ITINERARY: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO ECUADOR

ITINERARY: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO ECUADOR

Ecuador, named for the fact that the equator runs directly through it, is best well-known by travelers for the Galapagos Islands that are offshore to the west. But what many people don’t realize is that mainland Ecuador has a lot to offer. Whether you want to explore cities, jungles, or hike up a volcano, mainland Ecuador has it all.

Looking for more inspiration for your trip? Check out my Ultimate Guide to Baños de Agua Santa and 7 Photos to Inspire You to Travel to Ecuador.

The best way to get to Baños is via bus from the Quitumbe bus terminal in Quito. The buses leave multiple times per hour and the four-hour journey to Baños only costs about $4 USD. Since Baños is also a relatively small and walkable town, once you arrive in the town you can easily find your hotel or hostel on foot.

There are dozens of places to stay in Baños, from backpackers hostels to high-end spa hotels. I personally stayed at Community Hostel off the main road in Baños and would highly recommend it if you’re looking for a classic hostel experience. They served dinner every night and it was a great place to get to meet other travelers as well.

It’s easy to realize how Baños, which translates to Bath in English, got its name – the area is full of natural hot springs. The most well-known baths are Las Piscinas de la Virgen and I can’t recommend the experience enough. You’ll pay up to $3 to enter the baths depending on the time of day you go and then an additional $1.50 to rent a mandatory swim cap. Once there, you’ll put your clothes into the nearby lockers and hop into your pool of choice.

There are three pools: one cold, one warm, and one blisteringly hot. After sitting in the warm pool for a while, we decided to venture downstairs to the hot pool, which is also where all of the locals spend their time. When you first step foot into the hot pool, you’ll likely jump out as fast as humanly possible due to the heat. But you’ll also quickly notice that locals are sitting deep in the pools with the water all the way up to their necks! How, you might ask, can they handle it? We learned from some locals that the strategy is to ease yourself into the hot pool and try to sit there for at least 30 seconds, at which point you can jump out and immerse yourself in the freezing cold pool only a few feet away. After going back and forth in this for a handful of minutes, you’ll start to realize the hot pool doesn’t feel so scorching and you can start to enjoy the bath like the locals. 

I told you that Baños was for the adventurous, didn’t I? My favorite adventure activity in Ecuador was canyoning and rappelling down waterfalls in Baños, as part of a tour with Geo Tours Banios, which was booked through my hostel. For only $60 USD we spent half a day stomping through ponds, jumping off of waterfalls, and ziplining through the rainforest. They give you all of the gear you could need and even a great classic Ecuadorian lunch on your way home. If there’s anything I’d recommend doing in Baños, it’s this!

For only $20 USD (no joke!) I spent a half-day ziplining through the Ecuadorian jungle via Geo Tours Banios, which was also booked through my hostel. After picking us up at the hostel, they took us through six different zip lines, each increasing in height, totaling 2000 meters in length once the day was over. I will say, this isn’t for the faint of heart or those scared of heights, but it gave us an unbelievable birds-eye view of Baños and you definitely can’t beat that price.

I figured that if I’m in a town that translates to Bath then that would probably be a good time to enjoy my only spa experience of my trip to Ecuador. I spent an hour at the Sangay Spa Hotel getting a wonderful massage. You don’t have to book in advance and I recall the price being fairly reasonable for what it’s worth.

The next stop on my journey through Ecuador was to Quilotoa Crater, a massive crater lake about 3 hours by car (but a bit more complicated via public transit) from Baños de Agua Santa. The town of Quilotoa is fairly small so the only real activity to do in the area is to hike the crater or kayak inside of it. Either way, it was definitely worth the stop for that unbelievable view.

In all honesty, it’s pretty complicated to get to Quilotoa Crater but I assure you the destination is worth the trouble. From Baños, which is where I ventured from, it takes about 5 hours and you have to take two buses – Baños to Latacunga and Latacunga to Quilotoa. Be sure to look up the bus schedules in advance though because while the Baños bus leaves every 30 minutes, the Latacunga bus leaves every 4 hours. If worse comes to worst you can also hitchhike or take a taxi from Latacunga to Baños, which is actually what I ended up doing on the way out of town. The whole 5-hour trip should cost you no more than $10 USD if you go the bus route.

I stayed at Hosteria Alpaka Quilotoa, which was my favorite sleeping accommodation of my trip. When going to Quilotoa it’s important to note that most of the “nearby” accommodations are actually at least 1.5 hours driving from Quilotoa Crater…i.e. not economical if you only plan to spend one night in the region. I found this hostel by just walking into the main town of Chucchilán upon arrival and found that they had availability. Chucchilán isn’t a very bustling town so I think you should be able to book a room upon arrival, but if you come in one of the busier months you might want to plan ahead.

There are a few options for hiking around Quilotoa Crater. One can take you multiple days and takes you more in the surrounding regions and the other you can do in about 5-7 hours that just takes you directly around the edge of the crater. Because I was in a bit of a rush, I opted for the one-day-long journey and found that it met all of my needs.

Because I stayed in Chucchilán, I started the loop straight from my hostel front door, which was only 200 meters away from the crater. After arriving at the edge of the crater, you have a few options:

1. You can hike straight down into the crater on a paved path and kayak
2. You can start your hike to the left
3. You can start your hike to the right

There’s no right answer here, but I personally chose to take a left and hike in a clockwise formation, because it looked like I would make it over the steepest part of the hike earlier on. I figured since the hike would take me the majority of the day, I didn’t want to hit the steepest (and most dangerous) part of the hike when I was exhausted toward the end.

From here, the rest is self-explanatory! Be sure to pack plenty of snacks on your journey, but you will also find one or two outposts on the journey with snacks and water you can purchase along the way.

I will note, however, that this trek isn’t for the faint of heart. Part of it gets very steep and depending on your skill level and the weather outside, it can get quite tricky to navigate at certain points.