Complete Galápagos Self-Launched: 17 Days Quito to Quito

Fly into Quito (Mariscal Sucre International Airport). The city sits at 2,850m so take it easy on day one to acclimatise. Check into a hostel in the Mariscal or La Floresta neighbourhood. Spend the evening exploring local restaurants along Amazonas Ave.

🚌Airport bus to city centre (Ecovía or airport shuttle): ~£2. Taxi: ~£6–8.

🛏Hostel in Quito Mariscal district — e.g. Community Hostel or El Cafecito (~£15–20/night in a dorm)

• →Arrive and check in to hostel
• →Stroll the Mariscal district
• →Explore local restaurants for a budget Ecuadorian dinner

Rise early for a quick visit to Quito's stunning UNESCO Old Town before your flight to Baltra (Seymour Airport). Stroll the Plaza Grande, admire La Compañía Church, and grab a coffee. Fly to Baltra, pay your Transit Control Card ($20 USD) and Galápagos National Park Fee ($200 USD) at the airport. Transfer by bus + ferry to Santa Cruz Island and check into your Puerto Ayora hostel. In the afternoon, head to the Charles Darwin Research Station for a free walk-around and tortoise viewing.

🚌LATAM/Avianca flight Quito to Baltra (~£150 one-way). Bus + ferry to Santa Cruz: ~£3.

🛏Budget guesthouse or hostel in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz — e.g. Hotel Sir Francis Drake or La Peregrina B&B (~£20–30/night)

• →Morning stroll through Quito Old Town — Plaza Grande and La Compañía Church (free)
• →Flight to Baltra Island from Quito (~£120–180 return if booked in advance; budget ~£150 one-way here)
• →Pay Transit Control Card ($20 USD) and Galápagos Park Fee ($200 USD) at airport
• →Bus + ferry transfer from Baltra to Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz (~£3 total)
• →Self-guided visit to Charles Darwin Research Station, Puerto Ayora (free)

Today is the day to board your liveaboard cruise. The most cost-effective approach to experiencing the outer islands (Genovesa, Bartolomé, Isabela, Fernandina, Española etc.) is a budget liveaboard, which can be booked in advance online or at a discount last-minute from agencies in Puerto Ayora. Economy-class liveaboards (e.g. Tip Top, Galápagos Sky, Sea Star Journey economy cabins) typically run 8–15 days and cover most of the same sites as G Adventures' Yolita. Budget for ~£150–200/person/day all-inclusive (meals, guide, excursions included). A cheaper alternative is island-hopping by public ferry between Santa Cruz, Isabela, Floreana, and San Cristóbal (~£25–35 per leg), and booking day trips from each island (£50–100/day trip). This itinerary assumes a mid-range economy liveaboard for 12 nights covering the outer islands.

🚌Transfer to pier for liveaboard embarkation (short taxi: ~£3)

🛏Economy twin-share cabin aboard liveaboard cruise (~£150–200/person/day all-inclusive)

• →Check in and settle aboard your budget liveaboard vessel
• →Safety briefing and meet your certified Galápagos National Park guide
• →First excursion: Bachas Beach, Santa Cruz — spot flamingos, Sally Lightfoot crabs, marine iguanas (included in liveaboard)

Sail overnight to Genovesa Island (also known as Tower Island), one of the most remote and bird-rich islands in the archipelago. Morning excursion to Darwin Bay to walk among nesting frigatebirds, swallow-tailed gulls, and red-footed boobies. Afternoon hike up to El Barranco (Prince Philip's Steps) for dramatic cliff-top views and more booby colonies. All visits are with your certified National Park guide — included in your liveaboard.

🚌Panga (inflatable dinghy) transfers to shore — included in liveaboard

🛏Aboard liveaboard

• →Wet landing at Darwin Bay — walk among nesting frigatebirds and red-footed boobies
• →Snorkel in Darwin Bay with tropical fish and sea lions
• →Afternoon hike at El Barranco (Prince Philip's Steps) — short-eared owls, Nazca boobies

Morning climb to the summit viewpoint on Bartolomé Island for the iconic Pinnacle Rock panorama — one of the most photographed scenes in the Galápagos. Look out for Galápagos penguins in the water below. Afternoon visit to Sullivan Bay on Santiago Island to walk across spectacular pahoehoe lava fields contrasted by brilliant white coral sand beaches.

🚌Panga transfers — included

🛏Aboard liveaboard

• →Guided hike to Bartolomé summit viewpoint — Pinnacle Rock panorama
• →Snorkel with Galápagos penguins and sea lions at Bartolomé
• →Walk Sullivan Bay lava fields — spot marine iguanas and Sally Lightfoot crabs

Arrive at Puerto Villamil, the only town on Isabela. Head out on the strenuous but rewarding hike to Sierra Negra Volcano — the largest basaltic caldera in the Galápagos at 10km wide. Views are extraordinary on clear days. In the afternoon, visit the tortoise breeding and rearing centre just outside Puerto Villamil. Spot flamingos in the brackish lagoons along the boardwalk trail.

🚌Panga transfers and short walk — included

🛏Aboard liveaboard

• →Guided hike to Sierra Negra Volcano and Volcán Chico (~8–10km round trip)
• →Visit Arnaldo Tupiza Tortoise Breeding Centre, Puerto Villamil (free with park fee)
• →Walk the flamingo lagoon boardwalk trail

Morning panga ride through the mangroves of Elizabeth Bay — no landing, but superb viewing of sea turtles, penguins, flightless cormorants, and rays directly from the boat. Afternoon visit to Urbina Bay at the foot of Alcedo Volcano. Hike the trail through dry forest searching for giant tortoises in the wild and land iguanas camouflaged in the vegetation.

🚌Panga transfers — included

🛏Aboard liveaboard

• →Panga ride through Elizabeth Bay mangroves — sea turtles, penguins, marine life
• →Wet landing and hike at Urbina Bay — wild tortoises and land iguanas
• →Birdwatching along Urbina Bay trail — flightless cormorants, herons

Morning stop at Tagus Cove on the western coast of Isabela — hike to a crater lake viewpoint and spot historical graffiti carved by 18th-century whalers and pirates on the volcanic rocks. Cross the Bolívar Channel to Fernandina Island, the youngest and most volcanically active island in the archipelago. Witness one of the world's largest colonies of marine iguanas at Punta Espinoza alongside flightless cormorants nesting on the lava.

🚌Panga transfers — included

🛏Aboard liveaboard

• →Hike to Tagus Cove crater lake viewpoint — Darwin Lake panorama
• →Spot historic pirate and whaler graffiti on the cliff face
• →Walk Punta Espinoza lava trail — marine iguana mega-colony, flightless cormorants

Morning panga ride along the dramatic cliffs of Buccaneer Cove on Santiago Island, watching for sea lions, shorebirds, and extraordinary lava formations from the water. Afternoon excursion to Rábida (Jervis) Island with its striking red-sand beach — unique volcanic iron-rich rock gives it its colour. Snorkel in the lagoon with sea lions, and watch the pelican and flamingo colonies.

🚌Panga transfers — included

🛏Aboard liveaboard

• →Panga ride, Buccaneer Cove — sea lions, tuff formations, shorebirds
• →Red sand beach walk at Rábida Island
• →Snorkel with sea lions at Rábida lagoon — tropical fish, rays

Circle Daphne Minor by panga — landings are restricted to protect nesting colonies, but you'll see blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, and frigatebirds from the water. Afternoon landing on North Seymour Island, one of the best spots in the Galápagos to observe blue-footed boobie mating dances and magnificent frigatebirds displaying their red throat pouches right on the trail.

🚌Panga transfers — included

🛏Aboard liveaboard

• →Circumnavigate Daphne Minor by panga — booby and frigatebird colonies visible from water
• →Guided trail walk on North Seymour — blue-footed boobie nesting and dancing displays
• →Spot magnificent frigatebirds with inflated red pouches at close range

One of the most spectacular snorkelling and diving sites in the Galápagos: Kicker Rock (León Dormido), twin tuff-cone cliffs rising 148m from the sea. Snorkel or dive (if certified) the channel between the rocks — hammerhead sharks, Galápagos sharks, rays, turtles, and huge schools of fish. Afternoon visit to Cerro Brujo beach on San Cristóbal and Isla Lobos for sea lion encounters.

🚌Panga transfers — included

🛏Aboard liveaboard

• →Snorkel at Kicker Rock — sharks, rays, turtles (snorkel gear included in liveaboard)
• →Walk Cerro Brujo beach — sea lions, marine iguanas, seabirds
• →Visit Isla Lobos sea lion colony — excellent for snorkelling too

Española is the oldest and most southerly island in the archipelago — a bucket-list stop. Morning at Gardner Bay, one of the finest beaches in the islands, with a large sea lion colony and excellent snorkelling. Afternoon hike to Punta Suárez for albatross colonies (Apr–Dec), waved albatross courtship dances, Nazca and blue-footed boobies, and a dramatic ocean blowhole.

🚌Panga transfers — included

🛏Aboard liveaboard

• →Swim and snorkel at Gardner Bay — sea lions, reef fish, turtles
• →Walk the Punta Suárez trail — waved albatross, Nazca boobies, marine iguanas
• →View the Española blowhole — water jets 20m+ into the air

Morning landing on Santa Fé, home to the Galápagos land iguana subspecies found nowhere else, a sheltered turquoise lagoon with excellent snorkelling, and a forest of giant prickly pear cacti. Afternoon visit to South Plaza Island — a tiny raised island with a jaw-dropping concentration of land iguanas, sea lions, swallow-tailed gulls, and red-and-green sesuvium carpet.

🚌Panga transfers — included

🛏Aboard liveaboard

• →Snorkel Santa Fé lagoon — sea turtles, rays, reef fish
• →Spot Santa Fé land iguanas and giant prickly pear cacti
• →Walk South Plaza trail — land iguanas, sea lion colony, cliff-top seabird views

One of the most famous snorkel sites in the Galápagos — Devil's Crown (Corona del Diablo) is an eroded volcanic crater ring teeming with hammerhead sharks, eagle rays, sea turtles, reef fish, and sea lions. Afternoon visit to Post Office Bay, a 18th-century tradition — leave a postcard in the barrel and hand-deliver any you find addressed near your home. A quirky piece of maritime history.

🚌Panga transfers — included

🛏Aboard liveaboard

• →Snorkel at Devil's Crown — sharks, rays, sea turtles, tropical fish
• →Visit the Floreana Post Office Barrel at Post Office Bay — leave and take postcards
• →Learn about the mysterious history of Floreana's early settlers

Morning on Sombrero Chino (Chinese Hat), a tiny islet shaped exactly like its namesake. Walk the short trail between a turquoise cove and sea lion colony, and snorkel the crystal-clear channel. Afternoon excursion to Cerro Dragón (Dragon Hill) on Santa Cruz for one of the best land iguana viewing opportunities in the islands, plus a saltwater flamingo lagoon.

🚌Panga transfers — included

🛏Aboard liveaboard

• →Walk and snorkel at Sombrero Chino — sea lions, reef fish, Galápagos penguins
• →Hike Cerro Dragón trail — large land iguana colony
• →Spot flamingos and pintail ducks in the saltwater lagoon at Cerro Dragón

Early morning panga ride through the serene mangrove lagoon of Black Turtle Cove at the north of Santa Cruz — spot white-tipped sharks resting in the shallows, sea turtles, and rays gliding through the calm water. Disembark from your liveaboard at Puerto Ayora. Transfer by ferry + bus to Baltra Airport for your flight back to Quito. Arrive Quito in the afternoon — check into a hostel for your final night and head out for a celebratory dinner.

🚌Ferry + bus to Baltra: ~£3. Flight Baltra to Quito: ~£150.

🛏Hostel in Quito Mariscal district (~£15–20/night dorm)

• →Dawn panga ride, Black Turtle Cove — white-tipped sharks, sea turtles, rays
• →Disembark liveaboard in Puerto Ayora
• →Ferry + bus to Baltra Airport (~£3)
• →Flight back to Quito (~£150 one-way)
• →Celebratory dinner in Quito's La Mariscal neighbourhood

Your final morning in Ecuador. If you have time before your departure flight, head to the Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) monument 25km north of Quito — stand at latitude 0°, one foot in each hemisphere. Back in the city, visit the Basilica del Voto Nacional or browse artisan markets in La Floresta before heading to the airport.

🚌Airport bus or taxi to Mariscal Sucre Airport: ~£5–8

🛏Check out — departure day

• →Optional: Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) monument — public bus from Ofelia terminal (~£1.50 each way)
• →Optional: Basilica del Voto Nacional — tower climb for Quito panorama (~£2)
• →Artisan market browsing in La Floresta or Parque El Ejido
• →Transfer to Mariscal Sucre International Airport for departure