Basic Ecuador Low Cost
8 Days / 7 Nights - Per person on a double basis - Code EGR015
Day 1: Monday: Transfer from the airport to the hotel. Accommodation
Day 2: Tuesday: Breakfast in the hotel. Tour to the Mercado de Otavalo (Otavalo Market).
Departure from Quito via Panamericana Norte until we arrive at Cayambe, where the passengers will have the chance to taste the delicious ""Bizcochos de Cayambe"", a type of biscuit or bread, made in clay ovens (accompanied by cheese of leaf or dulce de leche). After a brief stop in ""Miralago"", to admire a wonderful view of Lake San Pablo, we continue until we reach Otavalo where the native people of the area, ""Otavalos"", elaborate their fabrics.
Those who so wish can choose to stay in this area and our bus will pick them up on the return from Cotacachi (they will not be able to visit Cotacachi) or continue with the route to Cotacachi, well known for clothing and leather handicrafts. On the way to Cotacachi, we will visit a Workshop of Andean Instruments ""Ñanda Mañachi"" located in Peguche.
Once in Cotacachi, you will have enough time to visit the village, leather goods stores and have time for lunch (lunch not included). Return to Quito, picking up the passengers who stayed in Otavalo (place and hour of pick up established by the guide of Gray Line Ecuador).
** The bus will wait for a time of 10 minutes in Otavalo to pick up the passengers who stayed at that stop, after which it will return to Quito with those who are on board.
Day 3: Wednesday: Breakfast in the hotel. Quito City Explorer (Historic Quito) + Mitad del Mundo.
We start to the north of the city with a tourist route along the most important shopping areas, where most of Quito's hotels are located. Then we will go to the Historical Center to visit the Basilica del Voto Nacional Church, where we will make a brief stop and give information about the church, then we go to the Plaza de Independencia, where we will take a pedestrian walk and you can see the Cathedral, the Government Palace, the Archbishop's Palace and the Church of La Compañía, renowned for its impressive gold ornaments and altars, we will continue to the Church of San Francisco built in the seventeenth century. (Church entrances are not included). We will then go to the Mirador del Panecillo, a place renowned for its beauty, where you can admire a beautiful landscape of colonial and modern Quito.
We will stop in the pink area of the city to have lunch (not included), and then continue north, we will arrive at the Mitad del Mundo (Includes entrance) where you can see the monument that divides the Northern Hemisphere with the Southern Hemisphere of the planet. It was built in the 18th century where the French scientific expedition defined the exact position of the Equator line dividing the world. With extra cost you can enjoy the experiments that prove the location of this privileged place in the middle of the world.
Day 4: Thursday: Breakfast in the hotel. Tour through Avenida de los Volcanes.
Departure from Quito where an interesting tour of the Ecuadorian sierra is carried out, admiring beautiful landscapes of the so-called Avenida de los Volcanes, ideal for photography, and a brief visit to the Cotopaxi National Park. Arrival to the city of Riobamba and lodging in a typical hacienda.
* If the Cotopaxi National Park is not operational due to volcanic activity we will visit the Quilotoa volcano and the incomparable turquoise lagoon found in its crater.
* Does not include entrance to Cotopaxi National Park.
Day 5: Friday: The next day, after breakfast, we will travel by bus from Riobamba to Alausí.
Train trip from Alausí station to Nariz del Diablo (Sibambe), a unique engineering work embedded in the Andes (the train ride takes about 2 hours). Continuation by land to Cuenca, visiting the Ingapirca ruins en route (not including entrance), arrival and lodging in Cuenca.
Day 6: Saturday: Breakfast in the hotel. City Tour in Cuenca.
City tour through the city and we will visit the Calderón Park, Nueva Cathedral and Vieja Cathedral, parque de las flores Park, Museum of Modern Art, (includes entrances). Barranco of the Tomebamba and Turi rivers (panoramic view).
Day 7: Sunday: Breakfast in the hotel. Transfer by land from Cuenca to Guayaquil.
We leave early in the morning from Cuenca to the Cajas National Park characterized by its lagoons of glacial origin and high mountain vegetation; here we will carry out a hike through this beautiful place to observe some of its lagoons and a primary forest. We will also visit the zone of 3 crosses that constitutes the continental divide of the waters; we will take a walk to observe this curious place. From this point we will begin a spectacular descent until reaching the Ecuadorian coast, in the course we will observe an Andean mountainous landscape at the beginning and then observe a totally different vegetation in the Ecuadorian Coast with large plantations of banana and cacao. Arrival to Guayaquil.
Accommodation.
Day 8: Monday: Breakfast in the hotel. Transfer from the hotel to the airport.