Visa and entry requirements Ecuador:
Passport required
No visa is required

Information from the Foreign Office about your trip to Ecuador:
https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/ecuadorsicherheit/223232

Ecuador is a republic in northwestern South America between Colombia and Peru, with around 17 million inhabitants. The country is named after the equator line that runs through the middle of the national territory.

The capital, located in the Andean highlands at 2,850 meters, is called Quito. However, the largest city in the country is Guayaquil and is located directly on the Pacific coast.

The US dollar has been used as the national currency since 2000, meaning the country no longer has its own currency. Spanish is considered the official language, while around 75% of the population declare Roman Catholic as their religious belief.

Ecuador borders Colombia to the north, Peru to the south and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The country consists of three completely different geographical zones, the coastal area, the central Andean region and the eastern Amazon lowlands.

There are a total of 55 volcanoes in Ecuador, with 18 still considered active. Ecuador is also one of the countries with the highest risk of earthquakes in the world.

The largest cities in the country include Guayaquil with around 3.3 million inhabitants, Quito, Cuenca, Ambato, Machala, Santo Domingo de los Colorados, Manta, Duran, Loja and Latacunga.

Ecuador is the fourth poorest country in South America in terms of purchasing power parity. The country's economy is heavily dependent on petroleum production, which generates almost 65 % of exports. Other important export goods from Ecuador include bananas, fishery products, shrimp, metal goods and cut flowers. Today, Ecuador is the world's fourth largest exporter of various flowers after the Netherlands, Colombia and Kenya. In recent years, tourism has also developed into an important economic sector.

Quito is the capital of Ecuador and lies about 20 kilometers south of the equator, in a 2,850 meter high basin of the Andes. It is therefore the highest capital in the world, with a population of around 2.2 million.

Quito has a large colonial old town with numerous important buildings and monuments, especially monasteries and churches in the colonial baroque style. Old Quito was the first city ever to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1978.

The city's most important sights include the Church of San Francisco, the historic center, the Pichincha volcano (4,794 meters high), Mitad del Mundo - the center of the world, the National Museum, the TeleferiQo gondola or also called Teleferico, the Carolina Park, the basilica del Voto Nacional and the National Stadium.

In December 2017 I visited Quito for three days, after having already been in the city for a few hours in the summer of 2014. Quito was the first stop on my big six-week South American tour. I flew with the Dutch airline KLM, from Berlin with a short stay in Amsterdam.

I lived there in a very pleasant middle-class hotel on the edge of the old town. Because it's low season there at this time of year, I was the only hotel guest and the boss Stephanie took great care of me at all times.

The city of Quito is really very hilly, with damn thin air to breathe. In the historic center there are many well-preserved colonial buildings that create a great cityscape. There is also a very pleasant atmosphere there, with countless street vendors in local costumes and many small stalls where, among other things, various things are grilled.

On a city tour by bus, I got to know Quito wonderfully on the first day. Due to the huge differences in altitude, there is no better way to explore the city faster and more clearly.

For the second day I planned to visit Mitad del Mundo, the official center of the world. This is actually an absolute must for every tourist because both zero axes of the coordinate system, the geographical division of the world, converge here, which is unique on the globe. By taxi the journey took about 45 to 60 minutes from the old town of Quito. There were a lot of people at what was probably the city's biggest tourist attraction.

I've already landed in the country's largest city, Guayaquil, three times for a stopover, but unfortunately it hasn't been enough to visit the city so far.

Ecuador is a very pleasant and recommendable travel destination where the general price level is still quite low. The people there are super friendly and offer excellent photo opportunities in their colorful traditional costumes. I mainly ate there at the many grill stalls because it was always so tasty and I didn't have to try anything else.

After a fantastic and eventful stay in the capital Quito, I continued my South America tour with a flight to the Galapagos Islands.