3 Best Sights in Guayaquil and the Pacific Coast, Ecuador

Guayaquil's riverfront promenade anchors the city's rebirth. After years of neglect, the 26-block street has been transformed into one of the city's most pleasant attractions. As you stroll along the Río Guayas, you can relax on benches in shady parks or poke into numerous shops, restaurants, the contemporary art museum (MAAC), South America's first IMAX theater, and a planetarium. So open and airy is the complex that the World Health Organization has given the Malecón one of its "Healthy Public Space" designations. Ample security and gates at the entrance to the complex keep things safe, even late at night. Across the street from El Malecón is the Palacio Municipal, considered the country's best examples of neoclassical architecture. Beside the adjacent Palacio de la Gobernación is Parque Sucre, a sliver of greenery dedicated to war hero Mariscal Antonio José de Sucre.

If Ecuador doesn't spring to mind when someone mentions art, a visit to one of Guayaquil's most impressive museums might change that. Ecuadoran artists began to break the connection with religious-themed art in the late 19th century, and the country's artists have never looked back. Take an English-language guided tour—essential to understanding how the exhibits are laid out. Anthropology, the first "a" in the museum's name, gets equal treatment as Ecuador's Central Bank's extensive collection of artifacts—50,000 of them—from the past 10,000 years is displayed on the building's second level.

The Nahím Isaías Museum is one of the country's truly fabulous institutions. Each year about 500 pieces of the astounding permanent collection of religious art from the colonial period is parceled out and displayed. What you see on view this year differs from last year and next year. An informative guided tour—choose between English or Spanish—that provides the best background on what you see is included in your admission.