Day One - Arrival in Quito
As your holiday in Ecuador begins, we’ll be there to pick you up and take you to your hotel, which is in the heart of Quito. You will probably be wanting some time to rest and get used to the altitude so we have left the rest of today free for you to relax. Your hotel is close to dozens of restaurants and cafes, as well as all the other facilities you'd expect from a capital city, so if you're feeling up to it then why not head on out and explore?
Day Two - City tour of Quito
After a free morning to relax and settle into things, we will pick you up after lunch and take you for a tour of Quito’s Old Town, including the plazas, Cathedral and other sites of interest before heading out of town to the “Mitad del Mundo” (Middle of the World) centre, located right on the Equator, so you can stand astride the world!
Day Three - Otavalo Market
An early start today, as we head out of Quito into the mountains to the north for a slice of the Real Ecuador! We'll be heading to the bustling local market at Otavalo - a typical mountain town that just happens to be home to the largest market in Ecuador! You can check out the beautiful local textiles, haggle over some excellent leather goods, or just sit back with an Ecuadorean coffee and take it all in! After a full day here, we will return to Quito in the evening.
Day Four - Cotopaxi National Park
The snow-capped mountain of Cotopaxi is one of the enduring symbols of Ecuador, and no holiday in Ecuador is complete without a trip to see it. Today we will take you on a full-day tour through the Cotopaxi National Park, giving you the chance for some breathtaking photos before we head to a traditional Andean hosteria, where we'll spend the night.
Day Five - Lake Quilotoa
Today we will head away from Cotopaxi to the volcanic Quilotoa lake. We guarantee you've never seen anything like it - climbing up to the lip of the (extinct!) volcano, you look down into a bluey-green lake that seems utterly surreal. You can then head down to the lake and take out a rowing-boat or canoe, before coming back up by horse to your waiting driver. In the evening, we'll head back to Quito for another night in the capital.
Day Six - Into the jungle!
After breakfast this morning, we will pick you up and take you back to the airport for a flight into the jungle to the town of Coca. Here we will meet you and take you for a 3hr boat ride down the Rio Napo to the gorgeous Sani Lodge, where we'll meet you with a welcome cocktail as we enjoy the jungle sunset!
Day Seven - Sani Lodge
This morning we will head out from the lodge by canoe to catch the morning's action on the lagoon before we get back onto dry land for a short walk through the rainforest to learn some more about the amazing biodiversity of the area. After lunch we will go fishing for piranhas before heading back to the lodge at sunset to look for caimans.
Day Eight - Sani Lodge
After breakfast today, we will take canoes to the beginning of the Coto Trail, where we will have a 2hr walk through the rainforest to look for monkeys. After some lunch, we will head back to the lodge by canoe to ascend the private 30m tree tower to get a birds-eye view of the forest - this is particularly good for spotting birds such as toucans, macaws and parrots. After this, we will have a short night walk back through the jungle to look for night monkeys, frogs and other nocturnal animals.
Day Nine - Sani Lodge
After breakfast today we will cross the lagoon and head for the south bank of the Rio Napo to visit two mineral clay licks where flocks of parrots land to feed. After lunch we will go for another jungle walk before returning to Sani Lodge for our final dinner here in the rainforest.
Day Ten - Back to Quito
We will have an early start this morning and a chance to see the jungle sunrise as we head back down the Rio Napo to Coca to catch a flight back to Quito. On arrival we will meet you and take you back to your hotel to enjoy your return to civilization!
Day Eleven - Free day in Quito
A holiday isn't a holiday without some time to relax, so we've left today up to you - either to make sure you've explored Quito thoroughly, to get all your souvenir shopping done, or just to sit back with a coffee and make sure you get those last-minute postcards written!
Day Twelve- Onward bound!
Most flights back to the UK and to the Galapagos leave in the morning, so you’ll just have time for breakfast today before it’s time to say goodbye to Ecuador as we pick you up and take you to catch your flight either home, or on to your Galapagos cruise...
Because all our Ecuador holidays are tailormade, our prices are flexible and depend on the accommodation and activities you want. If you want to change the length of this holiday, or the activities you do, or the type of accommodation you use - let us know! We can send you a tailormade itinerary, including price, absolutely free!
Our standard price for this trip is £1300 per person. This price is based on two people sharing a double or twin room in our standard 3-star accommodation (details available on request).
And what does it include?
We know that you need to be able to see how much things are going to cost you, so everything that you read about on the previous page is included in this price. The only "biggie" that we don't include is your international flight to and from the UK. We ask you to buy these yourself, but we will do all the research for you and find you the best deal going, so you don't have expend any effort here.
Just to be absolutely clear, here is what you're getting for your money on this holiday:
- All accommodation in superior hotels and lodges we have personally checked out
- All transfers
- All internal transport, including return flights Quito-Coca-Quito
- All entrance fees
- Half-day guided tour of Quito, including the "Middle of the World"
- Full-day guided tour to Otavalo market
- 2-day guided tour of Cotopaxi National Park and Quilotoa lake
- Five day programme in the rainforest, including all guides
- Full buffet breakfast every day
- All meals while in the rainforest
- All meals while in the Cotopaxi National Park
Easy upgrades
As we've said, we can tailormake your itinerary to your exact specifications, and you can have a look at our Ecuador Guide or some of our other Ecuador Holidays for ideas about how to add to this holiday, but we can also offer you some easy optional extras which fit into this exact itinerary:
- This price is based on our standard 3-star accommodation. All the hotels we would use for this trip are family-friendly with ensuite bathrooms, cable television, full buffet breakfasts, etc. but if you'd like to upgrade your hotels to something with a little more luxury then please just ask and we'll make some recommendations! Cost: Please ask
- Why not take a couple of days and head to Cuenca to see the traditional 'panama' hat makers at work in one of Ecuador's most pleasant cities. Cost: from £200pp
- If you want a bit more relaxation time then why not head to the warm Pacific Coast and soak up some sun? Cost: from £300pp
Tailormade for you
Of course, what we want you to remember is that we're here to offer you any guidance and advice you need. We're not about trying to sell you more than you want - we want you to have the holiday that's right for you, so give us a call or send us an email and we can start to find out what sort of Ecuador holiday is right for you!