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Trip One
Home » Ecuador » Galapagos Island - Long Itinerary » Trip OneDay 1: Quito, Ecuador
Arrive at Quito International Airport and transfer to your hotel for the night.
Day 2: Quito
Take a half-day city tour of Quito. Then transfer about 20 minutes away from the northern part of Quito to visit the Middle of the Earth Monument, built to mark the meridian arch of the planet at the Equator and to commemorate this surveying feat in the 18th century.
Day 3: Quito and Galapagos Islands
Transfer to the Quito airport for you domestic flight to Baltra or San Cristobal. Arrive at the Baltra or San Cristobal airport and transfer to your hotel for check-in. Enjoy the afternoon at leisure.
One place you might want to visit today is the Charles Darwin Research Station. Scientists from all over the globe work at the station and conduct biological research from anatomy to zoology. Get your picture taken with the giant tortoises. Observe year-old tortoises and learn about the captive-breeding program.
Also stroll through the town of Puerto Ayora (population: 10,000) – the largest town in the Galapagos. Buy souvenirs, mail postcards and absorb local charm in the social heart of the Islands.
Day 4: Galapagos Islands
Visit Bartolome, famous for Pinnacle Rock, a towering spearheaded obelisk that rises from the ocean’s edge and is the best-known landmark in the islands. This dry landing is the entrance to a 600-meter (2000 foot) pathway complete with stairs and boardwalks leading to Bartolome’s summit. The route is not difficult and presents a museum of vulcanology; a site left untouched after its last eruption, where cones stand in various stages of erosion and lava tubes form bobsled-like runs from the summit.
Day 5: Galapagos Islands
Visit North Seymour, an island lifted from the ocean floor by a seismic event, and its origins as a seabed gives the island its low, flat profile. Cliffs only a few meters high form the shoreline, where swallow-tailed gulls sit perched in ledges. A tiny forest of silver-grey Palo Santo trees stand just above the landing, usually without leaves, waiting for the rain to bring them into bloom.
Day 6: Galapagos Islands
Visit the southern partner of two small crescent-shaped islands that lie just a few hundred meters off the east coast of Santa Cruz. The northern island is used for scientific purposes only. South Plaza is one of the smallest yet richest islands in the archipelago. Only 130 meters wide (426 feet), it was formed from uplifted seabed, giving it a titled tabletop quality.
Day 7: Galapagos Islands and Quito
Return transfer to Baltra or San Cristobal airport to board your flight to Quito. Arrive Quito and transfer to your hotel. Enjoy the balance of your day at leisure in Quito.
Day 8: Departure
Transfer to Quito International Airport for your homebound flight.
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