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One-way Cuenca to Guayaquil Tour: Cajas Park and Cacao Farm Visit with Scenic Andes Views
4.9
52 Ratings
Cuenca
Our one-way tour from Cuenca to Guayaquil envelops you in the captivating sights of the contrasting Ecuadorian Andes and lowlands. The journey is adaptable to your needs and includes stops at the Cajas National Park, a local fruit market, and a cacao plantation. Each passenger is permitted to carry 2 suitcases.
Our one-way tour from Cuenca to Guayaquil envelops you in the captivating sights of the contrasting Ecuadorian Andes and lowlands. The journey is adaptable to your needs and includes stops at the Cajas National Park, a local fruit market, and a cacao plantation. Each passenger is permitted to carry 2 suitcases.
Duration:
8 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Laguna La Toreadora - Departing from Cuenca, the journey will take you through the renowned Andes mountains to the Toreadora refuge, situated in Cajas National Park. This park is a crucial protected area in southern Ecuador and serves as the primary water source for Cuenca. The breathtaking landscapes in this region are sure to captivate you….
- Laguna La Toreadora - Departing from Cuenca, the journey will take you through the renowned Andes mountains to the Toreadora refuge, situated in Cajas National Park. This park is a crucial protected area in southern Ecuador and serves as the primary water source for Cuenca. The breathtaking landscapes in this region are sure to captivate you. There is an optional hike available to explore the Polylepis Forest and Moorland ecosystems, complete with its lakes.
Following this, the tour will cross the continental divide and proceed to the lowlands, with opportunities to pause and appreciate the stunning scenery, weather permitting.
- Mestizo Restaurant - En route, a stop for lunch will be made at this authentic local restaurant, where trout is the specialty, though there are various options including vegetarian and vegan. The tour guide will provide recommendations. Additionally, you can enjoy the enchanting views of the Andes mountains from this location.
- Puente de las frutas de Tamarindo - Experience the natural sweetness integral to Ecuadorian cuisine and daily life. This vibrant local market, filled with colors and fruits, offers one of the most fascinating experiences in the area. With guidance from the experienced tour guide, you can learn about and sample (if desired) some of the local sweet and exotic fruits grown here. Prepare to discover the true flavors of bananas, mandarins, coconut, dragon fruit, passionfruit, and more!
- Cacao Loma - Have you ever tasted the pulp of fresh cacao beans? A visit to a local family farm will allow you to do just that. While cacao (the base for chocolate) is the main product grown here, the farm also produces breadfruit, coffee, passionfruit, pineapple, and many other items. You will have the opportunity to experience the craft chocolate-making process and sample it if you wish, as the tour guide shares insights into the history of cacao and local traditions.
After a full day of exploration, you will be dropped off in Guayaquil at your hotel, the airport, or a location of your choice.
What's Included
- Lunch (If option selected)
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Tour Guide/Driver (If option selected)
- Transportation in private Van with AC
- Lunch (If option selected)
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Tour Guide/Driver (If option selected)
- Transportation in private Van with AC
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Entrance fees
- Gratuities
- Entrance fees
Additional Information
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking.
- Passport name, number and nationality is required at time of booking for all participants.
- A minimum of 2 people per booking is required.
- Please notice: this is one-way trip Guayaquil to Cuenca or viceversa tour.
- For 1 to 5 passengers, a bilingual guide will also be the driver….
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking.
- Passport name, number and nationality is required at time of booking for all participants.
- A minimum of 2 people per booking is required.
- Please notice: this is one-way trip Guayaquil to Cuenca or viceversa tour.
- For 1 to 5 passengers, a bilingual guide will also be the driver. For more than 5 passengers, a driver and a bilingual guide will be provided.
Location
Simón Bolívar 832
Simón Bolívar
We offer hotel pick ups within Cuenca. However, you can meet us at Parque Calderon as well.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(52 Ratings)
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Ninac1376
Dec 10, 2025
Comfortable ride with Ecuadorean experience - Wilson was a great guide for our trip. He pointed out lots of interesting information. The coffee farm visit was really fun with a delicious lunch and the short hike at cajas was beautiful. We really liked Wilson’s commentary about nature. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mattjones72
Aug 29, 2025
Great tour! - Wilson was a great guide. Very accommodating to both of us. Safe driver. I highly recommend this tour if you are traveling between Guayaquil and Cuenca.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ricardo_s
Aug 6, 2025
Great for those who want to go from Cuenca to Guayaquil but not to miss the national park of Cajas - I did this experiment with Guia Pedro. It was excellent, since the trekking in the national park of Cajas, the passage by the family cocoa grower, it went very well! Upon arrival in Guayaquil was super attentive staying with us until the check in to be complete and giving us guidance on the q was safe and what was not...
Review provided by Viator
Photoamplifier
Jun 27, 2025
Reliable Service - Reliable professional Service. Easy to work with and good communication. The driver turned up early was helpful and polite.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ohbluefish
Jun 23, 2025
Definitely recommended! - My husband and I had an amazing time traveling from Cuenca to Guayaquil, making unforgettable stops along the way at iconic places like Cajas National Park and a chocolate factory, where we learned all about how Ecuadorian chocolate is made.
Our tour guide, Wilson, was fantastic! He speaks excellent English, has so much knowledge about the local animals and flowers, and was always making sure we were comfortable. He even helped capture special moments throughout the journey. Highly recommend this experience — it was a perfect mix of nature, culture, and fun!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
James_l
Mar 21, 2025
Highly recommended - Great way to get to Guayaquil from Cuenca. Visited Cajas Park, stopped off for lunch and visited a cacao farm. Wilson was a great guide, very knowledgeable and really patient with my Spanish
Review provided by Viator
Anastasia_l
Dec 27, 2024
Nice trip from Cuenca to Guayaquil - A very good and convenient tour if you need to get from Cuenca to Guayaquil but find a simple 3-hour drive too boring.
Our guide, Genero, was amazing! He shared many fascinating facts about the plants in the national park and showed us the most beautiful viewpoints. We decided to skip the lunch stop (plus everything was closed due to Christmas) and pass on the coffee tour since we’d already been on one in Mindo. So, I can’t say much about that part of the tour.
But the trip itself was very comfortable and safe. Even when we entered an area with such thick fog that you could barely see a car half a meter away, Genero drove very calmly and confidently.
We enjoyed everything 😊
Review provided by Viator
Steven
Nov 30, 2024
We had a great time. Andres our guide was wonderful. The Cajas National park was beautiful. Cacao farm was interesting - Andres was a great guide. Cajas park is beautiful. Food was great. Cacao farm was interesting. We had a great time. Now off to Galapagos
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tonya_s
Aug 1, 2024
Excellent - Pleasant drive from Cuenca to Guayaquil. The stops were nice, lunch was good and our driver, Luis, was excellent, friendly and informative.
Review provided by Viator
Williammi9088hn
Feb 19, 2026
Fun way to travel between the cities, but seems disorganised - So it was overall a fun way to travel from Cuenca to Guayaquil, and do some sightseeing along the way.
I will preface this by saying that I did this solo, so the cost of $190 was just for me and actively choose not to do the cacao farm, so I admit that my activities were consciously limited.
My first guide, Xavier, was fantastic, incredibly knowledgable, and interesting. The drive up into the National Park was incredible, Xavier's knowledge of the fauna and flora was great and it was absolutely stunning.
My issue really was that we then had to drive back down the way we came for 20 minutes to go have lunch, rather than continuing in the same direction.
Lunch was fine, but the portion side was quite small.
We were then waiting around for another 30 minutes, for a new driver to come, the drivers switched, and then we drove the other 20 minutes back into the National Park to where we started off from.
It was basically just an hour and a half of wasted time, which could have been solved if there was one driver, who took you to a restaurant which was en route, rather than doubling back on yourself.
Also my second driver spoke so loudly he was effectively shouting in my ear which made the journey somewhat unpleaseant.
Overall, it's a cool thing to do, Cajas is beautiful and it's a fun way to travel between the two cities, but is it worth $190? I'm not sure.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
