Guayaquil, Ecuador. Where to Visit on a Stopover., Guayaquil, Ecuador

You can’t fly directly to the Galápagos Islands but have a choice of 2 cities in Ecuador which will get you there on an internal flight, Guayaquil and Quito. Even if you choose Quito, your plane will still stop in Guayaquil on its way. We chose Guayaquil (pronounced wirekeel) for a couple of reasons; the first being that flights were slightly cheaper and the second because at the time of our visit there were reports of hospital overcrowding due to covid-19 and higher cases in Quito. From reading reviews Quito is the more interesting of the two places, at 2,850 metres altitude, however we had some fun in Guayaquil so felt it warranted a post of its own. We spend a total of 4 nights there both before and after visiting the islands

On our return from the Galápagos Islands we returned again to Airport Hotel, conveniently situated near the airport, clean and comfortable and with free airport shuttles and breakfast included. It also wasn’t too far from the Malecon 2000 which was recommended as a place for any visitors to the city to visit. So we had a couple of chill days and decided to check out a couple of recommendations in the city.

This is the name of given to the boardwalk which overlooks the Guayas River in Guayaquil. It is 2.5km long and has museums, gardens, a fairground, restaurants, a shopping mall and childrens attractions along the way. From everything we read this was the main point of interest in Guayaquil. We visited here on one very busy Tuesday which turned out to be ‘Children’s Day’ hence the amount of people. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).