Arrival at the International Airport in Quito. Meet and greet with local guide. Private Transfer to your selected hotel. Overnight in a 4* Hotel

Guide: Included for the day

Accommodation:

• High-end Accommodation: Old town Quito Suites

Breakfast. Guided visit on board an electric scooter in the Colonial district of Quito, a World class historic district: declared by UNESCO Cultural Heritage in 1979. The visit will lead you to the Independence Square “Plaza Grande” and stroll in its beautiful streets and get marvelled by the impressive religious and civil buildings dating from colonial times. The most remarkable examples of Barroco can be admired in churches and convents. You will visit La Compañia, San Francisco Churches. Our visit will end with a raw beer tasting and ill enjoy typical sweet delicacies of Quito. After lunch we will drive to the Middle of the World valley, in the little village Pomasqui, you will learn about the millenary plant: Agave, its properties, and traditional uses, as well as taste the traditional beverage. You will continue to Intiñan an interesting museum where you can experiment about the physical laws that only happens in the Middle of the World. Overnight in a 4* Hotel

Guide: Included for the day

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation:

• High-end Accommodation: Old town Quito Suites

In and around Riobamba Breakfast. Drive in the morning along the Volcanoes Avenue direction to Cotopaxi Region. Panoramic View of this active volcano. Possibility to visit an indigenous market in charming local villages (on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday) a great opportunity to learn about the traditional markets. Enjoy the impressive route to Quilotoa. We will head to the little indigenous community and village of Zumbahua and then to the lake. The Panoramic view of the lake is inspiring, we can walk down from the rim to the water’s edge or even descent to the shores of the lake (depending on the physical and weather conditions) If time permits, we will visit a “Naïf” Painting Atelier to learn about the paintings and La Victoria a small village where you can find traditional works in pottery. After the visit we will drive south to Riobamba village passing by the slopes of the highest volcano of Ecuador: the Chimborazo (6,310 meters above sea level). Visit Riobamba city and the Conceptas Religious Art Museum, short exploration at the local vegetables market to enjoy a natural juice made with the ice from Chimborazo Volcano. Optional kayaking in the Quilotoa lake (please ask for prices) Overnight in a 4* Hotel

Guide: Included for the day

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation:

• High-end Accommodation: Mansion Santa Isabella

We will drive to a complex of more than 45 lakes, located in the moorlands of this region, possibility to do a short hike in the surroundings. We will then visit a totally different zone: the Palmira desert: a unique landscape in the highlands of sand and pines. In Guamote village there is the possibility to admire its colourful market (only Thursday). Drive to the south until reach the Ingapirca Complex, built in the late 15th century before the Spanish conquest. Although the Incas had fought for centuries with the native tribes, victory was illusive and that is why there are so few Inca sites in Ecuador. It is difficult to know what the purpose of Ingapirca was. It may have been a ceremonial centre; it was built on top of a much older buildings originally constructed by the local Cañari tribe. Scientists have noticed that altars inside the Temple of the Sun are directly illuminated only at certain times of the year, specifically the time of the Andean New Year or Inti Raymi. Overnight in a 4* Hotel

Guide: Included for the day

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation:

• High-end Accommodation: Posada Ingapirca

In and around Cuenca Breakfast. We will drive to the Paute Valley and visit its impressive region where you can be immersed in the marvelous skills of the local inhabitants who works different materials and create unique artisans: ikat shawls, embroidery, toquilla straw hats and basketry, filigree and more. You will have the chance to taste delicious food of the area and local confectioneries and Rosero: a typical beverage made of white corn, In the afternoon visit an orchids farm and discover this marvelous flora and its varieties. Lunch on Route. Overnight in a 4* Hotel

Guide: Included for the day

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast. In the morning, we will visit Cuenca, a Jewel of Spanish colonial architecture, built over the ruins of Tomebamba, an ancient Inca city; we will walk around to enjoy its magnificent houses, colonial balconies, and narrow streets. Cuenca has been declared Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. We will also visit the flower market, the Calderon plaza, the new and the old cathedral, the plaza of San Francisco and its market. We will continue towards Turi hill to enjoy a splendid panoramic view of Cuenca.Visit to a factory of the famous “Toquilla straw Hats”, where you can see the process of elaboration of these famous Hats. After an amazing lunch including local specialities of Cuenca, visit to Culturas Aborígenes Museum, it presents the best archaeological collection of the city. Juan Cordero, historian, has collected more than 5000 objects from all the indigenous cultures of each archaeological period existing in the country from 4000 BC to the Inca period. You will find jewellery and personal ornaments made of high-value shells and metals such as gold, bronze, silver, copper, platinum, musical stones, ceramic objects, bones that illustrate the way of life of the ancient inhabitants of the current Ecuador: zoomorphic and anthropomorphs pottery used for rituals and ceremonies, funerary urns, representation of shamans (wizard-doctors), vases and painted glasses, etc. Overnight in a 4* Hotel

Guide: Included for the day

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast. We will cross the western slopes of the Andes, passing by El Cajas National Park. You can enjoy a short hike to the lakes and taste later a delicious “trout”. Descend to the plains of the coastal region, a complete change in scenery due to the variation of altitude. Amazing view of the coast plateaus with its immense fields of bananas, rice, sugar cane, coffee, cacao, among others. Visit to a cacao growing farm: there we will learn about the harvest, transformation, and exportation processes. Short demonstration of the fabrication of unsweetened chocolate and tasting of unsweetened chocolate and a cocktail made with cacao and rum. We will continue to Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city and the most important port in the country. Lunch on Route. Overnight in a 4* Hotel

Guide: Included for the day

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation:

• High-end Accommodation: Wyndham Garden Guayaquil