10 days in Ecuador

Ten days is Quito, one volcano, one market or one forest, and Cuenca. It is not the Amazon and the islands and the beach. Those are other trips.

1. Days 1–2 · QuitoLand, sleep, walk. The altitude chapter is the reason day one is short. The airport chapter is the ride in. Old town on day two: plazas, not the cable car.
2. Day 3 · The city, or the middle of the worldA guided Quito day, or Mitad del Mundo, once your head is quiet. The booking page is the list. The neighborhoods tell you where to sleep.
3. Day 4 · CotopaxiA day from Quito to the park and Laguna Limpiopungo, not a summit. The refuge is near 4,800 meters. The Cotopaxi tours are the booked version. The place chapter is the mountain.
4. Days 5–6 · Otavalo or MindoNorth for the Saturday market, or west for a night in cloud forest. Do not do both. Otavalo and Mindo are the day pages. Otavalo and Mindo are the places.
5. Day 7 · Quilotoa, if the lungs agreeThe rim is near 3,900 meters. Skip it if Cotopaxi already hurt. Otherwise it is the crater on the way south. Quilotoa tours if you are still based in Quito. The lake chapter if you want the walk down.
6. Days 8–9 · CuencaThe southern city, lower than Quito, walkable center. The Cuenca chapter is the pace. El Cajas is a high park beside it, not a rest day.
7. Day 10 · OutFly from Cuenca or back through Quito. A rental car for the highland road is the airport rental page, and only if someone in the car is happy at this altitude.

June to September is the sierra’s long dry season, in the month-by-month chapter. The safety map is why this route never drops to the coast. If the trip grows by four days, the two-week version is the one that earns the islands.

Sources: the heights and the place descriptions are the ones in the city and park chapters of this guide. The decision to leave the coast off the route follows the area warnings in the safety chapter. Driving times are not printed.