Quito

   Activity: About four and a half hours of driving in total, in three legs. Otavalo is at about 2,550 m.

   

3. Day 3: Quito's Old Town, then south to Cotopaxi

   Quito's Old Town, then the Pan-American Highway south to a country hotel near Cotopaxi National Park

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Cotopaxi
   Day 3 details

   We start in the Old Town at 8:30 am, while the streets are still quiet and the light is soft on the facades. Quito's historic centre was among the first places on the UNESCO list, in 1978, and it is still a lived-in city of churches, convents and balconied streets. The first hour is outdoors: your guide walks you across the Plaza Grande, past the Presidential Palace and the cathedral, along the balconied streets to the broad plaza of San Francisco. Once the churches open, from about 9:30 (we confirm the entry times for your date), we go into La Compania de Jesus, whose nave is covered in gold leaf, and then climb the towers of the Basilica del Voto Nacional for the view over red roofs to El Panecillo hill. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the Old Town. In the early afternoon we drive about two hours south, onto the road the explorer Alexander von Humboldt is said to have called the Avenue of the Volcanoes, to a country hotel near Cotopaxi National Park. The rest of the afternoon is free to rest, walk the grounds or sit by the fire, and dinner is at the hotel.

   Included

   • Quito Old Town walk with your guide: Plaza Grande, the cathedral and the plaza of San Francisco
   • La Compania de Jesus, inside
   • The towers of the Basilica del Voto Nacional
   • Sit-down lunch in the Old Town
   • Dinner at the country hotel near Cotopaxi

   Easier option: Skip the Basilica tower climb and wait in the plaza below.

   Free time: Late afternoon free at the hotel

   Activity: About 2 to 3 km on foot in the Old Town, with hills and steep steps inside the Basilica towers. Tonight you sleep higher than Quito, so keep drinking water.

4. Day 4: Cotopaxi at opening, then down to Banos

   Cotopaxi National Park and Limpiopungo lagoon, then south via Latacunga and Ambato to Banos

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Banos
   Day 4 details

   After an early breakfast we enter Cotopaxi National Park as it opens, when the cone is most often clear of cloud. Cotopaxi rises to 5,897 m and is one of the highest active volcanoes in the world, with eruptive phases as recently as 2015 and 2022 to 2023. Our walk is the easy loop around Limpiopungo lagoon at about 3,800 m on the open paramo: about 3 km, flat and slow, with the glaciers above and a good chance of wild horses, Andean gulls and lapwings, and with luck a white-tailed deer or a condor. Your guide sets the pace and watches how everyone is breathing. Those who want more can drive up to the car park at about 4,600 m and climb to the Jose Rivas refuge at 4,864 m, about an hour of steep zigzags on volcanic sand, when the park has that route open. We meet for lunch near the park, then drive about two and a half hours south through Latacunga and Ambato, dropping some 2,000 m to Banos, a spa town in a green gorge under Tungurahua volcano. The evening is free.

   Included

   • Cotopaxi National Park at opening with your guide
   • Limpiopungo lagoon walk, about 3 km
   • Sit-down lunch near the park

   Easier option: Walk part of the lagoon loop, or stay with the vehicle at the viewpoints and the park's small interpretation centre.

   More active option: Climb from the car park at about 4,600 m to the Jose Rivas refuge at 4,864 m, about an hour up, when the park has the route open.

   Free time: Evening free in Banos

   Activity: The highest day of the trip, at about 3,800 m on the lagoon walk. If the park closes because of volcanic activity, your guide leads a paramo walk nearby instead.

5. Day 5: The waterfall road below Banos

   Banos down the Pastaza gorge to the Pailon del Diablo at Rio Verde, and back

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Banos
   Day 5 details

   Banos sits on the road that drops from the Andes towards the Amazon along the Pastaza river, and the 18 km below town are lined with waterfalls. We go early, leaving at about 8 am, to reach the Pailon del Diablo at Rio Verde before the day's visitors. A path of about 20 to 30 minutes, with steps, leads down through the gorge to the falls, around 80 m high, where the Pastaza crashes into a rock bowl; ledges and a suspension bridge put you close enough to get wet, so bring a rain jacket. On the way back we stop above the Manto de la Novia falls, where small cable cars cross the gorge. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Banos, at about 1,800 m and warmer than the highlands. The afternoon is free: soak in the town's thermal pools, walk up to the Bellavista viewpoint above town, or take a taxi to the Casa del Arbol and its swing over the valley. Your guide can book whatever you choose and comes along where you want company.

   Included

   • Pailon del Diablo waterfall at Rio Verde, early
   • Manto de la Novia viewpoint
   • Sit-down lunch in Banos
   • Bike hire for anyone who cycles the waterfall road

   Optional experiences

   • Thermal pools in Banos
   • Casa del Arbol swing
   • Canyoning, rafting or a spa treatment, booked locally

   Easier option: See the falls from the viewpoint at the top of the path instead of walking down the steps.

   More active option: Cycle from Banos to Rio Verde on the old road beside the tunnels, about 18 km and mostly downhill; the van brings you and the bike back.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Banos

   Activity: The path to the Pailon has steps both ways and is wet near the falls; wear shoes with grip.

   

6. Day 6: Down into the Amazon

   Banos to Puyo and Tena, then by motorised canoe to the lodge

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Amazon lodge near Tena
   Day 6 details

   After breakfast we follow the Pastaza river down out of the mountains to Puyo, where the air turns warm and damp, then north through farmland and forest to Tena, the capital of Napo province at about 500 m: about three hours of driving with a coffee stop on the way. Lunch is in Tena, a river town known for its whitewater and its Kichwa communities. A short drive then brings us to the riverbank, where a motorised canoe carries us and our bags upriver to the lodge, which has no road access. The lodge is chosen for cabins with private bathrooms and hot water, guides from the local Kichwa communities and forest right at the door; we name it when we confirm your dates. The rest of the afternoon is for settling in, a hammock or a swim where the lodge says the river is safe. After dinner, a lodge guide takes the group out on a night walk with torches, looking for frogs, stick insects, tarantulas and sleeping birds.

   Included

   • Sit-down lunch in Tena
   • Motorised canoe to the lodge
   • Guided night walk
   • Dinner at the lodge

   Easier option: Skip the night walk and listen to the forest from your cabin.

   Free time: Late afternoon free at the lodge

   Activity: Wear long sleeves and closed shoes on the night walk, and bring a torch and insect repellent.

   

7. Day 7: A day in the rainforest

   The lodge, its forest trails and a nearby Kichwa community

   • By boat
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Amazon lodge near Tena
   Day 7 details

   Mornings are the best time for wildlife in the rainforest, so the day starts early, with an optional dawn walk or canoe ride at about 6 am, when parrots, toucans and oropendolas are most active. After breakfast a Kichwa guide leads a longer forest walk of about two to three hours on muddy, uneven trails, explaining the plants used for medicine, building and dyes, and how families farm small mixed forest gardens called chakras. Lunch is at the lodge, followed by a free hour or two in the heat of the day. In the afternoon we take the canoe to a nearby Kichwa community to see cacao grown, fermented, roasted and ground into chocolate, and to share a cup of guayusa, a caffeinated leaf tea drunk at dawn in the region. On the way back we stop at a wildlife rescue centre on the river, where animals taken from the illegal pet trade are cared for and, where possible, released. Dinner is at the lodge, with a last evening of jungle sound.

   Included

   • Dawn walk or canoe ride with a lodge guide
   • Forest walk with a Kichwa guide, about 2 to 3 hours
   • Cacao and chocolate making in a Kichwa community
   • Visit to a wildlife rescue centre
   • All meals at the lodge

   Easier option: Take the shorter lodge trail loop instead of the long forest walk, or rest at the lodge until the afternoon canoe trip.

   More active option: Take the longer forest loop your Kichwa guide offers on the day, or paddle a dugout canoe on the river during the free hours, where the lodge has them.

   Free time: Free time at the lodge after lunch

   Activity: Trails are hot, humid and muddy; the lodge usually lends rubber boots, confirmed when we name it.

   

8. Day 8: Papallacta hot springs and back to Quito

   Canoe to the river landing, then by road via Archidona and Baeza to Papallacta and Quito

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Quito
   Day 8 details

   We leave the lodge by canoe straight after an early breakfast and drive north via Archidona and Baeza, climbing out of the lowlands through cloud forest, waterfalls and rivers on a road that rises about 2,800 m before Papallacta. This is the second day that runs over our four-hour driving cap, at about four and a half hours in all, because there is no shorter road from the Amazon back to Quito; it is broken in two by the Papallacta soak and lunch. After about three hours we reach Papallacta, a village at about 3,300 m where volcanic springs feed hot pools with views across the paramo. We arrive around midday, soak for a couple of hours and have lunch beside the pools. The last leg, about an hour and a half, crosses the eastern Andes at a pass of about 4,000 m, where the glaciers of Antisana volcano can show to the south on a clear afternoon, before the road drops into Quito. You have time to rest at the hotel before a farewell dinner with the group in the Old Town.

   Included

   • Motorised canoe back to the river landing
   • Papallacta hot springs, with entry
   • Lunch at Papallacta
   • Farewell dinner in Quito

   Optional experiences

   • Spa treatments at Papallacta

   More active option: Walk a short trail above the pools at Papallacta instead of a second soak.

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Quito

   Activity: About four and a half hours of driving in two legs, either side of Papallacta. Bring a swimsuit and a towel in your day bag. The pass at about 4,000 m is the highest point on the road.

   

9. Day 9: Quito and home

   Your hotel in Quito to Mariscal Sucre International Airport

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast
   Day 9 details

   Your last morning in Quito is free until your airport transfer. If your flight leaves late, the Old Town is a short walk from the hotel: the Museo de la Ciudad in a former colonial hospital, the convent of Carmen Alto, where the nuns still sell their own sweets and biscuits, or a coffee on the Plaza San Francisco while the city goes about its day. A driver takes you to Mariscal Sucre International Airport, about an hour from the centre; allow three hours at the airport before an international flight, so plan to leave the hotel about four hours before departure. If you are continuing to the Galapagos, tell us when you book: our Galapagos island-hopping group flies from Quito to the islands on its third day, and we can time your departure so you join it at the airport, with any extra Quito nights between the two trips arranged by us. Your guide says goodbye at the hotel and makes sure every transfer is booked.

   Included

   • Drop-off at Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO)

   Free time: Free until your airport transfer

   Activity: Leave the hotel about four hours before an international flight.

Wildlife and weather: The highlands are drier roughly June to September, with the clearest views of Cotopaxi but strong winds and cold nights on the paramo; October to May brings more afternoon cloud and showers. Around Tena it rains in every month, often in short heavy bursts, with the wettest spell roughly April to July. Volcano views are best early in the morning, which is why we enter Cotopaxi at opening.

• Quito2 nights
• Cotopaxi1 night
• Banos2 nights
• Amazon lodge near Tena2 nights
• Quito1 night