Full Ecuador: Andes, Amazon & Galápagos (Self-Launched)

Land at Mariscal Sucre airport and take an authorised taxi or the Aeropuerto Quito shuttle into the historic centre (~£20-30). Settle into a hostel in Centro Histórico or La Mariscal, acclimatise gently at 2,850m, and spend the evening on Calle La Ronda with a plate of llapingachos and a fruit juice.

🚌Authorised airport taxi ~£20-30; local buses £0.25 per ride

🛏Hostel dorm or private room, Centro Histórico (~£12-18)

• →Airport transfer to Centro Histórico
• →Evening wander of Calle La Ronda

Take a bus from Quito's Terminal Cumbayá or the Quitumbe terminal toward Baeza/Papallacta (roughly 2 hours, ~£2.50). Check into a simple guesthouse in Papallacta village and spend the afternoon at the Termas de Papallacta hot springs — book entry and a locker directly at the pools (entry around £7-9 for the public baths; the resort spa complex is pricier). Optional short hike on the Sendero La Isla trail.

🚌Public bus ~£2.50

🛏Village guesthouse, Papallacta (~£15-20)

• →Bus Quito to Papallacta
• →Termas de Papallacta hot springs (self-booked entry)
• →Sendero La Isla nature walk

Bus on through Baeza to Tena (~4 hours, ~£5). In Tena arrange a two-night community stay with a Quichua family at a riverside village or via a local operator such as a Tena-based Amazon tour office — this is the standard-equivalent of the tour's homestay. Afternoon walk to a nearby waterfall and a cooking session with your hosts.

🚌Public bus ~£5

🛏Quichua family cabaña, multi-share (~£12-15 incl. meals)

• →Bus Papallacta to Tena
• →Quichua community homestay
• →Waterfall walk

Second day at the homestay: learn about yuca and cacao cultivation, try your hand at a cooking demonstration, hike to a second waterfall and swim in the river. Mornings are best before the afternoon rain. Optional extra: a river tube float back to the village (~£8).

🚌On foot

🛏Quichua family cabaña, multi-share (~£12-15 incl. meals)

• →Guided nature walk with local guide
• →Cooking demonstration
• →River swimming

Head further downriver from Tena to a jungle lodge on the upper Napo (motorised canoe + 4x4 transfer, typically bundled into a 2-night lodge package of roughly £90-120 with meals and guided walks). Afternoon guided walk to spot toucans, monkeys and medicinal plants.

🚌Canoe plus 4x4, included in lodge package

🛏Amazon jungle lodge, twin/dorm, full board (~£45-55/night)

• →Motorised canoe transfer
• →Jungle lodge nature walk
• →Night walk

Morning canoe excursion to a parrot clay lick or oxbow lagoon, then either an optional whitewater rafting run on the Jatunyacu (~£55 direct with a Tena rafting company) or a canopy/ butterfly walk. Afternoon siesta and piranha fishing at sunset.

🚌Canoe

🛏Amazon jungle lodge, full board (~£45-55)

• →Canoe wildlife excursion
• →Optional Jatunyacu rafting ~£55
• →Piranha fishing

Transfer back up the Napo valley to Tena, then take a bus or shared van to Baños (~4 hours from Tena, ~£6). Baños sits under smoking Volcán Tungurahua — check into a hostel with roof terrace views and soak in the municipal hot springs at El Salado or La Virgen (~£3).

🚌Public bus/shared van ~£6

🛏Hostel, Baños (~£10-15)

• →Bus Tena to Baños
• →Baños hot springs

Pick your adventure: canyoning in the Cascada de San Pedro or Chamana (~£25), horseback riding (~£22), or rent a mountain bike (~£8) for the Ruta de las Cascadas downhill past the Pailón del Diablo waterfall (entry ~£2.10). Finish with a soak at El Salado.

🚌Bike rental and local transport ~£8

🛏Hostel, Baños (~£10-15)

• →Canyoning ~£25
• →Ruta de las Cascadas by bike
• →Pailón del Diablo waterfall

Second free day. Options: hike up to the Mirador de la Virgen and the swing at Casa del Árbol, take the cable car over the Pastaza gorge (~£5), try a zipline, or simply café-hop and rest before the long overland run south tomorrow.

🚌Local buses/taxis ~£4

🛏Hostel, Baños (~£10-15)

• →Casa del Árbol swing and viewpoint
• →Optional zipline or cable car
• →Café time

Long travel day south (~9-10 hours). Break it at the Ingapirca ruins — the best-preserved Inca site in Ecuador. A direct bus to Cañar/Ingapirca then onward to Cuenca will take the whole day (~£10 total), or a shared shuttle arranged through your hostel doing the Ingapirca stop costs around £20. Arrive Cuenca and do a self-led evening orientation walk of the colonial centre.

🚌Public bus via Ingapirca ~£10

🛏Hostel, Cuenca Centro (~£12-18)

• →Bus to Ingapirca ruins (~£4 entry)
• →Orientation walk of Cuenca's historic centre

Explore: the Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción domes, the Museo Pumapungo, and the Panama hat workshops in Homero Ortega. Alternatively book a day tour to Cajas National Park (~£55-65 with a local agency) for high-altitude lake hikes at 4,000m — half-day hiking unguided from the Tres Cruces visitor centre is also possible.

🚌Local bus to Cajas ~£2 if self-guided

🛏Hostel, Cuenca Centro (~£12-18)

• →Cuenca cathedral and museums
• →Optional Cajas National Park day trip
• →Panama hat workshop

Fly Cuenca to Quito (LATAM/Avianca, book early for ~£45-60; the bus is ~£12 but takes 9+ hours). From Quito take a bus north to Cayambe (~2 hours, ~£2) and check into a hacienda-guesthouse at the volcano's base — several historic haciendas offer simple rooms for around £25-35 per person, or a rural hostal for less.

🚌Flight ~£50 + bus ~£2

🛏Historic hacienda or rural hostal near Cayambe (~£22-35)

• →Domestic flight to Quito
• →Bus to Cayambe
• →Hacienda stay at base of Volcán Cayambe

Morning walk or horse ride on the hacienda grounds, then continue north to Laguna de Cuicocha for the crater-lake rim hike (~£1 entry, 3-4 hours). Overnight in Otavalo so you're there for the market.

🚌Local buses ~£3

🛏Hostal, Otavalo (~£12-18)

• →Cuicocha crater lake hike
• →Cayambe countryside walk

The Plaza de Ponchos market is the largest indigenous handicraft market in South America — haggle for textiles, tapestries and jewellery. Add the Peguche waterfall walk nearby and, if you're there on a Saturday, the animal market at the edge of town at dawn. Late afternoon bus back to Quito (~2 hours, ~£2).

🚌Bus Otavalo to Quito ~£2

🛏Hostel, Quito (~£12-18)

• →Otavalo Plaza de Ponchos market
• →Peguche waterfall walk

A gap day before flying to the islands — useful for laundry, repacking into a small soft bag for the Galápagos, and seeing Quito properly: the Basílica del Voto Nacional tower climb (~£2), the Teleférico up Pichincha (~£7), and the Mitad del Mundo equator line (~£8 with bus, or a £35 day tour).

🚌Buses/taxis ~£8

🛏Hostel, Quito (~£12-18)

• →Basílica tower climb
• →Teleférico
• →Mitad del Mundo equator monument

Fly Quito (or Guayaquil) to Baltra (book well ahead — return fares typically £330-420). Pay the Galápagos National Park entry in cash at the airport in Quito (£80 / $100) and the Transit Control Card (~£16 / $20) before boarding. From Baltra take the free airport bus, the public ferry across the Itabaca Channel (~£5) and the bus to Puerto Ayora (~£1.60). Afternoon at the free Tortuga Bay beach walk.

🚌Flights ~£375 return (booked separately) + ferry £5 + bus £1.60

🛏Hostel/guesthouse, Puerto Ayora (~£15-25)

• →Flight to Baltra
• →Ferry crossing Itabaca Channel
• →Tortuga Bay beach walk

Morning at the Fausto Llerena Breeding Center at the Charles Darwin Research Station (free entry, donations welcome) to see giant tortoises and learn about the breeding programme. Afternoon: join a shared highlands tour (~£30-40) or take a local taxi-truck to El Chato reserve (entry ~£4) to see tortoises in the wild and walk through lava tubes.

🚌Shared highlands tour ~£30-40

🛏Hostel/guesthouse, Puerto Ayora (~£15-25)

• →Charles Darwin Research Station
• →Highlands giant tortoise reserve
• →Lava tunnels walk

Book a day boat directly with a Puerto Ayora agency the day before — Santa Fe (sea lions, land iguanas, excellent snorkelling) or South Plaza (cactus forest, land iguanas, swallow-tailed gulls) cost roughly £90-130 including lunch, guide, snorkel gear and park fees. Boats leave around 8am and return by 5pm.

🚌Day boat ~£95-110

🛏Hostel/guesthouse, Puerto Ayora (~£15-25)

• →Boat day trip to Santa Fe or South Plaza
• →Snorkelling with sea lions
• →Land iguana spotting

Take the public speedboat from Puerto Ayora to Isabela (~2 hours, ~£25). Puerto Villamil is barefoot-sand-street territory. Afternoon: walk to the free Concha de Perla snorkel lagoon and the tortoise breeding centre on the edge of town (~£3).

🚌Speedboat ~£25

🛏Beach guesthouse, Puerto Villamil (~£15-25)

• →Public speedboat to Isabela
• →Concha de Perla snorkelling
• →Isabela tortoise breeding centre

Morning guided hike to the Sierra Negra caldera and Volcán Chico lava fields (~5-6 hours, ~£35-45 with a licensed local guide, park entry ~£8). Or swap it for the Los Tintoreras snorkel trip (~£35) to see whitetip reef sharks, penguins and marine iguanas. Afternoon free on the beach.

🚌Guided hike transport included

🛏Beach guesthouse, Puerto Villamil (~£15-25)

• →Sierra Negra volcano hike
• →Los Tintoreras snorkel trip
• →Beach time

Speedboat back to Santa Cruz, then a second speedboat on to San Cristóbal (~2 hours, ~£25 each leg; some direct Isabela–San Cristóbal crossings also run). Arrive Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and spend the evening at Playa Mann with the sea lions.

🚌Speedboats ~£50

🛏Guesthouse, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (~£15-25)

• →Two public speedboat legs
• →Playa Mann sea lion colony

The signature Galápagos day: a boat trip to León Dormido (Kicker Rock) to snorkel the channel between the rock walls with rays, turtles, reef sharks and sea lions (~£90-120 including gear, lunch and wetsuit). Book locally the day before. Afternoon: the free Interpretation Centre and Frigatebird Hill viewpoint.

🚌Day boat ~£100

🛏Guesthouse, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (~£15-25)

• →Kicker Rock snorkel day trip
• →Interpretation Centre
• →Frigatebird Hill viewpoint

Hire a taxi for a half-day highlands loop (~£30 split between passengers, or take the local bus part-way): the El Junco freshwater crater lake with frigatebirds bathing, the Galapaguera tortoise centre and the white-sand Puerto Chino beach. Last evening for ceviche and a sunset at the malecón.

🚌Taxi loop ~£15-30 shared

🛏Guesthouse, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (~£15-25)

• →El Junco crater lake
• →Galapaguera tortoise centre
• →Puerto Chino beach

Fly from San Cristóbal airport back to Quito (allow for the compulsory baggage inspection for organic material before check-in). Buffer night in Quito before your international departure, or connect onwards same day if timing works.

🚌Flight included in return fare

🛏Hostel, Quito (~£12-18)

• →Flight to Quito
• →Last evening in Quito