Ecuador Attraction Tours and Guided Visits

October 19, 2026

Travel advisory, October 2026: Ecuador is under a state of exception in eight provinces, including Pichincha (Quito), declared for 60 days from 15 September 2026, and curfews have been imposed several times this year, so check the current decree. The UK FCDO advises against all but essential travel to the coastal provinces (Esmeraldas, Manabí, Santa Elena, Guayas, El Oro, Los Ríos and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, with airside transit at Guayaquil airport excepted) and to the 20 km strip along the Colombian border, which includes Lago Agrio. The US State Department rates Ecuador Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution, with higher levels for named areas. Quito’s old town, the Andean highlands and the Galápagos lie outside the FCDO areas, but street crime, express kidnapping and taxi scams are real, so use registered taxis, stay on busy streets by day and keep valuables out of sight. Heavy rain and landslides are forecast for the 2026-27 El Niño. Read the current UK FCDO advice and US State Department advisory before you book and again before you fly. This page is written for the areas outside the warnings.

Ecuador’s best-organised attractions cluster around Quito, Cuenca, Santa Cruz in the Galápagos and the Alausí rail line. Most can be visited independently, and guided options exist for each. Prices below are the official ones where an official source publishes them, and approximate otherwise, so confirm before you go.

Ciudad Mitad del Mundo

The complex north of Quito centres on a 30 m monument and also holds a planetarium, a Guayasamín museum, a beer museum and a train museum. Adult entry is US$5.00 and children and seniors pay US$2.50. Hours are 09:00 to 17:00 Monday to Friday and 09:00 to 18:00 at weekends; see the official site . The marked line honours the equator in the popular sense, and GPS places the true line roughly 240 m to the north. The nearby Museo Solar Intiñan, about 200 m north-east and costing about US$5, stages water-drain, egg-balancing and strength demonstrations that are showmanship, because the Coriolis effect is far too weak to steer water in a basin. A sundial at Quitsato, near Cayambe, is reported to sit on the line itself.

Quito churches and museums

The Compañía de Jesús has a gilded Baroque interior and takes no photographs. Foreign adults pay about US$5 to 6, and it is reported free on the first Sunday of the month. The San Francisco convent museum costs about US$6, and the Basílica del Voto Nacional charges about US$2 for the church plus roughly US$2 to 4 for its towers, which involve steep stairs and ladders. These are working places of worship, so dress modestly and keep voices low. A guided walk by day, between about 10:00 and 16:00, is the safest way to see them.

Tortoise breeding centre, Santa Cruz

The Fausto Llerena Breeding Center in Puerto Ayora runs a guided Tortoise Route, with the first tour at 08:00 and the last at 16:45, for about US$10 with a guide. Under the 2026 rules agencies reserve in advance. Next door, the Charles Darwin Research Station exhibition hall is free, daily from 08:00 to 18:00; details are on the Darwin Foundation visitor page . Foreign visitors over 12 pay the US$200 park fee on arrival, children under 12 pay US$100 and under-2s are exempt.

Cuenca hat factory-museum

Cuenca is a traditional centre of toquilla straw weaving, which UNESCO inscribed on its intangible heritage list in 2012 (see the UNESCO decision ). The Homero Ortega factory-museum appears on half-day city tours, and one package listing shows free admission. Panama hats were never made in Panama; they come from Ecuador.

Train and lodge tours

The Nariz del Diablo train from Alausí runs Thursday to Sunday, costs US$30 plus VAT for foreign adults and takes a full day or an overnight when combined with Cuenca or Riobamba. Napo Wildlife Center in Yasuní is reached by a LATAM flight to Coca and a motorised canoe, and Ecoventura lists four nights from about US$2,000 for a standard double, so confirm whether that is per person. For Napo River lodges, travel in daylight with an official guide and have an emergency plan.

To compare guided visits, browse Quito attraction tours on Viator .