The Best of Ecuador and the Galapagos

Year round

From £11,600pp

Land-only

12 Nights

From the gilded domes of colonial Quito to the ancient waters of the Galapagos, encounter Ecuador in all its extraordinary depth

Few countries compress such a natural and cultural range into such a small space. This journey moves through three of Ecuador‘s most compelling worlds: the UNESCO World Heritage streets of Quito, where Spanish colonial architecture rises above one of the highest capitals on earth; the primary rainforest of the Amazon basin, where guided canoe excursions and dawn wildlife walks reveal the extraordinary biodiversity of the Napo River region; and the Galapagos Islands, an archipelago whose isolation has produced wildlife found nowhere else on the planet. Accommodation is chosen for its setting and its integrity, from an intimate boutique hotel in Quito’s historic quarter to a community-owned Amazon lodge and the Galapagos’ most celebrated retreat. Naturalist guides and private yacht excursions ensure that each encounter with the natural world is observed with context, patience, and care. This is Ecuador approached with the seriousness it deserves.

Itinerary highlights

Settle into Illa Experience, a beautifully restored colonial mansion in Quito's UNESCO-listed historic quarter, and explore the gilded churches, sun-drenched plazas, and storied streetscapes of one of the Americas' finest old towns.

Fly into the Ecuadorian Amazon and arrive by canoe at Napo Wildlife Centre, a community-owned ecolodge on a remote oxbow lake deep within primary rainforest.

Spend two full days in the Amazon basin, joining guided canoe trips to witness the parrot clay lick, spotting giant otters, black caimans, and monkeys, and walking forest trails alive with birdlife after dark.

Board the Vision Pikaia private yacht for a full-day excursion to South Plaza and Santa Fe Islands, snorkelling alongside sea lions, turtles, and an abundance of marine life in the nutrient-rich Galapagos currents.

Encounter giant tortoises roaming freely across the highland ranch land of Santa Cruz Island and descend into the island's ancient lava tunnels on a day that captures the geological drama of the archipelago.

Sail to Bartolomé Island and Chinese Hat aboard the Vision Pikaia, snorkelling with Galapagos penguins and marine iguanas beneath the iconic volcanic silhouette of Pinnacle Rock.

From the gilded domes of colonial Quito to the ancient waters of the Galapagos, encounter Ecuador in all its extraordinary depth

Itinerary highlights

Fly into the Ecuadorian Amazon and arrive by canoe at Napo Wildlife Centre, a community-owned ecolodge on a remote oxbow lake deep within primary rainforest.

Sail to Bartolomé Island and Chinese Hat aboard the Vision Pikaia, snorkelling with Galapagos penguins and marine iguanas beneath the iconic volcanic silhouette of Pinnacle Rock.

Day 1

Your journey begins

Your journey to one of the world's most biodiverse countries begins tonight as you board your overnight flight to Quito. Crossing the Atlantic and the Caribbean, you are heading for a country that contains more species per square kilometre than almost anywhere on earth, a place where the equator, the Andes, the Amazon, and the Pacific all converge in extraordinary proximity.

Day 1-2

Quito, Ecuador

You arrive in Quito, one of the highest capital cities in the world, and transfer to Illa Experience, a beautifully restored boutique hotel in the city's historic quarter. After settling in and taking your first breaths of the thin Andean air, you have the rest of the day to adjust to the altitude and explore at your own pace. The following morning, a full day with an expert guide takes you through Quito's UNESCO-listed old town, a remarkably intact ensemble of gilded baroque churches, arcaded plazas, and whitewashed convents that together form one of the finest colonial streetscapes in Latin America. The Church of La Compañía de Jesús, the Monastery of San Francisco, and the sweeping views from the hilltop of El Panecillo each reward time and attention. Over lunch, local flavours and a sense of the city's energy begin to take hold.

Day 3

Quito to the Amazon

An early flight carries you from Quito down to the jungle town of Coca, gateway to the Ecuadorian Amazon. A motorised canoe takes you deeper into the forest, gliding along the Napo River before turning onto the quieter, darker channels that lead to Napo Wildlife Centre, an ecolodge built and operated by the Añangu Kichwa community on the shores of a remote oxbow lake. As the canoe slows and the lodge comes into view through the trees, the sounds of the forest take over completely. The transition from city to wilderness is total and immediate, and by your first evening, with the lake reflecting the last of the light and caimans moving silently along the bank, the Amazon has already made its impression.

Day 4 - 5

The Amazon

Two full days in one of the most biodiverse habitats on the planet, guided by naturalists who have spent their lives in this forest. Early mornings are reserved for the parrot clay lick, where hundreds of parrots and parakeets descend to the riverbank in a spectacle of colour and noise that has no parallel in the natural world. Canoe excursions on the oxbow lake bring you close to giant otters, black caimans, and the extraordinary birdlife of the Napo region, while forest walks reveal the layered complexity of primary Amazonian rainforest at close range. Monkeys move through the canopy overhead; hoatzins call from the waterside vegetation; and at night, a guided walk with torches turns the forest floor into an entirely different world. Meals are taken at the lodge, where the food is fresh, the setting extraordinary, and the darkness, once the generator quietens, absolute.

Day 6

Amazon to Quito

After a final morning on the lake, the canoe carries you back along the river to Coca for your flight to Quito. You return to Illa Experience for one night, with the afternoon free to revisit the city, shop for provisions, or simply rest before the next stage of the journey. By this point in the trip, the contrast between Quito's animated streets and the silence of the Amazon is itself one of the journey's most striking impressions.

Day 7

Quito to Galapagos

This morning's flight carries you west across Ecuador and out over the Pacific to the Galapagos Islands, an archipelago that sits in a category of its own in the natural world. You land on Baltra Island and transfer to Santa Cruz, where Pikaia Lodge awaits on a private reserve in the island's highlands, overlooking the ocean. The lodge is among the finest places to stay in the Galapagos, and your first evening gives you time to absorb your surroundings and prepare for two days of encounters with wildlife that has evolved in isolation and shows, famously, no fear of human presence. Your naturalist guide introduces the week ahead over dinner as the Pacific light fades beyond the terrace.

Day 8

South Plaza Island to Santa Fe Island

You board the Vision Pikaia, Pikaia Lodge's private day yacht, for a full excursion to South Plaza and Santa Fe Islands. South Plaza is a small, dramatic island where land iguanas bask in extraordinary numbers among the giant cacti, and sea lions occupy every available ledge above the turquoise water below. Santa Fe, one of the oldest islands in the archipelago, is home to a particularly large and ancient subspecies of land iguana found nowhere else, as well as Galapagos hawks, swallow-tailed gulls, and one of the archipelago's most beautiful white-sand bays. Snorkelling in these waters brings you alongside sea lions, sea turtles, and the remarkable variety of fish life that thrives in the nutrient-rich Galapagos currents. Lunch is served on board as the yacht moves between islands.

Day 9

Santa Cruz Island

Today is given over to Santa Cruz itself, the most ecologically diverse island in the archipelago and the one that best illustrates the geological and evolutionary forces that shaped the Galapagos. In the highlands, giant tortoises roam freely across private ranch land, moving with the unhurried dignity of creatures that have occupied this island for millennia. The volcanic lava tunnels beneath the island's surface offer a different perspective entirely, while the Charles Darwin Research Station in Puerto Ayora provides scientific context for what you have been observing in the field. The afternoon is yours to explore at your own pace, and the evening returns to Pikaia Lodge, where the setting and the quality of the kitchen make it genuinely difficult to leave.

Day 10

Bartolomé Island to Chinese Hat

The Vision Pikaia takes you north today to two of the most visually extraordinary sites in the Galapagos. Bartolomé Island is defined by its iconic volcanic landscape, a moonscape of spatter cones and lava formations surrounding the famous Pinnacle Rock, with views across Sullivan Bay that have become one of the defining images of the archipelago. Here, you may snorkel with Galapagos penguins, the only penguin species found in the northern hemisphere, alongside marine iguanas, white-tipped reef sharks, and sea turtles. Chinese Hat, a tiny islet whose outline from the water is precisely what its name suggests, offers a further snorkelling site of exceptional clarity. It is the kind of day that confirms why the Galapagos occupies its unique place in the imagination of natural history.

Day 11

Return to Quito

A final morning on Santa Cruz before your flight back to mainland Ecuador, where you return to Quito for one last night at Illa Experience. The evening is yours to spend as you wish, whether revisiting a favourite restaurant, exploring a neighbourhood you missed earlier in the journey, or simply sitting with the accumulated impressions of twelve days in one of the world's most extraordinary countries.

Day 12

Leaving Quito

After a final breakfast in Quito, you transfer to the airport for your overnight flight back to London, carrying with you the memory of the Amazon at dawn, the silence of a Galapagos bay, and a country that exceeds almost every expectation placed upon it.

Day 13

Arrive home

You arrive back in the UK, the journey complete.

What's Included

International return flights from the UK
All domestic and regional flights within Ecuador
Seamless ground and water transfers throughout
Handpicked accommodations throughout
Meals as indicated
Curated tours and experiences, including entrance fees
Expert English-speaking local guides throughout
Naturalist English-speaking guide for all Galapagos excursions

What's Included

International return flights from the UK
All domestic and regional flights within Ecuador
Seamless ground and water transfers throughout
Handpicked accommodations throughout
Meals as indicated
Curated tours and experiences, including entrance fees
Expert English-speaking local guides throughout
Naturalist English-speaking guide for all Galapagos excursions

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Every journey I plan starts with a conversation. Tell me what excites you, what you've always dreamed of experiencing, and I'll craft something extraordinary. The best expeditions begin with a single question: What would make this unforgettable for you?

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The Best of Ecuador and the Galapagos