Transportation in Ecuador

Transportation in Ecuador is one of the best features of the country, which explains why people prefer not to drive, and just enjoy the scenery. The scope of transportation services in Ecuador includes everything except a high-speed train or a hot air balloon. For travel and tourism purposes in Ecuador, most people choose the bus because it's cheap and goes to every small village imaginable. However, AndesTransit can also provide you the best transportation services in private or shared shuttles (a small car or van), as well as affordable ferry trips in the Galapagos that are a bargain option compared to the more expensive yacht journeys.

As Ecuador is a relatively small country, transportation time from its northern border with Colombia to its southern border with Peru can be done in 15 hours. From west to east is a harder one to estimate, because most of Ecuador's eastern zone (called "El Oriente") is Amazonian rainforest where roads are sparse or non-existent and travelers often use the river boats ("lanchas") to get to their destination. Having said that, a bus route from Manta on the Pacific coast to Puerto El Carmen in the northeastern corner of El Oriente takes about 21 hours.

Most of you will, however, be interested in our transportation services for much shorter journeys than that! Baños, Coca, Cuenca, Lago Agrio, Loja, Manta, Mindo, Montañita, Otavalo, Puerto Lopez, and Quito are all just a short list of many destinations we can transport you to, by public buses or private shuttles, at a range of prices depending on your budget or other criteria.

The beloved and famed trains of Ecuador have had a sad chapter of late as they became a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic. They joined many other similiar stories around the world where tourism income fell so dramatically that the government could no longer finance the train infrastructure, and so was forced to auction it off in order to pay for desperately needed public health and welfare needs. The national train agency has therefore gone bankrupt and no longer is operational. We hope that private investors -- or a revival of public fortune -- will bring the train system back in the future.

For cross-border or international transportation from Ecuador to Colombia or Peru, check out the popular routes from Quito to Ipiales (Colombia), Loja to Piura (Peru), and Guayaquil to Mancora (Peru).