There is a dish for every little town and region so, depending on where you are traveling to, there are some dishes that you must try.

In the amazon, the base of the gastronomy is the cassava or yucca with fish and chonta, which is a fruit that comes froma palm and is harvested on april; in the andean region, the base of the gastroinomy are the potatoes, corn, different types of beans, rice, pork, chicken, fish (trout) and the traditional guinea pig; in the coast, green banana, rice and seafood; in the Galapagos Islands basically the seafood but with special lobster (seasonal due to closed season for reproduction).

We must say that EATING HEALTHY IN ECUADOR, IS VERY CHEAP.

Here are some of the most popular dishes that, for sure, you will hear about and have to try…. bon appetit!

We want to show some of the pictures and characteristics of the accommodation in Ecuador, with a little description of it’s characteristics so you can have a better idea of which is your preference… if you want more information or booking, you can do it here.

DISCLAIMER: The booking system that we are using (for now) is through our own platform and we highly recommend that you check the other traveler’s comments first, before you book, or check out our Youtube channel because we have some videos of our special recommendations ;).

According to the Ministry of Tourism “the differentiating technical requirements of [accommodation] categorization are considered, in a range from one to five stars, which allows measuring the infrastructure, quantity, and type of services provided tourist accommodation establishments to guests. An establishment is considered five stars as the highest category and one star as the lowest category.”

Hostels

This tourist accommodation category has facilities to offer service accommodation in private rooms with a bathroom and private toilet, occupying the entire building or an independent part thereof, has food and beverage service in an area defined as a restaurant or cafeteria, depending on its category, without prejudice to providing other complimentary services. It must have a minimum of 5 rooms.

Information is taken from the Ministry of Tourism.

• Marriott

This tourist accommodation category has facilities to offer the lodging service in private or shared rooms with bathrooms and private or shared toilets, according to its category, occupying the entirety of a building or an independent part of it. It can provide food and beverage services (breakfast, lunch and/or dinner) to guests, without prejudice to providing other complimentary services. It must have a minimum of 5 rooms.

Information is taken from the Ministry of Tourism.

• Lodge

This lodging offers service in private rooms or cabins, with a bathroom and private and/or shared toilet according to its category. Located in natural environments and maintains harmony with the environment. It serves as an enclave for organized excursions, such as flora and fauna observation, local cultures, and hikes on trails, among others. Provides food and beverage services without prejudice to providing other complimentary services. It must have a minimum of 5 rooms.

Information is taken from the Ministry of Tourism.

• Camping

This tourist accommodation establishment has facilities for offering lodging services to spend the night in tents; has at least shared bathrooms and toilets close to the camping area, whose grounds are duly delimited and conditioned to offer recreation and rest activities in the outdoors. It has outside facilities for food preparation and rest, it also offers security and internal signage throughout its area.

Information is taken from the Ministry of Tourism.

• Local Community Lodging

This service is offered in the home where the service provider resides; It has private rooms with bathrooms and private toilets; it can provide food and beverage service (breakfast and/or dinner) to its guests.

Information is taken from the Ministry of Tourism.

• Cruises (Galapagos & Amazon)

There are three ship categories: large (80-100 passengers), medium (40-50 passengers), and small (up to 20 passengers). To travel from island to island in Galapagos, you can only take the boats authorized by the authorities of the National Park.

The larger cruise ships usually have more comfortable facilities and more capacity to reach islands further away than Santa Cruz (such as the western part of Isabela and Fernandina). Since they carry more passengers, they have more activities and they work in a more disciplined way. Smaller ships, on the other hand, are more intimate and offer much more flexibility in, for example, how long passengers want to spend diving or exploring the islands. Small boats naturally have less space and are more susceptible to sea conditions. Carefully analyze the photos and descriptions of the boats before making decisions.

There are some cruise categories: Luxury, First Class, Superior Tourist, Tourist, and Economy. The price of your excursion will depend on the type of cruise you choose. The cheapest boats are usually smaller, have less experienced guides and not as good facilities; but they offer more intimate excursions that facilitate relationships with your companions and with the crew. More expensive excursions mean better boats with more power, and more experienced guides. Make sure you do your research very well before making any decisions.

Moving around Ecuador, especially in the cities, can become quite and adventures since you will need, first, to understand the streets names, then the buses routes and finally knowing them so well that you don’t freak out when the driver takes another ru¡oute due to jobs in the road or just because.

The price of the bus ticket is $0,35 which is quite cheap for most of the foreigners from US and Europe and, for sure, will be a real experience.

They say “if you want to know the ecuadorian culture, get on an urban bus”. Still, always have in mind our recommendations on “how to stay safe“.

If you think you will be more comfortable and safer, use the taxi option (taxis here are yellow) which is also cheap ($1,50 minimum during the morning and $1,75 during the evening).

Finally, you have the Uber (and others) option for good prices, better service and safety.

If you are planning to move between provinces, the best option will be the inter-province buses or, also, in most of the popular destinations, you can hire shared or private door-to-door service.

Many people think that in Ecuador and, in general, in Latin America, it is very easy and even accepted to break the law.

Well, we must say that is PARTLY (sadly) true.

Yes, it is very common to do it, but we highly recommend you don’t… we want a fair country. We want to give you some advises of what you soudn’t do either because it is illegal or because it is socialy unaccepted.

As usual, we encourage you to leave your comments on your experiences or others experiences that you know of, so more travelers get advise. Do not bribe the authority