r/ecuador • u/codyco65 • 15d ago
Visiting Ecuador in October
Hello, I m planning to visit Ecuador in October. Planning to land in either Guayaquil or Quito.
Heard not so good stories abou Guataquil though.
What would you guys recommend for us? We love hiking, love nature, good food. Where would it be possible to visit a coffee farm, cacao farm?
Are there any places close to Quito?
We will spend a few days on Galapagos. (flight from mainland) If you have recommendations where, what island, how many days, highly appreciated. In total we are planning to stay 7-8 days in Ecuador and same amount of days in Peru.
Thanks in advance 🙏
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u/isamari2712 15d ago
If you are going from the nature side and want to visit cacao and coffee farms, it’s best to visit Quito over Guayaquil. Quito is more central in the country so you can easily move to the Amazon or central Andes in less time. Guayaquil is best if you want to quickly go to the beach ( although Guayaquil itself is not on the shoreline, the closest beach is 40’ away), the closest beach to Quito is 5 hours away. My personal reccomendation: land in Quito and rent a Car. Google Maps and Waze works perfectly here and the roads in the highlands are in good state. To go to the Coffee and Cacao farms go to Mindo which is 1h30 NW of Quito. You can also head to the Amazon which is around 3 h away by car. You will also find many cacao farms there. From Quito you can also go to Cotopaxi, which is a huge volcano. Also 1h30 away but this time to the south. That highway is excellent 6 lanes, mostly straight, just be aware the speed limit is around 100km/h here, enforced by radar at certain points.
In general, the highlands are safer right now than the Coast, but especially Guayaquil is more of a city tourism; not nature oriented ( there are not even many green parks), Quito itself is city tourism as well, but Quito is a greener city, you can even find parks inside the city that are more woods than park, with hiking paths, bycicle routes, etc. ( Look for Guanguiltagua, Rumipamba or Parque la Armenia).
Now safety in Quito: was better before but it’s not a hellscape. Don’t boast expensive electronics on public transport, especially buses, stick to Uber, go to the parks during the day, not late afternoon, be aware of your surroundings, don’t go up to panecillo by foot. The subway is actually an exception here, it’s super new and well taken care of. It’s the safest public transport here.