Cuenca to Guayaquil one-way tour with Cajas Park and a Cacao Farm visit
Description
Enjoy the fascinating views and contrast of the Ecuadorian Andes and lowlands in our one-way flexible, convenient tour departing from Cuenca to Guayaquil including a visit to Cajas National Park, a local fruit market, and a cacao farm. Allowed 2 suitcases per person.
Tour Options
Itinerary
From Cuenca, we will drive through the famous Andes mountains to Toreadora refuge, located in Cajas National Park. This park is one of the most important protected areas in the south of Ecuador and the main supplier of water of Cuenca. You will marvel at the beautiful scenery found in this area. We will have the opportunity to do a hike (optional) to explore the Polylepis Forest and Moorland ecosystems with its lakes. Then we will cross the continental divide and continue our drive to the lowlands making stops to enjoy the beautiful scenery if weather permitting.
On the way, we will stop for lunch at this very local restaurant where the specialty is trout, however, there are several options including vegetarian and vegan. Our tour guide will advise you. You will also have the chance to enjoy the mysterious Andes mountains views from this point.
Taste the natural sweetness that is part of the cuisine and daily life of Ecuadorians. This local market booming with colors and fruits is one of the most interesting experiences in this area, with our experienced tour guide will learn and sample (If you like to) some of the local sweet and exotic fruits grown here. If you think you know the taste of bananas, mandarines, coconut, dragon fruit, passionfruit to name a few, get ready for the real flavor of these delicious fruits!
Ever tasted the pulp of fresh cacao beans? We will visit a local family farm, the main product growing here is cacao (base to make chocolate), however, they have many other products such as breadfruit, coffee, passionfruit, pineapple, among many others. You will be able to experience the process of craft chocolate making and try it if you like to while our tour guide explains the history of cacao and the local customs as well. After a full-day trip, we will drop you in Guayaquil at your hotel, airport or the location of your choice.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Please provide the pick up location or contact us to info@cuencabestours.com
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking.
- Passport name, number and nationality is required at time of booking for all participants.
- A minimum of 2 people per booking is required.
- Please notice: this is one-way trip Guayaquil to Cuenca or viceversa tour.
- For 1 to 5 passengers, a bilingual guide will also be the driver. For more than 5 passengers, a driver and a bilingual guide will be provided.
Reviews(54)
Having guided transportation is a game changer, and we were so lucky this time around to have Luis be our driver and our guide! The ride was super comfortable and Luis made everything convenient and easy - guiding us through Cajas National Park, to an amazing, small cacao family operation, and finally a superb lunch. Will certainly use this company again and request his services again when we return to Ecuador. Highly recommend!
Amazing trip, very pleasant drive through bio diverse zones, beautiful vistas, opportunities to learn about local culture and customs; Wilson is a wonderful guide, very pleasant and eager to share his knowledge.
Thank you so much for your lovely review! We’re delighted to hear you enjoyed the beautiful landscapes, the journey through Ecuador’s biodiverse regions, and the opportunity to learn more about the local culture and customs. 🌿🏔️✨ Thank you again for traveling with us.😊🌎 Team Cuenca Bestours
So it was overall a fun way to travel from Cuenca to Guayaquil, and do some sightseeing along the way. I will preface this by saying that I did this solo, so the cost of $190 was just for me and actively choose not to do the cacao farm, so I admit that my activities were consciously limited. My first guide, Xavier, was fantastic, incredibly knowledgable, and interesting. The drive up into the National Park was incredible, Xavier's knowledge of the fauna and flora was great and it was absolutely stunning. My issue really was that we then had to drive back down the way we came for 20 minutes to go have lunch, rather than continuing in the same direction. Lunch was fine, but the portion side was quite small. We were then waiting around for another 30 minutes, for a new driver to come, the drivers switched, and then we drove the other 20 minutes back into the National Park to where we started off from. It was basically just an hour and a half of wasted time, which could have been solved if there was one driver, who took you to a restaurant which was en route, rather than doubling back on yourself. Also my second driver spoke so loudly he was effectively shouting in my ear which made the journey somewhat unpleaseant. Overall, it's a cool thing to do, Cajas is beautiful and it's a fun way to travel between the two cities, but is it worth $190? I'm not sure.
Wilson was a great guide for our trip. He pointed out lots of interesting information. The coffee farm visit was really fun with a delicious lunch and the short hike at cajas was beautiful. We really liked Wilson’s commentary about nature. Highly recommend.
We’re delighted to hear you had such a wonderful experience with Wilson. He is truly passionate about nature and loves sharing interesting insights along the way, so your kind words will mean a lot to him. It’s great to know you enjoyed the coffee farm visit, the delicious lunch, and the beautiful hike in Cajas. We sincerely appreciate your recommendation!🌿☕ Team Cuenca Bestours
Wilson was a great guide. Very accommodating to both of us. Safe driver. I highly recommend this tour if you are traveling between Guayaquil and Cuenca.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! We’re delighted to hear that Wilson made your journey between Guayaquil and Cuenca both safe and enjoyable. Your recommendation means a lot to us, and we’ll be sure to pass along your kind words to him. Cuenca Bestours Team
I did this experiment with Guia Pedro. It was excellent, since the trekking in the national park of Cajas, the passage by the family cocoa grower, it went very well! Upon arrival in Guayaquil was super attentive staying with us until the check in to be complete and giving us guidance on the q was safe and what was not...
Ficamos felizes em saber que o tour com o Pedro, desde o trekking no Parque Nacional Cajas até a visita à produtora de cacau, foi excelente. Ele ficará contente em saber que sua atenção e orientação durante toda a viagem fizeram a diferença. Esperamos recebê-los novamente para mais aventuras inesquecíveis! Team Cuenca Bestours
Reliable professional Service. Easy to work with and good communication. The driver turned up early was helpful and polite.
Thank you for your kind words! We’re glad to hear that you found our service reliable and easy to work with. It’s wonderful to know your driver provided helpful and polite service. We truly appreciate your feedback and look forward to assisting you again in the future! Team Cuenca Bestours
My husband and I had an amazing time traveling from Cuenca to Guayaquil, making unforgettable stops along the way at iconic places like Cajas National Park and a chocolate factory, where we learned all about how Ecuadorian chocolate is made. Our tour guide, Wilson, was fantastic! He speaks excellent English, has so much knowledge about the local animals and flowers, and was always making sure we were comfortable. He even helped capture special moments throughout the journey. Highly recommend this experience — it was a perfect mix of nature, culture, and fun!
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful experience! We’re delighted to hear that your journey from Cuenca to Guayaquil was filled with memorable moments at Cajas National Park, the chocolate factory, and beyond. We’ll be sure to pass along your kind words to Wilson—he’ll be thrilled to know he made your trip extra special. We truly appreciate your recommendation. Cuenca Bestours Team
Great way to get to Guayaquil from Cuenca. Visited Cajas Park, stopped off for lunch and visited a cacao farm. Wilson was a great guide, very knowledgeable and really patient with my Spanish
Thank you for your wonderful review! We're so glad you enjoyed the journey from Cuenca to Guayaquil, with the beautiful stops along the way. Wilson will be thrilled to hear your kind words! We appreciate you choosing us and hope to welcome you on another adventure soon. 🌿🚗🍫 Team Cuenca Bestours
A very good and convenient tour if you need to get from Cuenca to Guayaquil but find a simple 3-hour drive too boring. Our guide, Genero, was amazing! He shared many fascinating facts about the plants in the national park and showed us the most beautiful viewpoints. We decided to skip the lunch stop (plus everything was closed due to Christmas) and pass on the coffee tour since we’d already been on one in Mindo. So, I can’t say much about that part of the tour. But the trip itself was very comfortable and safe. Even when we entered an area with such thick fog that you could barely see a car half a meter away, Genero drove very calmly and confidently. We enjoyed everything 😊
Dear Anastasia, Thank you so much for your amazing review. It was a pleasure having you. We're really glad to hear that you got to appreciate Genero and his natural knowledge. Also, we're happy that you felt safe and comfortable along the way, that's what we strive for. We hope to see you again in the future. Team Cuenca Bestours
