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Family journeys · Ecuador

Little explorers, big Ecuador.

Bespoke trips for the whole family, from toddlers to grandparents. Make chocolate from the pod, hop across the equator, meet giant tortoises and paddle into the Amazon, at a pace that suits every age.

Plan our family trip Follow the route
  • Your family, your pace
  • English & Spanish
  • Founded by a licensed national guide
A family of four laughing on a cacao farm as a farmer hands their daughter a ripe yellow cacao pod.
On a cacao farm near Guayaquil

Paced for everyone

Paced for little legs and wise knees.

Short drives, snacks and naps planned in, walks graded for small explorers and for grandparents. Here is the shape a day might take. Not a schedule: a starting point we bend around your family.

  1. 1 · Morning

    Slow breakfast

    Nobody gets hurried out of the door. Shoes found, sunscreen on, off we go.

  2. 2 · On the road

    Short drives, with stops

    We break long drives into short legs, with bathroom, snack and stretch breaks planned in.

  3. 3 · Late morning

    The big thing

    Chocolate, tortoises, canoes: the day's adventure happens while everyone is fresh.

  4. 4 · Lunch

    Lunch that takes its time

    Places chosen with kids and grandparents in mind, and snacks always in the bag.

  5. 5 · Early afternoon

    A real rest

    Nap, pool or quiet time. Grandparents too. Even the bird takes a break.

  6. 6 · Afternoon

    Something gentle

    A short graded walk, a plaza, an ice cream. Then an early dinner and an early night.

Every walk, graded

So you know before you go who will love it, and who might prefer a bench and a view.

  • Little legs

    Short and mostly flat. Fine for small walkers, and for strollers where the ground allows.

  • Steady

    A little longer, a few steps or slopes, with places to sit along the way.

  • Big adventure

    For the keen ones. Whoever skips it can wait somewhere comfy with a hot chocolate.

Tell us, and we plan around it

Every family is different. These are offers, not fine print: tell us what matters and we shape the trip around it.

  • Car seats

    Tell us the kids' ages and sizes and we plan vehicles and seats around them.

  • Food needs

    Allergies, vegetarians, the world's pickiest eater: we choose places and pack snacks with them in mind.

  • Mobility

    Canes, wheelchairs, knees that dislike stairs: we look for step-free routes and shorter walks where they exist.

  • Naps and downtime

    We can keep early afternoons free and evenings early, so nobody runs on empty.

  • Altitude

    Quito sits at about 2,850 metres. We can plan a gentle first day there before anything energetic.

  • Two languages

    We guide in English and Spanish, so kids can practise their first hola and grandparents never miss a word.

The route of stamps

Five stops, five stamps.

Here is one way a family journey could go; yours will be shaped around you. Scroll, and the bird leads the family across the map. Every stop thumps a new stamp into the explorer passport.

Picture-book map of the family routeThe route starts in Guayaquil, visits a cacao farm nearby, flies to the giant tortoises of Santa Cruz in the Galápagos, flies back to the equator near Quito, drives down to the Amazon, climbs to Cotopaxi in the Andes and returns to the coast by the Devil's Nose train at Alausí.COLOMBIAPERÚPACIFIC OCEANthe Coastthe Amazonthe Andes0° · the equatorGalápagos · about 1,000 km offshoreNGuayaquilDevil's Nose train1Cacao farm2Santa Cruz3Equator4Amazon5Cotopaxi

Little explorer passport

Explorer
Your little one
Travelling with
The whole family

Stamps 5/5

  1. Two young travellers and a smiling farmer grinding roasted cacao beans on a stone under a thatched roof.A farmer's hands opening a yellow cacao pod full of white, pulpy beans.

    1 Near Guayaquil · the coast

    Crack a pod, make chocolate.

    On a cacao farm a short drive from Guayaquil, kids crack open a pod, taste the sweet white pulp around the beans and grind roasted cacao into chocolate with their own hands.

    • KidsCrack, taste, grind. Spot the pods growing straight out of the trunk.
    • GrandparentsShady paths and a seat at the grinding stone.

    Walk: Little legs

  2. A family in rain jackets watching a giant tortoise graze in green highland grass, keeping their distance.Sea lions asleep in a heap on a white Galápagos beach.

    2 Santa Cruz · Galápagos

    Giants in the grass.

    In the green highlands of Santa Cruz, giant tortoises graze in the open. Kids watch from a respectful distance (park rules ask for at least two metres) and count how many they can find.

    • KidsTortoise counting, then sea lions napping on the beach.
    • GrandparentsSlow animals, slow walking: a perfect match.

    Inside the national park, certified Galápagos naturalist guides lead; we travel with you as tour leader and interpreter.

    Walk: Steady

  3. A family holding hands and jumping across a yellow line painted on the ground, with Andean peaks behind them.

    3 Near Quito · the equator

    One foot in each half of the world.

    At the equator line just north of Quito, everyone stands with a foot in each hemisphere, then jumps across it. And again. And again.

    • KidsJump the line, collect the 0° stamp, tell everyone at school.
    • GrandparentsFlat ground, and a gentle start to Quito's altitude.

    Walk: Little legs

  4. A mother and two girls in orange life jackets in a wooden canoe on a jungle river, the mother pointing up at the trees.

    4 The Amazon

    Paddle into the rainforest.

    Life jackets on, the family glides down a river in a wooden canoe while the guide points out parrots, giant trees and whatever else the forest decides to show that day.

    • KidsEyes up for parrots and monkeys, ears open for the forest.
    • GrandparentsA seat in the canoe while the rainforest comes to you.

    Walk: Steady

  5. A red train full of waving passengers on a mountain track above a deep green Andean valley.The snow-capped cone of Cotopaxi above a lagoon where horses graze.

    5 The Andes

    A volcano, and a train on the Devil's Nose.

    Spot Cotopaxi's snowy cone from a lagoon where wild horses graze. Then, when it's running, ride the train down the Devil's Nose switchbacks at Alausí, on the way back to the coast.

    • KidsWave from the train and count the zig-zags.
    • GrandparentsThe best views come with a window seat.

    Walk: Little legs to big adventure, your pick

  6. Passport full

    Five stamps. Yours could be three, or eight.

    Shorter trips, slower trips, only the islands, only the coast: we design the route around your family, then help you fill the passport together.

    Plan our family trip
Grandparents, a guide and two small children walking together across a cobbled colonial plaza in Quito.
Quito's old town, at grandparent pace

Three generations

Grandparents set the pace. Kids set the wonder.

And parents finally get to look up from the logistics. In Quito's old town that might mean a slow lap of the plaza, a bench in the shade and a story about the cathedral, while the little ones count the balconies.

  • For grandparentsBenches, shade and lunches that take their time. Shorter walks, and the seat with the best view.
  • For parentsOne plan and one local friend to ask, instead of ten browser tabs and a spreadsheet.
  • For kidsA passport to fill, a job at every stop, and a guide happy to answer "why?" for the hundredth time.

How it works

From a hello to the first stamp.

Every family trip is designed from scratch, so it starts with a conversation, not a price list.

  1. Request

    Tell us who's coming, the kids' ages, rough dates and anything we should plan around. It takes two minutes.

  2. Conversation

    We talk it through on a call or by message: naps, food, knees and dreams. You get questions back, not a sales pitch.

  3. Plan

    A day-by-day plan with drive times, walk grades and rest built in. We adjust it together until it fits every age.

  4. Go

    From the first day you travel with a local friend from our team, and the passport fills up, one stamp at a time.

No prices on this page, on purpose: the proposal comes after we've talked, and it's built for your family alone.

Read what travellers say

Talk to us

Start your family's passport.

Tell us a little about your crew. We reply with ideas and questions; the plan and the proposal come after. No commitment, no published prices.

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