The south
Cuenca tours and a Cajas day trip
Cuenca tours and a Cajas day trip are booked from the city, not from Quito. The park is a high plateau of lakes a short way west. The price is on the partner’s page.
Photograph by amalavida.tv, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Listings
Ways to book
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GetYourGuide
Cajas, full day
A guided day that walks both the cloud forest and the lakes.
Hotel pickup in Cuenca, a walk at Llaviuco, the interpretation center, a hike on the Toreadora trail the listing calls Route 1, and lunch. Vegetarian and vegan meals are available if you ask.
See prices -
GetYourGuide
Toreadora, then Llaviuco
The same two altitudes, with a named operator and a set hike.
Polylepis Tours picks up in Cuenca. The listing gives about 2.5 hours around Laguna Toreadora, lunch, then about 30 minutes at Laguna Llaviuco, with a bilingual guide. Shared or private.
Photograph by Ymblanter, CC BY-SA 4.0.
See prices -
GetYourGuide
Cuenca city tours
The historic center, when the park is the wrong day.
GetYourGuide’s Cuenca destination. Open a listing for the hours and the price.
Photograph by Pablo Zuñiga, CC BY 4.0.
See prices -
Viator
Cuenca on Viator
A second desk for the city and the ruins nearby.
A Viator search for Cuenca. Duration depends on the tour you open.
Photograph by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0.
See prices
Buttons above are paid partner links. How that works.
On the ground
Trip tips
- Cuenca
- West about 30 km
- Llaviuco
- Toreadora
- Back to Cuenca
That line is the park day. The city itself is a separate booking: the historic center, the Tomebamba, and the cathedral. Ingapirca is farther north, in Cañar, and is not on these two park listings.
When
A morning pickup in Cuenca. Both full-day listings are back the same afternoon, which is the shape of a park day rather than a trek.
Weather
The Cuenca chapter calls the park a high plateau of lakes and cloud, and says the weather is not reliable. Trails are exposed. A dry morning in the city is not a promise at Toreadora.
Stops
Laguna Toreadora on the páramo, Laguna Llaviuco lower down in the forest, and the interpretation center on the longer listing. The city shelves are for the center, not for these lakes.
Altitude and what to bring
The park’s published range is about 3,100–4,450 m, above Cuenca. Drink water, start slowly, and turn around if a headache shows up. This is not a first-day plan after flying into Quito.
Sources: Wikipedia, El Cajas · GetYourGuide, Cajas full day · GetYourGuide, Polylepis Cajas day . Rewritten here. Fees, hours, and roads change.
Before you go
Good to know
- These park days start in Cuenca. They are not a day trip from Quito.
- El Cajas is about 30 km west of the city, between about 3,100 m and 4,450 m. Weather turns. Take a layer.
- Ingapirca, north of the city, is a cultural day of its own. The hiking chapter puts it next to the park.
Landing at Mariscal Sucre and would rather not start in a city taxi? UIO Transfers is a private car from the airport. It is the owner’s company, not a third-party ad.
Also on this site: Hiking the Avenue of the Volcanoes · Where to live · Quilotoa .
Questions
Before you click
Can you visit Cajas as a day trip from Cuenca?
Yes. One listing is 7–8 hours and walks Llaviuco and the Toreadora trail. Another is 7 hours 30 minutes, with about 2.5 hours at Toreadora and a shorter walk at Llaviuco. Both pick up in Cuenca.
Is Cajas a day trip from Quito?
No. The park sits just west of Cuenca, in the southern sierra. A Quito departure would be an overnight journey, not one of these listings.
How high is El Cajas?
The park runs from about 3,100 m to about 4,450 m. Cuenca itself is near 2,500 m, the figure this guide uses for the city. The lakes are a real step up.
What if you want the city instead of the park?
The GetYourGuide and Viator buttons open Cuenca destination pages. Hours and price belong to the tour you choose there. The Cuenca chapter is the walk through the center.