73 Best Sights in Ecuador

The noisy plaza is filled with vendors hawking a variety of bric-a-brac. Under the northern colonnade, merchants sell more enticing wares—colorful skirts, hand-knit sweaters, and intricate hangings.

Sleepy Puerto Villamil, founded in 1897 as a center for extracting lime, is the focus of Isabela's tourist trade—nearby are several lagoons where flamingos and migratory birds can be viewed up close, as well as beaches with large populations of herons, egrets, and other birds.

If Intiñan approximates high-school science experiments, Quitsato, where the equator crosses the Pan-American Highway on the way to Otavalo, offers the subject's most academic treatment of the three sites, with ongoing research into the astronomy, history, and archaeology of equatorial observation. Quitsato's highlight is the enormous, 54-meter (177-foot) walk-on sundial, which, of course, casts no shadow at noon. The Solar Culture Museum here has an informative bilingual talk about peoples' use of the sun in measurements during the pre-Columbian epoch. The site is a standard stop on many of the day tours out of Quito to Otavalo.

Next to the national park is this privately-owned nature preserve where several dozen giant tortoises roam freely. If you're on a cruise or package tour, you're likely to come here. If you're traveling independently, add this to your list of Santa Cruz sites, and combine it with a visit to the neighboring national park. It's great fun to walk around here and get moderately close to these incredible creatures, and this is among the best places to take photos of and with them. You could spend 15 minutes here taking quick snaps or an hour or more walking the grounds in awe. There's an open-air café where you can sit for tea, coffee, and small snack like empanadas, as well as a souvenir shop.

You'll be offer rubber boots to wear; take them or you'll sink right into the mud.

A visitor center just outside Puerto Baquerizo Moreno explains the natural processes that have made the Galápagos such a unique place, delineates efforts to protect and preserve the islands, and serves as an education center for park personnel and naturalist guides. The three exhibits inside are Natural History, with illustrations of natural events and information on how different species arrived at the islands; Human History, covering events related to the discovery and colonization of the islands; and Conservation and Development, an introduction to the struggles of the ecosystems and preservation efforts under way. After viewing the exhibits, take a walk along winding paths leading from the Interpretation Center to Playa Punta Carola (about 35 minutes), a favorite of surfers, or on to Mann Beach for a swim and to Frigate Bird Hill, a nesting place for frigate birds. Along the way are plants, lava lizards, and other animals endemic to this area.

The road to Santa Rosa, 13 km (8 miles) beyond Bellavista, is lined with giant elephant grass, avocado and papaya trees, and boughs of yellow trumpet vines, all of which are in marked contrast to the dry, cactus-spotted lowlands. About 2 km (1 mile) beyond Santa Rosa, look for a pair of giant sinkholes called Los Gemelos (the Twins), one on either side of the road.

Isabela's other community is Santo Tomás, 18 km (11 miles) northwest of Puerto Villamil.

Quito's flashiest attraction whisks you from the foothills of Volcán Pichincha to its height (4,050 meters [13,300 feet]) courtesy of a fleet of six-passenger gondola cars. Ascending the 1,100 meters (3,620 feet) to the top is accomplished in just 10 minutes. (Lines are long but move quickly; your $8.50 admission [double what Ecuadorans pay] gives you access to an express queue.) At the base you'll find a complex containing a shopping center and an amusement park called Vulqano Park. At the top is a small snack shop as well as a first-aid station with oxygen in case you develop problems with the high altitude. The volcano's summit lies another 215 meters (700 feet) higher; when the sky is clear, the views are breathtaking (literally), but you'll need to be fit and in hiking shoes to take this on. Note that while safety up here has improved, a few robberies have been reported on the trail to the top. The cable-car trip is worth it, but retain a healthy respect for the altitude.

Don't head up here unless you've already become acclimatized to the altitude by having been in the highlands for a few days continuously---and even then, take it easy at the top.

Be sure to bring a jacket: it can get cold and windy. The vistas are stupendous, although mornings can be foggy and obscure your view. We recommend an afternoon or evening visit.

Outdoor cafés are a scarce commodity in the Old City. But Tianguez, a small restaurant/artisan shop makes a pleasant place to while away an afternoon with a gourmet coffee drink—made with fair-trade product—while you write a few cards to the folks back home and watch the passing parade on Plaza San Francisco. A tiny indoor dining area with wooden tables serves effectively on those days when it's too chilly for the green tables and umbrellas on the outdoor patio. Tianguez takes its name from the Quichua word for market (the plaza was a vast outdoor market during Inca times). Tianguez is open daily during the day and Wednesday–Sunday evenings until 11:30 pm, one of the few places to spend an evening in the Old City.

The Moorish style clock tower, constructed in 1770, is one of the city's most enduring landmarks. Inside is a small exposition of photographs of Guayaquil dating from the early 20th century.

For a fantastic view of Cuenca by night or day, head up the mountain to the tiny village of Turi. Stroll along Turi's main street past the mural-covered church, and you'll soon find yourself in rolling hills where stucco farmhouses punctuate cornfields and potato patches. Up here there's also a workshop of Eduardo Vega, a well-known artist, where you'll see his ceramics and paintings. A taxi is the best way to get here, but make sure to ask the driver to wait for you.

A more ambitious trek, requiring adequate planning and equipment, is 1,100-meter (3,600-foot) Volcán Alcedo. The site can be reached only by boat, after which a 10-km (6-mile) trail climbs over rough terrain. You cannot traipse around the island without a guide, and you'll need one here. Your rewards are stunning views and a chance to see the archipelago's largest population of Galápagos tortoises.

The island's signature excursion is a guided 9-km (5½-mile) trek ascending the 1,370-meter (4,488-foot) Volcán Sierra Negra. The volcano's crater—roughly 10 km (6 miles) in diameter—is the second-largest in the world. The volcano erupted in October 2005, but, thankfully, the event threatened none of the island's population, human or animal. Seismologists keep close watch on any untoward activity and will suspend excursions if needed.