5 daysQuito
Quito to Cuenca 4 or 5-Day Tour with Cotopaxi, Quilotoa, Baños and Chimborazo
5.0(50)Free cancellation
from$645
7-Day Galapagos Essentials
Length
7 days
Itinerary
7 days planned
Group
Max 15
Guides
English
Overview
Experience the Galapagos Islands from the comfort of a land-based expedition! The islands offer endless opportunities to explore a unique abundance of life in a setting unlike any other on earth. The Galapagos form a natural sanctuary that preserves species, allowing them to evolve since countless millennia. This is one of the few places on earth that allows such insight with so much wildlife. This holiday also provides flexible time to spend on your own and discover them with the sand beaches well-signed trails in the Galapagos forest, and the lots of wildlife. Enjoy real-time encounters with the most amazing wildlife up your fingertips and discover the power nature with the evolutionary changes of such unique animals. Snorkel through lava formations with sea turtles, penguins, sea horses, sea lions and sharks at Lava Tunnels.
Day by day itinerary
1Arrival in Quito City⌄
Welcome to Quito! The biggest, best-preserved colonial city of America was declared an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. The city is considered the Cultural Capital of South America and the second most important city of the old Inca Empire. Depending on arrival time, you can spend your day exploring the old town of Quito and the surrounding area. Adventure Journeys can help you to organize a day trip. In the evening, one of our trip leaders will meet you at the hotel for a welcome briefing and there will be plenty of time to discuss details and answer any questions you may have regarding the adventure. Our first day is an informational and acclimation day.
Overnight: Sheraton Quito or similar
2Travel day to Galapagos⌄
Today you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to the island of Baltra in the Galapagos Islands. On arrival you will be picked up and transferred to Santa Cruz a nearby island, crossing the narrow Itabaca channel by ferry and then continuing by car. Your first stop will be at the highlands of Santa Cruz. The Highlands home of the iconic giant Galapagos tortoises. Here you will visit a private ranch where you will enjoy lunch before heading out for a walk in search of the giant tortoises. During this visit, you will also visit some lava tubes, which are formed when the surface of a lava stream solidifies, After this tour, you will continue by private transport to your hotel. Here you will have a meet and greet with a local guide who will explain the following days itinerary to you. Enjoy the rest of the evening at leisure to explore this beautiful Island.
Meals: Breakfast · Lunch
Overnight: Hotel Fiesta or Similar
3Bay Tour Exploration⌄
Today after breakfast you will enjoy a half-day tour of Academy Bay. Be sure to pack everything you need for this trip. Optional snorkel equipment will be provided free of charge to anyone who wishes to use it. During the tour, you will take a boat to Academy Bay where you can swim and snorkel with sea lions and all kinds of colourful fish. Here you can see the blue-footed boobies. etc. Afterwards, climb to a nearby viewpoint and if you are lucky, you can see white-tipped reef sharks swimming in the ocean below. Afterwards, take a walk to ‘Playa de Los Perros’ where many sea iguanas are found resting in the sun. The enormous cacti, the red colour of the rocks and the turquoise colour of the ocean make for great photo opportunities.
Meals: Breakfast · Lunch
Overnight: Hotel Fiesta or Similar
4Charles Darwin Research Station⌄
In the morning we will visit the Charles Darwin Research Station to learn more about many of the endemic species seen in the wild, as well as the ongoing conservation and management efforts on the Galapagos Islands. In the afternoon, you will travel by speedboat to San Cristobal Island. Once we arrive, we will check in at the hotel.
Meals: Breakfast
Overnight: Hotel Blue Marlin or Similar
5Isla Lobos Tour⌄
This morning, after breakfast, you will be met and transferred to a dock where you will take a quick boat ride to the nearby Isla Lobos. During this boat trip, you will observe a lot of sea life before even setting foot on the island. Upon arrival, enjoy a guided tour where you will have the chance to observe frigate birds, blue-footed boobies, manta, sea lions and sometimes sharks that all inhabit the island. The white coral beaches of San Cristobal are great to walk around, relax and swim in the shallow waters before you came back to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.
Meals: Breakfast · Lunch
Overnight: Hotel Blue Marlin or Similar
6Travel to Quito⌄
Enjoy some more free time this morning before transferring to the airport of San Cristobal. From here, you will take a flight back to Ecuador's mainland. Upon arrival in Quito, you will be collected from the airport and transferred to your hotel for one more evening at leisure before saying goodbye.
Meals: Breakfast
Overnight: Sheraton Quito or similar
7End of Services⌄
End of Services
Meals: Breakfast
What's included
- ✓Trip Leader: Certified AJ expert English-speaking adventure Trip Leader
- ✓Activities: Hiking in Santa Cruz highlands, Snorkelling, Isla Lobos, Academy bay day tour
- ✓Lunch
- ✓Meals Included: 6 breakfasts and 3 lunches
- ✓Breakfast
- ✓Gear: Snorkeling mask and fins, life vest
- ✓Accommodations based in double occupancy: First Class hotel in Quito, 4-star hotels in Galapagos
- ✓Transportation: Airport transfers (national flights), sea transportation Santa Cruz - Isabela islands round trip, comfortable land transportation
Not included
- ✕International flights
- ✕Airfare Quito - Galapagos - Quito round trip
- ✕Travel insurance (mandatory)
- ✕Meals not described in the itinerary
- ✕Tips for guides and drivers
- ✕Wetsuit for rent
- ✕INGALA transit card Fee
- ✕Galapagos National Park Fee
- ✕Airport transfer (international flights)
- ✕single supplement
Good to know
Starts: Meet you trip leader and group for the Welcome Briefing at 18:00pm, at the hotel´s lobby.
Ends: Meet you trip leader and group for the Welcome Briefing at 18:00pm, at the hotel´s lobby.
Cancellation: All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- It is our intention to adhere to the itinerary described; however, due to our travel style, on occasions it may be necessary or desirable to make small changes. Weather conditions and unpredictable local circumstances may lead us to make alterations to the route and/or travel times. Hotels and flight schedules might change according to availability. Any mention to specific wildlife in the itinerary or trip details is not a guarantee that it will be seen during the trip.
- 2h 45 min each way from Quito to Galapagos. Regular size aircraft. About 140 passengers
- 2 hours each way from Santa Cruz to San Cristobal
- 45 minutes each way - Lava Tunnels
- 20 minutes each way - Isla Lobos
- 45 minutes Airport transfers in Quito
- 45 minutes Airport transfers in Galapagos
- Tintoreras: 1 hour.
- Lava Tunnels: 2 times of 1 hour each.
- Short hikes 1-hour average
- All year
- December to May: 80ºF to 90ºF / 25ºC to 30ºC. June to September: 60ºF to 70ºF / 15ºC to 20ºC. October to December: 70ºF to 80ºF/ 15ºC to 25ºC
- The waters of the Galapagos Islands are a unique mixture
- of warm and cold water, ranging between 65ºF and 85ºF
- From sea level to 600m (1900ft)
- Day 15-34ºC / 59-93ºF - Night 12-17ºC / 53-62ºF
- Moderate to easy there are short hikes in El Chato, Academy day tour, Isla Lobos snorkelling is easy.
- Traveling with Adventure Journeys you will have the possibility to experience and taste local food and snacks. Your guide will help you identify typical food and suggest the best places to enjoy it. Some meals are not included in order to give you some flexibility about where what and with whom to eat. You have the option to share these meals with the group, however, there is no obligation to do this. If you have any allergies or food restrictions, please inform AJ prior to your departure.
- All prices are based on double occupancy. If you are travelling solo, you will be matched with another participant of your same sex. If you prefer to have a single room, please contact AJ prior to your departure to arrange your accommodation at an extra cost.
- All AJ guides and trip leaders are highly experienced, licensed to operate in Ecuador and certified as Wilderness Adventure First Aid responders. We always carry a complete first aid kit in our trips. In some location and for some activities, local guides join the trip leaders to provide an added service. In the Galapagos Islands, minimum 4 participants for the AJ trip leader service are required.
- Clients receive a conservationist interpretation of the ecology of the Andes, Amazon Rainforest and Galapagos Islands with the factors that threaten it. We aim to promote long-term conservation of both Local People cultural identity and their environment. Your visit will encourage them to support responsible ecotourism. We transport out and recycle all non-organic garbage.
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