Roughly the size of the UK, Ecuador is one of the smaller countries in South America. This, together with a stunning variety of habitats, enables you to experience a microcosm of South America with ease.
A high—and sometimes exceptional—standard of accommodation, gorgeous colonial architecture and a resurgent gastronomic scene provide a stylish counterpoint to the natural wonders beyond.
Many visitors experience mainland Ecuador as a relatively brief stopover en route to the Galapagos, but take a little longer to explore, and you’ll be amply rewarded. Beyond the colonial splendours of Quito are cloud forests of unparalleled beauty and richness, snow-capped volcanoes and rare alpine grasslands that reward hiker and rider alike. Further afield are the riches of the Amazon, offering not just magnificent wildlife but an opportunity to learn new perspectives on life from the Huaorani or Achuar people. Ecuador’s coastal region, often ignored, offers magnificent surf-pounded beaches, cacao plantations and highly threatened Pacific rainforest. Wherever you go you will encounter pride and genuine warmth among its people, as well as some of the finest arts and crafts on the continent.
Ecuador’s history stretches back 10,000 years when its first peoples arrived from the north. Before the Spaniards arrived in 1531, Ecuador (or at least the Ecuadorian highlands) was firmly under Inca control, while the lowlands were inhabited by hunter-gatherer cultures. Colonisation brought disease, death and slavery for Ecuador’s indigenous people, and enormous wealth for the colonisers who constructed magnificent cities such as Quito and Cuenca, adorned with stunning baroque churches and basilicas. Independence from Spain came in 1820—indeed Ecuador was the first Spanish colony to secede.
From stylish city mansions reimagined as elegant boutique hotels to remote rainforest eco-lodges, Ecuador offers a wonderful range of accommodation. In the highlands, walks and horseback rides in the Andes are enhanced by old-world service and unbeatable views from a seventeenth-century colonial hacienda. Or discover species new to science while cocooned in twenty-first-century glass minimalism in the heart of the cloud forest.
In the Amazon Basin, a handful of inspiring indigenous-owned lodges and high-spec motor yachts allow you to explore the rainforest and its waterways in style and comfort. Even Ecuador’s Pacific Coast now has a sustainable luxury resort worthy of the name containing one of the country’s most exciting restaurants—some achievement in a country that is currently at the gastronomic forefront of Latin America.
