ULTIMATE Ecuador Travel Guide - BEST things to do in Ecuador!

welcome to the ultimate Ecuador travel guide we  have just spent six weeks exploring all the most   popular parts of Ecuador we did famous treks  hung out with hummingbirds and butterflies in   a cloud forest and explored deep into the Amazon  rainforest this Ecuador travel guide will have   Country-Wide tips as well as a breakdown of our  full itinerary that is where we went how much   we spent on accommodation things we like to eat  everything just like our Colombia travel guide   we've also put together a Google Maps that you  can download it has all of the locations for the   things you will need bus terminals the hotels that  we stayed at where we found our favorite food and   what to order at that restaurant it's really cool  because you download it and you can use it offline   so as you're wandering the streets in Ecuador  you can click onto the map see what we suggest   how much it's going to cost click any links to  book or watch our video it's just such a helpful   resource when you're traveling a country like this  okay let's get started by going through some tips   money surprisingly enough Ecuador actually uses  the US dollar which I had no idea about until we   entered the country it is pretty interesting why  they use the US currency and I did talk about a   little bit in one of our videos you can click here  to watch that one maybe we'll hear I don't know   because it is us-based you'll notice a general  increase in cost versus Colombia things do tend   to cost a little bit more luckily using card is a  lot more common in Ecuador than it was in Colombia   but cash is still very much King obviously all  of the street vendors use exclusively cash so   try not to be caught without some bills and if you  withdraw from the ATM and have the large bills try   and go to a supermarket or somewhere you know  that they'll have enough change just to get it   broken down into the smaller things because  Street vendors often won't have change and   then you'll have to pay more or not get what you  want surprisingly ATM withdrawal fees in Ecuador   weren't as bad as we thought they were going to  be we found consistent ATMs that were charging   a dollar fifty to withdraw which is better than  Colombia and a lot better than Peru spoiler alert   if you have a few to choose from in the same area  look for the ATM that's pink I can't remember the   name but the pink one has the cheaper fees. Safety  the safety levels in Ecuador are similar to most   places we've been I always struggle talking about  safety in relation to a country because I think   it's a different thing if you live there full-time  versus if you're visiting and what sort of travel   you're doing as well but we had no issues across  the board through our Ecuador we heard some horror   stories I just think the general rules that you  would use when you're even at home in your own   country don't go out too late at night by yourself  don't walk down dark Alleyways if there's some   dodgy looking people walk towards some friendly  looking people like just be smart and you should   be okay I'm also as well the Ecuadorian people  were very friendly from the get-go really smiling   happy Bunch everyone's saying like buenos dias  to you in the morning it's really sweet the only   place that we did hear horror stories both from  locals and tourists was bus travel bus travel is   something you do have to be very very cautious of  because it tends to be a bit of a risk if you have   your bag under your seat or over above your head  we personally heard two separate people having   issues and have things stolen from them we even  met a woman through our travels who was told by   the bus conductor to put her bag up over her head  and then was robbed she tried to say no I want to   keep it with me and he insisted that she had to  put it up there and was robbed so you just really   got to have your wits about you every time we  were told to put our bag above our head we just   said no and pretended we didn't speak the language  what's crazy is after we met that woman in Banos   one of the next buses we got that happened to me  this person hopped on the bus and he was dressed   he was acting as if he worked there and he said  put your bag up above and I said no he said no   you have to for the bus to be safe and I said no  and eventually he just kept trying I kept saying   no and he gave up but who knows what would have  happened if I was just like oh okay an official   looking person put it up there just say no SIM  cards it's a no-brainer again you need to get a   SIM card if you're going to be in Ecuador it's not  that expensive and it comes in as handy countless   times we got 25 gigabyte each which set us back  about 30 Australian dollars and it was super   simple to set up we literally went into a shop in  Quito he did it all for us he was super friendly   we walked out and we were connected we did hear  some people had to get like a three-day pass to   then recharge it to have data but we didn't have  that experience we got 30 days straight away yeah   so if you shop around you'll find something that's  pretty easy we use claro and if you do run out of   data or if you go over those 30 days it is really  easy to recharge you just look for someone on the   street that's got a claro sign walk up to them  say recharge and they'll give you an option on   their phone of different amounts that you can  recharge in different packages click it pay   them cash put your number in and it recharges  instantly it's really easy it's so bizarre but   so convenient yeah if you can't find anyone  on the street to recharge there is a website   that we use because the claro website is a bit  confusing for non-spanish speakers this third   party one works really well and is very simple to  use we'll link it yeah in the description oh it's   also I think it's in the maps like where we bought  the SIM card and the link to recharge right just   get the maps. Travel between cities again the bus  system is the cheapest way to get around Ecuador   I think that's going to be a pretty common thing  as we travel through South America buses go long   distance pretty comfortably here caveat we are  saying this as two people that have big heavy   rolly bags I think if you were traveling with a  light single backpack flying might be the same   price or cheaper it's when you add bags on that's  when it becomes a lot cheaper to go by bus adding   bags to a flight is doubles the price straight  away so if you don't have bags you have a small   carry-on look at flights yeah the buses in Ecuador  are pretty easy and pretty comfortable whenever   you need to get anywhere you can just show up  to the bus station and start asking questions   specifically the bigger bus stations will have a  lot more of a comprehensive Network we found that   half the time there wasn't information online  unless you can find a blog post showing up to   the bus station asking or when you arrive into a  city asking about your departure is going to be   the best bet the good thing is at the bus station  all of the vendors or the people that work for the   different bus companies are really helpful so they  might not be selling tickets to where you want to   go but they'll tell you exactly where to go and  who to speak to to buy the ticket and if you go   to that one and it's maybe a bit later than you  would like they're not going to be like well no   you have to get my ticket they'll be like oh those  guys down the road they leave 20 minutes before us   they're really good yeah drinking water the tap  water in Ecuador is a blanket rule is not to be   drunk don't drink the tap water we've seen things  that some parts of Cuenca and some parts of Quito   the water is okay to drink but every time we asked  our host they even said maybe not or yeah you can   just boil it first which you know it's a bit of  a red flag so we were just going to get bottled   water pretty much every day it's pretty cheap and  you just want to be safe you don't want to get   sick while you're traveling or on holiday so it's  not worth the risk speaking Spanish and Google   translate knowing some Spanish is always going to  be beneficial when you're in a country that speaks   Spanish 'I don't know what that means' there is  not much English in Ecuador even moving through   Capital Cities there's few and far between English  speaking don't let speaking Spanish hold you back   from visiting though we sometimes get comments  that I find so intriguing from people being like   if you don't speak the local language why are you  traveling there I'm traveling there to experience   a culture I haven't like that's why I'm traveling  though it just it baffles me so much definitely   don't let that hold you back just download Google  Translate it works offline yeah you get by pretty   easily with it and just being surrounded by people  speaking Spanish you pick up a lot like we can   pretty comfortably navigate bus terminals and  taxis and the Really basic stuff don't have much   of a problem anymore generally speaking you'll  pick up enough that you can get by you're not   going to be able to have conversations that would  be great to have with the local people but you'll   be able to travel around and have a good time  Ubers and taxis speaking of traveling around   the Ubers are very available in Quito in all the  capital cities in Ecuador you will not have any   trouble getting an Uber even some of the smaller  cities as well there's a few Ubers around the   reason we like uber so much is because we don't  speak Spanish and we don't know the area very   well it's so much easier to just be able to type  in the address of your hotel or the restaurant   you want to go to and you know that's where the  drive is taking you there's not potential for a   miscommunication taxis are obviously abundant but  they do come with a risk if they're metered we   normally have no problem trying to take a taxi  if they aren't metered we start to get worried   that maybe we're getting taken for a ride the only  place we've got in a taxi that was metered without   us asking was Cuenca interestingly enough Cuenca  which is the expat capital of Ecuador doesn't   have Uber it only ends up being two dollars the  alternative to Uber and what I do suggest getting   is DiDi if you're doing longer rides through Quito  because it's a massive City DiDi was coming up   at about half the price and was like instantly  finding whereas Uber was like loading for five   minutes and then the driver would cancel and then  find another driver really really worked out the   only caveat to that is you have to use cash so  again have cash time of year to travel the best   time to visit Ecuador depends on your preferences  and what part of Ecuador you're wanting to visit   generally the best time to visit is the high  season Insurance visas entry requirements and   yellow fever as an Australian or an American you  can stay in Ecuador up to 90 days without a Visa   you are supposed to show onward travel we didn't  have it at the time we crossed the border and we   weren't asked but it's good to have it the only  other thing to consider when going to Ecuador is   looking into the yellow fever vaccine it does  say on some immigration websites that you need   to present proof that you've had the yellow fever  vaccine to even enter the country again we won't   ask we managed to get into the country and get a  free life of a vaccine from keto I've read a blog   post about that down below but it's something  to be aware of just speak to your Healthcare   professional and they'll tell you whether or not  it's a risk and whether it's something you should   get airbnbs or hotels we use trusted house sitters  through America and Canada and it was amazing but   they are few and far between here in South America  we've got an alert on our phone waiting for them   to pop up but it never fit us so if I so we're  back to using our normal hotel booking engine   and Airbnb we have found in Ecuador predominantly  Airbnb seems to be the way to go we're getting   better places for less money and it's allowing us  to cook our own food which saves us more money in   the long run too we've also discovered somewhat  of an Airbnb hack in that if you maybe stay and   you need to extend and you have the host's number  sometimes maybe it works out to be a bit cheaper   to just do it between yourselves and take out  the third party yeah we went back to a couple   of places because we were in and out of Quito so  much and we just messaged them to say it worked   out cheaper might be a bit of an understatement  yeah okay those are our 10 tips for Ecuador let's   get into the itinerary that we actually did don't  do our itinerary because we did not plan our time   in Ecuador well we were in and out of keto I think  we were there five separate times right yeah four   or five so don't follow the exact itinerary but  go to the same places we started in Quito is the   capital city of Ecuador and is incredibly massive  it was a lot bigger than we thought it was going   to be and takes you a long time to get from North  to South despite being a pretty modern city there   are hundreds of colonial buildings lining the  streets in the Centro District there's markets   on the weekends impressive churches you can check  out delicious restaurants like street eats all   the way up to five star luxury restaurants you  could get whatever you wanted in Quito you'll   find people in the city of Quito to be really nice  to each other and to tourists as well but do be on   your guard because again we have heard horror  stories pickpockets and backpacks being opened   behind you that was the one place we were walking  around through the market and Jordan just had this   feeling because he had his backpack on there was  these two women's sort of crisscrossing behind   him and maybe getting a little closer than is  necessary so we just pulled over to the side and   they kept walking but who knows they were probably  trying to open his bag to see what goodies they   pull out every time I had turned around it  was like that Michael Cera GIF where he's like and the locals actually carry their backpack on  the front too and I think if you see a country   where locals are doing that you know that you  should be on your guard yeah the amount of   nights we spend in Quito is a lot more than anyone  really needs to unless you live there we spent 23   nights like Emily said we were crisscrossing back  and forth and Quito it was like our hub for most   of our time in Ecuador we also kept just being  like Oh let's just spend a week there and catch   up on some work so it really added up quickly  definitely not necessary I'd say two or three   days you'd be able to easily do everything in  Quito the average price we spent per night was   $36.56 Australian that was across three separate  airbnbs and one booking.com so four different   hotels that's the average and boy do we have  some good recommendations in the maps there is   one Airbnb that we didn't stay at until the very  end that was just the Pinnacle the top to the top   the best of all of them before yeah so try and  stay there the average amount we spent on food   per day in the city of Quito was $20.91 remember  that does include some zero spend days because we   were staying in airbnbs for an extended period of  time so we could get food and cook but still it's   really an affordable City we got into Quito after  a kind of scary border crossing from Colombia it   was an easy process we just had a scary moment  the bus took about five hours from the Border   Town of tolkein? Tulcan i think it's called I  actually got incredibly sick on that bus very   motion sick Jordan it was one of the best buses  ever taken so really nice sights it's a good one   that bus cost us about ten dollars each I think  it was not bad of course you can fly into Quito a   lot of people do fly into Quito there is a public  bus that connects the Quito airport straight into   the city center like we mentioned Quito is massive  if you're thinking about where to stay I would say   narrow your vision down to the central historica  district because that's going to be where all the   markets and all the things are actually happening  but there are gorgeous neighborhood hubs in the   North in the South like out into the East they're  all all over the place and they're all quite good   but for your first time just look Central Quito  has a whole host of things to do there's heaps of   churches like we said markets to explore they've  got a cable car if it's working that'll take you   up to a really nice viewpoint but honestly just  walking through the central historic district was   the best part the music the people the buildings  the food it's great there are as well the free   walking tours that we always recommend you jump  on one of the first days here in a new country   or I'm pretty sure they also have hop-on hop-off  buses if you can't be bothered walking around and   night tours which I thought was interesting yeah  I might just to go see the lights or the buildings   lit up and of course from Quito you can get to the  center of the earth which is the equator where you   can go on one side and water will flush one way  and the other side will flush the other way like   eggs balance we didn't go there but it's right in  Quito we've heard it's amazing but we also heard   like there's some disappointing bits we just  never got there we kept finding excuses which   kind of meant we weren't that Keen after Quito  we went to the cloud forest of mindo mindo sits   north west of Quito I think it was like a two or  three hour bus ride away and it is beautiful you   definitely have to add it to your itinerary when  you go to Ecuador we spent three nights there you   probably need two to three nights like it is a  small town but the things that you can do there   do take a little bit of time so if you want to do  everything you probably need three nights we did   meet some people that literally caught the bus in  in the morning had a day there and then caught the   bus back at night I think it's better if you can  at least spend one night there just because the   bird watching in Mindo is meant to be what the  best some of the best in Ecuador and that's best   done early in the morning you're never going to  get there early enough on a bus Mindo is more on   the expensive side for Ecuador so everything costs  a little bit more meaning that our accommodation   averaged out to $52 dollars per night and the  food cost was a little bit more to admittedly we   did eat out more what like we only ate out but it  cost us around $32 dollars per day to feed us both   getting to mindo is super simple from Quito there  is a bus terminal in the north called terminal La   ophelia if you can get there there is a sign  that says mindo and an office that you can go   and buy tickets again I wrote a blog post about  that because there wasn't heaps of information   online and I'll link that in the description too  and it will be on the maps as well there's plenty   of choice is in window for where to stay ranging  from cute hostels all the way up to luxury unique   accommodations we found somewhere sort of in the  middle it was pretty nice it was very noisy in a   weird way so like where we were was silent the  outside and stuff but the rooms you could hear   everything someone was doing next door it was a  little bit further out from the main town of mindo   it cost two dollars in a taxi to get out there  but it was walkable too I don't think there's   many hotels that aren't physically walkable so  don't be afraid to look around in mindo there's   no Ubers but it seems like the taxi is almost  charged based on like a distance that goes in a   circle radiating out so it's like a dollar to get  somewhere within Town two dollars was to get to   our accommodation if you're going further it gets  up to four eight so and so on our accommodation   was like a five to seven minute drive away and  it was two dollars so nice and easy like we said   there is so much to do in mindo if you have time  and you're spending it there you can fill it first   thing I would recommend to do and the first thing  you'll see on any blog post is doing a waterfall   hike this is a pretty cool thing to do because you  have an option of doing a short medium long or any   length that you'd like and to get there you can  either catch a taxi it's kind of boring or you can   get a very scary 45-ish second cable car across or  you can get like a 20 minute Scenic chairlift be   aware that the chairlift might be shut for some  reason it was when we were there and they just   said we're not opening today we just texted the  number that was on the thing and they were like   yeah we're shut today okay as well as that there  are massive butterfly gardens there's actually   two in mindo there's a hummingbird sanctuary that  you can check out as well you have to check out   the hummingbird sanctuary and you have to go to  the chocolate thing as well that was one of the   best things we did and bird watching is extremely  popular in mindo if you're into that and you're   a bit of a bird nerd I would recommend booking  onto a tour they are quite expensive so if like   us you're new on your bird nerd Journey just go on  the hike at the yellow house they were amazing and   we saw enough Birds to please us another thing  we'd recommend is to try this pizza that we've   got in the map too the food in mindo can be a  little bit more pricey we ended up paying $23   for one pizza at one point which in Ecuador is  very very expensive it was a nice pizza but $23   US dollars not that nice it's not that nice our  next adventure was the Quilotoa Loop which if you   have the time and you're into hiking we would  highly highly highly recommend like I couldn't   recommend it high enough I would go back and do  it tomorrow honestly even if you don't like hiking   it's not super challenging it is challenging it's  not super challenging but the views are worth it   it's really really good to do it's effectively an  ad hoc hiking trail that winds and zigzags up the   Quilotoa Mountain to get to the Quilotoa crater  after three days we finally made it to the summit   which is like a live volcano it's a multi-day  self-guided hike that normally takes about three   days you could do it in four or five if you want  some people apparently do it in one or two which   is crazy but the really good thing is every single  day you hike from one town and one hotel all the   way to your next hot shower your next comfy bed  your next delicious dinner yeah and the birds are   so comfy because you're so tired after hiking six  or seven hours we filmed each of our days on the   Quilotoa loop so they are available to watch and  I wrote a blog post about it too so there's a lot   of information it took us four nights to do the  Quilotoa Loop because we did stay in Quilotoa when   we reached the summer and we recommend you do that  too I couldn't imagine moving straight on after   hiking and also waking up that following morning  after you'd finish the hike to go check out the   crater in the morning for Sunrise was quite  special whereas all the people that caught the   bus back missed out on that opportunity average  price per night was $53.74 that includes both of   us staying in each hostel each night and dinner  and breakfast for each day you don't even have   to Lug much food up the mountain with you because  you get that all included when you stay I'd say   you'd need a couple of snacks for day one and then  you're probably golden because each of the hostels   also offer a packed lunch that you can buy for the  following day so you'd wake up in the morning have   your included breakfast pick up your little lunch  and off you go you start walking to the next one   it's a really good system our average food cost  per day over the Quilotoa loop was $20.25 and   that's because I included all our pre-bought stuff  so all our suppliers we bought like Band-Aids and   a bunch of different powerades and everything  we brought with us averaged out to $20 and .25   cents per day the hike actually begins in a town  called Sigchos which is about three hours south   of Quito but if you want to make the most of it  stay in a nearby town called Latacunga the night   before that'll let you properly prepare and is  also home to a lot of the hotels that'll store   your bags while you hike up the mountain so you  only have your backpack you don't have wheelie   bags or big rucksacks to get to Lataunga from  Quito you have to go to the South bus terminal   this is where it gets confusing but the South  bus terminal is called Quitumbe and it's the big   one so getting to most places in Ecuador will be  from that south terminal we won't spoil any more   of the hike if you do want to see more about it  we've made all those videos like we said or you   can read that blog post too after completing  the hike we went to a tiny town called Banos   which was surprisingly one of the favorite towns  we went to in Ecuador we didn't really film much   there because we were exhausted after doing the  Quilotoa loop it but it was incredible we were   also there on a weekend so it was very very busy  it is a Tiny Town surrounded by Lush mountains and   waterfalls you can see from pretty much anywhere  it's also been quite built up as like a westerny   sort of town it also has a bunch of natural  mineral hot springs that we didn't check out   just because we're not huge public hot spring  people but apparently that is the thing to do   there if you're not checking out a waterfall we  spent two nights I think two nights is probably   the right amount two to four nights depending  how serious you want to be about Trek into the   waterfalls and doing the bars and things and the  average price per night was $28 average food was a   little bit more on the expensive side we spent $45  dollars each day on average but that did include   this amazing expensive Indian dinner that we had  oh it was just the best Indian food we've had   since literally India it was incredible and for  breakfast we ate like an American Cafe and we had   burgers for lunch like we were eating out all the  time yeah getting to bed is pretty easy from Quito   which is obviously our main frame of reference  is a four hour bus we finished our Quilotoa Loop   hike in Latacunga and ended up taking a bus to  Banos which meant we had to transfer through a   town called Ambato it was a little bit complex  but we got there without any issues some of the   other cool things to do in Banos is you can do a  bike ride I can't remember what it's called but   essentially bike along the highway to all of the  different waterfalls we were very tempted to do   this if we weren't so tired I think we would have  gone through with it I think I'm happy we didn't   though because it looks like you're on the highway  next to all the buses for a lot of the time I   don't know maybe look into it I agree there's also  heaps of zip lines and like Adventure things to do   there yeah I'm pretty sure it's like one of the  adventure capitals of Ecuador as well so anything the next place we went was the  Amazon which was like a bucket   list child dream destination for both of  us and was insane whatever you think that   Amazon would possibly be and whatever high  expectations you have it's better it's better   it's better obviously the Amazon is monstrous  it's a behemoth of a forest it's bigger than the   two second largest rainforests put together and  we were specifically in a region called Yasuni   National Park which is meant to be the most  biodiverse region in all of Ecuador we felt so   lucky to be there we had a package with a lodge  called Sani Lodge we were there for five nights   and we got to experience a lot delicious food  some interesting food eating bugs in the Amazon we got to meet and like be healed by a shaman  which is still one of the things that we talk   about constantly just the kayaking and seeing  all of that amazing animal was like you just   I don't know you just know you're gonna see  monkeys and caimans and all these exciting   things but actually seeing them in real life it  never gets old no matter if it's the 20th monkey   you've seen that day you're still just as excited  the Amazon is one of the more expensive places to   go our Sani Lodge Adventure was $450 per day  for both of us for an all-inclusive package so   you get your transport in from a town called coca  you get all your food all your meals and all your   transport in between the different activities  plus a local guide and accommodation we ended   up helping the Sani Lodge with some of their  marketing in exchange for our stay and ended   up making a super long video it's the longest one  we've ever done so if you sit through it thank you   I just didn't want to cut any of the clips all  of the animals were too cute I just wanted to   remember every single moment from every single  day because it's the trip of a lifetime anyway   it was amazing it was amazing getting to the  Amazon and Coco where you'll get picked up for   your trip there's a few different options I think  most people will fly because it's 35 minutes but   again we are quite last minute and we have big  wheelie bags so we ended up catching a bus which   is meant to take seven hours I think and ours took  nine there was a bridge that was collapsed so it   took us a bit longer than we thought it would but  we got there no matter which Lodge you choose a   lot of them pick up from El Coca that town that  sits on the river and if you want to get the bus   like us you just go to Quitumbe which is the  southern Quito bus station and you'll be able   to get the bus from there leaves about five times  a day I know we worked with them so we might be   a little biased but I would recommend Sani Lodge  a thousand times I would pay for that experience   time and time again it's Community run which  isn't very common in the area there's a couple   of private lodges in the area but the fact that  it's Community run just gives it this different   energy and experience we actually met someone  on our trip that had been fortunate enough to   shared a few of the other ones and he said that  the community run ones do just have this special   thing that just can't be replicated and Sani  Lodge is like deep in the jungle like it's one   of those places where it is fully surrounded you  cannot get out there without catching a boat it's   so deep in the jungle whereas other ones are  pretty close to civilization Which is less of the   experience I would have wanted after our fourth  fifth time in Quito we made our way to our final   stop Cuenca Cuenca is one of the oldest cities  in Ecuador and was actually settled before the   Incans before the incants even got there the  locals were settled there already now the city   represents a really large expat population there  is a bunch of Americans in English and Australian   people that kind of call that home now because of  that there are massive supermarkets it's the first   place we found in Ecuador where we could go into  a supermarket and kind of know where we're going   and they have everything like we said at the start  there is no Uber strangely enough but taxis were   cheap and often needed it is also a lot easier  to communicate in Cuenca because there are so   many expats there English is a lot more available  not something you can rely on still definitely not   but it is more common we spent an entire week in  Cuenca just because we needed to catch up on some   work after being disconnected in Amazon for so  long I would say maybe two days would be enough   though it is a beautiful city to see if you get an  apartment that's within walking distance which you   probably should or could it'll cost you about $48  Australian dollars per night ours was really nice   did the trick had its own kitchen and meant that  we could cook a lot of our food again so food was   only costing us $23.42 cents per day and we went  on a food tour in Cuenca so it's pretty good the   airport in Cuenca is pretty centrally located as  well you'll see the planes drop really really low   and it's connected to the main city with the  tram but if you're like us and you catch the   bus instead of getting flight again from Quito  you head to Quitumbe station and I think it was   an overnight bus no we did a full day full day  bus that one full day bus there are overnight   buses you can get but we caught I think a 9 A.M  and we got in at 7 p.m it was a 10 hour bus no   matter where you are in Ecuador it's pretty  easy to get there because Cuenca is kind of   like the southern Hub so you shouldn't have any  trouble finding a bus being the Cuenca is so old   there are ruins everywhere it's the kind of place  where you walk around you don't even realize that   there's a ruin next to you we saw two different  ones within walking distance of town maybe like a   half hour walk away the first one was really cool  but you couldn't go in they were like blocked off   the second one was at the Museum which we sort of  had mixed feelings about by the end just because   there were Birds there that we didn't think maybe  looked very healthy we still don't really know   but it didn't look comfortable for them and  their cages were really small so other cool   things to do is to check out the sort of Central  Park area there is this ginormous Cathedral that   you can actually climb up the top of and it  just has these beautiful blue domed roofs it's   very unique but if you're there when you exit  the church turn left and then turn left again   when you enter like a little Courtyard and go  have something to eat at the restaurant with   this amazing view you won't be sorry it's quite  expensive but it's beautiful get the potato soup   when we finished in Cuenca our time in Ecuador  was over which means that we missed a lot of the   coast we missed heaps of Ecuador if you have any  recommendations put them in the comments below   because this is definitely a country we would  love to come back to one day and it will help   everyone else that's watching this video to make  sure they get the most out of visiting Ecuador as   well obviously we missed out on one of the big  things to do in Ecuador as well and that is the   Galapagos Islands it just didn't unfortunately  work out for us this time it was too expensive   it's one of those things that we'll dream about  forever and hopefully we can come back and do   one day but the fact that we got to go to the  Amazon is pretty special I think that having the   Galapagos left undone is the reason why we will  be back obviously through our time in Ecuador   we were documenting everything we did like we said  at the beginning and everywhere we ate and putting   it into a Google map so if you are interested in  seeing that and get some advice and ideas of where   to go we'll link that in the description below you  can zoom in you can check out all the cool spots   I think I know this is a bit different to our  usual videos but we just feel like we learn all of   this stuff about a country and generally speaking  that's just been cast to the side so we thought   why not take that information and give it to some  people and hopefully make it a bit easier for them   to plan their trip or maybe convince them to go to  a country that they were just on the edge of maybe   visiting and now to help the YouTube algorithm if  you enjoyed this video please give it a thumbs up   because it really helps a small Channel like ours  grow I hate that we've never said that before Welcome to the ultimate Colombian is  not where we were Spanish speakers It's been a while imagine if the microphone wasn't working  that'd be so funny always be working

Channel: Jordan and Emily

Views: 26,095

Keywords: best things to do in ecuador, ecuador travel vlog, Ultimate Ecuador Travel Guide, travel vlog, cinematic travel video, travel video, ecuador travel guide, travel guide ecuador, ecuador guide, travel ecuador, ecuador travel, quito, cuenca, travel guide, ecuador travel tips, travel tips, ecuador destinations, budget travel ecuador, ecuador, things to do in ecuador, quito ecuador, south america travel, backpacking ecuador, Where to go in ecuador, best of ecuador

Id: r18lMrGuc7M

Length: 31min 35sec (1895 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 15 2023