Ecuador - Andes, Amazon and Galapagos Islands

Day 1 - UK - Quito

Titan’s VIP door-to-door travel service collects you from home for your flight to Quito.

Hilton Colon Quito (4-star)

Day 2 - Quito - Otavalo

We start our day with a guided tour of the second highest capital city in the world - Quito. Built on an old Inca city, the UNESCO-listed old town is the jewel in Quito’s crown. Surrounded by distant snow-flecked peaks, it has some of the finest Spanish architecture in South America. We explore handsome cobbled plazas lined with white churches and coloured colonial houses, stopping to admire architectural treasures such as the Presidential Palace and Plaza de San Francisco. Ever watchful over the city, we drive to the top of El Panecillo and the 45m-high statue of the Madonna that rises above Quito. The panoramic views across the capital and the ridge of volcanoes that flank it, are breathtaking. After chocolate tasting in the artisan neighbourhood of La Floresta to sweeten the journey, we drive to the small Andean town of Otavalo.

Hotel Otavalo (4-star)

Day 3 - Otavalo

Spreading across three of the town’s plazas in a sea of coloured Andean textiles, alpaca-knitted ponchos, hand-woven carpets, dreamcatchers and jewellery - this morning we explore Otavalo’s bustling market. Afterwards we head up to the cute colonial town of Cotacachi - the centre of Ecuador’s leather industry. Today is a working lunch, where we join a Pachamanca cookery class - an ancestral technique that involves cooking over volcanic stones before burying the pots in the ground. The earth is then adorned with flowers as a thanks to indigenous gods. After lunch, it’s a short drive to Lake Cuicocha, a 3km-wide sapphire-blue crater lake studded with forest-covered islands and surrounded by fertile volcanic slopes and endemic flora and fauna.

Hotel Otavalo (4-star)

Day 4 - Otavalo - Quito

Today we visit a family-run workshop that makes panpipes and charangos - a small, traditional stringed instrument similar to a lute. We’ll make a stop at a sweet-smelling rose plantation, before driving up into the highlands to Parque del Condor - a non-profit refuge for rescued owls, eagles and endangered Andean condors. On our way back to Quito, we stop to walk the line of the equator - taking photos of the 30m-high Quitsato Equatorial Monument.

Hilton Colon Quito (4-star)

Day 5 - Quito - Coca - Yasuni National Park

From the Andes to the Amazon, we board a flight to Coca - the gateway to the Ecuadorian Amazon. We transfer onto a motorboat to continue our journey deeper into the humming heart of the jungle and our riverfront eco-lodge. Yasuni National Park is thought to be one of the most biologically diverse places on the planet. Dense rainforest, wide meandering rivers and mist-cloaked mountains provide a lost world habitat for millions of species of plant, mammal, reptile and bird. The park is also home to many indigenous tribes, two of which live in voluntary isolation from the outside world. After some well-deserved rest, we’ll visit the Socali path, an introductory trail designed to teach about the flora and fauna found in various types of forests.

Yarina Eco Lodge (2-star)

Day 6 - Yasuni National Park

After breakfast, we'll don our rubber boots and jungle attire, and take a canoe upriver, observing birds, butterflies, orchids, and amphibians until we reach the "Dos Ramas" trail. There, we'll take a short trek to learn about medicinal plants, birds, and animals before returning to the lodge for lunch. Late afternoon, our local guide will teach us how to use a blowpipe then try our hand at piranha fishing.

Yarina Eco Lodge (2-star)

Day 7 - Yasuni National Park

A motorboat takes us to the edge of our reserve, where we’ll visit an indigenous family from the Quichuas del Oriente community and later share a lunch with them. Our guides will teach us about the traditions and customs of these tribes and how they live and survive in the Amazon rainforest.  Later, we'll travel along the Napo River to another tributary area called Guamayaku, where we'll discover and observe different species of birds, monkeys, sloths, and more.

Yarina Eco Lodge (2-star)

Day 8 - Yasuni National Park - Quito - Papallacta/Puembo

After breakfast we’ll travel by boat back to Coca, fly to Quito and drive up to Papallacta, famous for its thermal springs. We'll stay in Puembo in 2025 and Papallacta in 2026.

Hotel Ricon de Puembo, BW Signature Collection (3-star)

Day 9 - Quito - Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands

We start our journey to the magical Galapagos Islands, by driving to Quito for a flight to Baltra and continue by boat to the island of Santa Cruz. On the way to our hotel, we tour the island - first visiting Los Gemelos (Twin Craters). The fertile slopes of these volcanic sinkholes are home to bizarre broccoli-shaped trees, exotic orchids, flycatchers, mockingbirds and rare Darwin finches - the feathered friends responsible for Darwin forming his theories on evolution. Winding our way up into the highlands, we look out for the island’s famous residents - the endangered giant tortoise. Weighing in at up to 300kg and living for up to 200 years, seeing these gentle giants in their natural habitat is a rare and humbling sight. Afterwards, we get to grips with the fragility of this astounding archipelago at the Charles Darwin Research Station.

Ayre By Baltra, Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz (3-star)

Day 10 - Santa Cruz

After a busy time in Ecuador, your first day on the Galapagos is free to explore. Santa Cruz is a working island, and visitors are often surprised by the human life in this colourful coastal town - although the ever-present pelicans and sealions are a reminder of who really rules the roost. There’s also the option to take a boat trip over to another island.

Ayre By Baltra, Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz (3-star)

Day 11 - Santa Cruz - Isabela

Today we move islands to Isabela - the largest island in the Galapagos and aptly shaped like a seahorse. Formed by six volcanoes, Isabela is a hot spot for wildlife. There are more resident species of tortoise here than the other islands combined, and it’s one of the best places to spot migratory whale - including sperm, humpback, minke and orca. This afternoon we take a boat to the islet of Tintoreras, looking out for turtles, rays, blue-footed boobies, Sally Lightfoot crabs, pelicans and penguins. If you choose to upgrade your tour with a four-night cruise (with differing excursions), you’ll board MV Galapagos Legend today.

Hotel on Isabela Island (3-star)

Day 12 - Isabela

Today we get active, hiking the Sierra Negra volcano - one of Isabela’s five volcanoes. One of the most impressive volcanoes in the Galapagos, it has one of the largest calderas in the world - measuring almost 10km in diameter. Passing by ochre-streaked lava fields and lush green flora, we keep an eye out for birds of prey and Darwin’s finches. Reaching the summit rewards us with stunning views across the island to the mangroves, rocky islets and emerald waters of Elizabeth Bay.

Hotel on Isabela Island (3-star)

Day 13 - Isabela - Santa Cruz

Isabela’s size makes it home to a diverse range of habitats. The brackish lagoons just outside Puerto Villamil are one of the best places in the archipelago to view migratory birds, including whimbrels and pintails. Afterwards we visit the eerie Wall of Tears, a 24m-high wall built by prisoners in the 1940s. There’s time to stop at the Arnaldo Tupiza Tortoise Breeding Centre before we sail back to Santa Cruz. Opened in 1994 to protect Isabela’s giant tortoise population from invasive species, habitat loss and volcanic eruptions, this carefully monitored programme is successfully reintroducing five native species of tortoise to the island.

Ayre By Baltra, Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz (3-star)

Day 14 - Santiago - Bartolomé

Today we explore two unpopulated islands by boat - Santiago and Bartolomé. Sculpted by twin volcanoes, Santiago’s lava flows and eruptions have carved out natural pools where sealions and fur seals gather on the rocks. Stepping ashore at Sullivan Bay, we walk along the 1.5km path of the lava flow - a lunar landscape of giant crazy paving where molten lava bubbled, solidified and cracked. Proving that the best things come in small packages, tiny Bartolomé just off Santiago is one of the youngest and smallest islands in the Galapagos. Despite its size, its waters host some of the richest marine life - including a small colony of Galapagos penguin, green sea turtle, sealion, whitetip reef shark and rays. Some of which we’ll see from the water with snorkels if the timings and conditions are right. With sweeps of golden sand and cerulean waters - it’s also one of the most photographed islands.

Ayre By Baltra, Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz (3-star)

Day 15 - Santa Cruz - Quito

We start our journey home, flying from Baltra to Quito, where we'll stay overnight.

Hilton Colon Quito (4-star)

Day 16 - Quito - In flight

We transfer to the airport for our overnight flight back to the UK.

Quito - In flight

Day 17 - UK

Upon arrival, your Titan vehicle will be waiting for the journey home.

UK