Travel with kids to Ecuador

Ecuador tours offer stunning wildlife, diverse activities, and relatively short transfer times, allowing parents to find a tour that is appropriate for children of nearly any age. Some offer high intensity multi-sport adventures while others have a relaxed, unstructured pace. The Ecuadorian Rainforest and unparalleled wildlife of the Galapagos Island makes Ecuador one of the first choices for family adventures. These tours generally fall into three categories- sightseeing excursions, multi-sport activities, and wildlife adventures.

Sightseeing Tours:

The Andes and Amazon tours provides an opportunity for families to try new foods, see amazing sites, and stay in first class style hotels that each has a distinctive family environment. The primary focus of this tours is sightseeing so it is not a good choice for young children who can be easily bored, crave high intensity activities, or have rigid schedules, food preferences, etc. This tour can be divided into shorter segments that can be added as extensions to Galapagos or Amazon adventures.

Multi-sport Tours:

Several tours are provide with a mix of activities including a multi-day trek, soft rafting, biking, and camping. Prepare your family by planning weekend day hikes or overnight camping trips before you go. Keep in mind that although the distances hiked each day are not especially long (5 to 8 miles typically), the altitude of this trek may make it feel almost twice as difficult as the same distance at home. Each traveler should bring a daypack with essentials such as a camera, waterproof jacket, water bottle, and snacks.

Wildlife tours:

These adventures are a great choice for families interested in Ecuador travel with a focus on wildlife and nature, the Galapagos Islands and Incas tour also combine in a cultural component and experiences.

Many lodges in the Amazon, also provides a wonderful alternative for young children. They have facilities with private cabins, high thatched roofs, shaded terraces, an excellent mix of local and international cuisine, and a well-trained staff that is used to accommodating families. It can be a nice option for kids as young as six years old. The weather can commonly include heat, humidity, and rain during your stay. Please pack appropriately and don't forget the insect repellant!

A sample of activities for families could start during a stay in Quito to meet Mr. Jorge Rivadeneira who can do a very special demonstration of his spectacular skills with spinning tops. He can perform more than 100 tricks with tops of different sizes, which he still makes himself at his own workshop.

The next day families can visit The Equatorial Monument, built as a tribute to the French scientists who determined the shape of the earth in the 1700s.

A visit to Hacienda Zuleta located two hours north from Quito offers a great variety of activities and places to visit with horseback riding being their specialty, they also offer mountain bikes and a horse drawn carriage for trips on hacienda grounds to observe the milking, the agriculture, mountain views and the tranquil life of the community. Kids can also visit the Condor Andes rehabilitation program “Condor Huasi Project” that works for the rehabilitation of the majestic Andean Condor.

The next adventure of course will continue visiting the Enchanted Islas where families can discover the history of huge volcanoes and exceptional animals most of them endemic on the islands, there is no better way to meet these amazing islands enjoying a cruise that takes you in trips of 5 days 4 nights or longer journeys to discover the most of this spectacular place.

In the way back to mainland a visit to Guayaquil is a most. This is the most active economic city in Ecuador; located on the edge of the Guayas river families can find several attractions such as the Malecon and Santa Ana hill, from the top of the hill you can have a panoramic view of the whole city, among other activities you can visit museums and shopping centers.