Ecuador has been gifted with heavenly natural beauty. Ecuador trips are a revelation of a union between the two opposite worlds of the northern and the southern hemisphere, the volcanoes and the snow capped mountain peaks, the harmonious co-existence between the diverse flora and fauna.
Flights to Ecuador
Ecuador Trips include numerous flights to Ecuador from the US which are routed through Miami, Houston and New York with thousands of connecting flights from other cities. In Europe, flights to Ecuador leave from London, Madrid, Amsterdam and Frankfurt.
There are regular flights from Bogota, Caracas, Lima and Santiago de Chile to both Quito and Guayaquil. There are also flights from Sao Paulo and Manaus, Brazil.
Places to visit in Ecuador
Ecuador Trips provide an overview of the architectural, the cultural and the ecological backdrop of the country. Historical museums, cathedrals, theaters and monuments are the most sought after holiday destinations in Ecuador. Some of them are:
- La Mitad del Mundo
- Iglesia de la Catedral
- Calle Guayaquil
- Plaza del Teatro
- Basilica
- Convento y museo de San Francisco
- Cerro El Penecillo
- Zoologico de Guayllabamba
- Teatro Bolvar
Hotels in Ecuador
Hotels in Ecuador Trips are comfortable and tend to all your needs starting from arranging tours to ecological gardens to arranging for room services.
- Radisson Royal Hotel Ecuador
- JW Marriot Hotel Ecuador
- Hotel Sierra Madre Ecuador
- Bernard Hotel
- Hosteria San Jorqe Ecuador
- Hotel Dinastia Ecuador
- Hotel Embassy Ecuador
- Hotel Tambo Real
- Akros Hotel Ecuador
So, carry the luxury of living along with you when you go on Ecuador Trips.
Ecuador Visa
Ecuador Visa is not too difficult to be procured for most travelers .Its an easy to do method where the migration officials stamp a tourist visa valid up to 90 days. If any traveler or a respective visitor plans to stay the entire 90 days he or she has to request the full visa limit as migration officials sometimes gives a visa for a lesser span of time. They also give an embarkation card which needs to be saved. It needs to be shown when he or she is leaving the country.
The 90 day visit can be extended to one month at a time upto a total of 6 months. Overstaying the Ecuador Visa can cost a fine when he or she is leaving Ecuador. The fine can be lessened if the traveller pays in Quito or Guayaquil at the migration police’s headquarters where a visa will be received 48 or 72 hour for free.
Citizens of the following countries need to receive a 12 -x Visa to visit Ecuador – Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, El salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Iraq, Iran and many other countries. To get the Ecuador Visa, tourists need to follow certain steps, which are intimated to them by the officials.
The 12-IX Tourism, commercial activities, sports, health and other Visa is valid for up to six months and permits to change the visa status. If for more than a year any traveler is planning to stay for more than a year and wants to work and have unlimited exit and entry status he or she might well look into the resident Visa. Tourist visas for Ecuador can extend up to 6 months per year. One month at a time after 90 day time limit has expired.
Transportation in Ecuador
Ecuador Transportation system is well organized with all kinds of vehicle services at your disposal whenever and wherever you want to make your travel experience in Ecuador an enjoyable one. Ecuador occupies about 2760,840 Sq Km of land area and the means of transportation are varied. The bus transportation system of Ecuador is the most convenient and organized section of conveyance. The international way to this country is of course the airway. Shuttle transportation in Ecuador is also quite frequent and cost effective if you are planning a private tour through Ecuador. Unfortunately the railway system, though once a highly developed transportation means is now nearly non-functional except for a few sections.
The Ecuador Transportation System in Ecuador can be chiefly categorized into:
- Bus Transportation Service in Ecuador: Ecuador has 2 National bus terminus El Cumanda Bus Terminal at Quito and Jaime Roldos Aguilera Bus Terminal at Guayaquil. These provide passengers with excellent transportation services at reasonable prices.
- Railway Transportation in Ecuador: The railway transportation though partially functional provides for exotic scenery viewing if you take the Quito-Cotopaxi excursion. It is popularly known that passengers prefer o sit on the top of the train to get a clear view of the picturesque countryside.
- Air Transportation in Ecuador: The air transportation system of Ecuador has taken a huge load off the road transportation since it had come to existence in the 1920s. There are 179 airports and 43 runways that makes frequent national and international travel available.
National Highways in Ecuador
Ecuador has a network of National Highways conserved by the Ministry of Public Works and Communication government agency. The Pan-American Highway connects the northern and southern portions of the country as well as connecting Ecuador with Colombia to the north and Peru to the south. The quality of roads, even on trunk routes, is highly variable. There is an extensive network of national highways and is an integral part of Ecuador Transportation.
The primary national highways of Ecuador are assigned with both a name and an alphanumeric designation. The highway designations begin with the letter E followed by a number. If the highway is a trunk highway traveling north to south, the number is odd. They are numbered from smallest to largest from the west to the east. If the highway is a transverse highway traveling east to west, the number is even. They are numbered from smallest to largest from the north to the south.
North-South
- Pacific Route E15 also known as the Sun Route
- Coast Road E25
- Highland Road E35, the Pan-American Highway
- Amazon Road E45
East-West
- Frontier Transverse routeE10
- North Transverse route E20
- Central Transverse route E30
- South Transverse route E40
National highways connect Ecuador to the various other countries and is a wide chained network, which is quite well defined.
Buses in Ecuador
In Ecuador, if one needs to get somewhere it will be by the local Ecuador bus. Buying a car or purchasing a flight ticket is beyond the reach of the majority of Ecuadorians thus buses seem to be the best option left. The underdeveloped transport infrastructure means the bus acts as a taxi, subway, plane and train all in one. Buses in Ecuador are as much a part of Ecuadorian life as football. Ecuador Bus is thus the heart of Ecuador transportation.
Bus As A Cheap Mode of Transport
The cheapest way to travel around Ecuador is by bus. This mode of transportation also offers the traveler an alternative way of seeing the country. Buses in Ecuador offer comfortable seats with leg rooms and well-equipped toilets, television, and air-conditioning. The cost of a bus ride is minimal and because the country is small one can get almost anywhere within a day.
Ecuador Bus Terminals
Each capital city from any province has a ground terminal. Usually they are located in central zones of the city. One can move to any place inside the Country from there. In big cities like Quito and Guayaquil one may also find some terminals that belong to private transport companies, however they also function in the bigger terminals.
Here are some addresses of terminals in Quito and Guayaquil which are as follows:
- Quito’s Main Bus Terminal
- El Cumanda Ground Terminal
- El Cumanda zone, next to the Defense Ministry
- Guayaquil’s Main Bus Terminal
- Jaime Roldos Aguilera Ground Terminal
- Av. de las Americas, near the north end of the airport.
It hardly takes a few days in the country to realize that Ecuadorian buses keep Ecuadorian life, particularly rural life, ticking.
Most Visited Cities in Ecuador |
Quayaquil | Durán |
Quito | Portoviejo |
Cuenca | Manta |
Santo Domingo | Loja |
Machala | Ambato |
Tourist Attractions, Places to Visit in Ecuador |
Cotopaxi National Park | New Cathedral of Cuenca |
El Panecillo | Chimborazo |
Basilica of the National Vow church | Cotopaxi National Park |
monastery of san francisco(Church) | El Cajas |
Galápagos Islands | Llanganates National Park |
Vulqano amusement park |
National Park and Protected Areas |
National Park and Protected Areas | Location |
---|---|
Cayambe Coca Ecological Reserve | Imbabura, Pichincha, Sucumbíos and Napo Provinces |
Cotopaxi | Cotopaxi Province |
El Cajas | Azuay Province |
Galápagos | Galápagos Province |
Llanganates | Cotopaxi, Napo, Pastaza and Tungurahua Province |
Machalilla | Manabí Province |
Podocarpus | Zamora-Chinchipe Province |
Sangay | Morona Santiago, Chimborazo and Tungurahua Province |
Sumaco Napo-Galeras | Napo, Orellana and Sucumbíos Province |
Yacurí | Zamora Chinchipe and Loja Province |
Yasuní National Park | Napo and Pastaza Province |