Why Ecuador
Four worlds fit into a small territory: the Amazon rainforest to the east, the avenue of volcanoes in the centre with Cotopaxi and Chimborazo, the Pacific coast to the west, and the Galápagos a thousand kilometres offshore. You pass from one to the next in a day's drive.
Quito, at two thousand eight hundred metres, has one of the best preserved colonial centres in Latin America, World Heritage listed from the very first list. Cuenca is its quieter counterpart in the south.
Getting around
Coaches are the national means of transport: frequent, very cheap, and they link everything. The Andean journeys are winding and slow.
For the Galápagos, a flight from Quito or Guayaquil, then a choice between the cruise — which reaches the outlying islands — and a land-based stay with day trips, markedly cheaper and enough for many people.
Money
The country uses the US dollar, which simplifies everything, but fifty and hundred dollar notes are poorly received: arrive with small denominations and ask for change whenever possible.
ATMs have low ceilings and charge a fixed commission. The Galápagos are a budget of their own, with prices three to four times higher than the mainland.
Before you go
Entry to the Galápagos combines a transit control card bought at the airport and a national park entry fee, whose rate has recently doubled; both are paid for and kept, the second often in cash.
Quito's altitude surprises people: arriving from Europe and going up Cotopaxi the next day is a bad idea. Two nights in the city before going above four thousand metres is usually enough.
Security has deteriorated in some coastal cities, Guayaquil and Esmeraldas in particular, while the tourist sierra remains calm. The northern border with Colombia is advised against. Consult official advice before fixing an itinerary.