The bucket-list things to do — and who runs each one.
Here’s the bucket list for your day ashore: the most extraordinary thing to do at each stop, who runs it, and how to book it direct — so you can weigh it against your ship’s excursion and pick what suits you.
In port at Guayaquil (Quito), the bucket-list move is Quito Old Town & Mitad del Mundo: Private Full-Day. Below: 5 bucket-list things to do on a Guayaquil (Quito) port day — worth weighing against whatever your ship offers.
Step into Quito's UNESCO-listed colonial heart, then straddle two hemispheres at the Mitad del Mundo monument. A private expert guide makes every cobblestone and sunlit plaza feel personal and unhurried.
Book itFullDay Quito: Middle of the World, Cable Car, Old Town$95 per person
Soar to 4,050 m on the Teleférico, Quito's iconic urban gondola scaling the flanks of Volcán Pichincha. The panoramic sweep over the entire city and Andean chain is simply unmissable.
Book itQuito: Quito Cable Car on Pichincha Volcano$55 per person
Descend into Mindo's legendary cloud forest — a biodiversity hotspot with 500+ bird species and dazzling butterfly houses — on a private naturalist-led day from Quito. One of the most biodiverse places on Earth.
Book itFrom Quito: Guided Day Trip to the Mindo Cloud Forest$135 per person
Ride on horseback across the otherworldly páramo at the base of Cotopaxi, the world's highest active volcano. A bucket-list Andean landscape experience with a certified mountain guide and Andean horses.
We have not yet verified a bookable operator and price for
this one, so we are not quoting either.
Taste Ecuador's legendary fine-aroma cacao at source on a small-group tour combining Guayaquil's vibrant Malecón 2000 waterfront and a working cacao farm. Ecuador grows some of the world's finest chocolate — trace it from pod to bar.
Book itSmall Group Guayaquil and Cocoa Farm Full-Day Tour$180 per person
Run by El Museo del Cacao · 4.80 from 1,300 reviews
Soar on the legendary 'Swing at the End of the World' over a 2,600 m Andean cliff edge, then thunder beside Pailón del Diablo — Ecuador's most spectacular waterfall. Baños is pure adrenaline wrapped in volcanic beauty.
Book itBaños: Devil's Cauldron (Pailón del Diablo), Tree House (Casa del Árbol), and Hands of the Pachamama$200 per person
Your day in GuayaquilNothing picked yet — tick what you fancy
$0for two, booked direct
Now plan the rest of it
You know what to do on the day. Here is the trip it belongs to —
each one opens as a whole plan, not a list: where to fly in, every port, what it runs.