Begin in the charming San Sebastian neighborhood, the western colonial border of Cuenca, where you’ll stroll through a picturesque plaza, admire the colonial architecture, and explore the Modern Art Museum with its local exhibits.
Walk along Bolivar Street to uncover the city’s French-influenced republican-era transition, reflected in its elegant architecture, and visit the 10 de Agosto Market, immerse yourself in the vibrant culture as you learn about local fruits, products, and traditions.
Continue to the iconic San Francisco Plaza, the Flower Market, and the historic Parque Calderón, home to the impressive Old Cathedral and the New Cathedral, one of Latin America’s largest churches, boasting a stunning gold-leaf altar.
After lunch at a local restaurant recommended by your guide, visit El Barranco for stunning views of the Tomebamba River and its hanging houses. Explore Calle Larga and the Pumapungo Museum, where you’ll find exceptional exhibits on archaeology and Ecuador’s diverse indigenous cultures.
We will then visit the Homero Ortega Panama Hat Factory, where you’ll witness the intricate process of crafting world-famous Panama hats from “paja toquilla,” a tradition deeply rooted in Cuenca’s economy and culture. Choose from a variety of styles, from simple to exclusive, as you learn about this timeless craft.
Finally, soak in the stunning panoramic views of Cuenca from the “Mirador de Turi” scenic viewpoint, a perfect spot to capture the city’s charm. Afterward, we’ll drop you off comfortably at your hotel.
An excellent day spent with our guide, Wilson. He was so knowledgeable, spoke English very well and was a pleasure to spend time with. For our first time in Cuenca it was a perfect way to learn about the history, culture and industry of this community. He provided so much information I had to take notes! We came away with a much better feel for the place.
Eddy is amazing! This is the perfect activity to do when you first arrive in Cuenca. He not only taught me about the city’s history and gave me valuable context for everything I was seeing, but also helped me get oriented and understand the layout of the city. Because of that, the rest of my time in Cuenca was much easier and more efficient. I highly recommend doing this early in your trip!
Fantastic tour with Genaro. We loved learning about the historic highlights of Cuenca and enjoyed our visit to the Homero Ortega hat factory.
Good experience and good visibility
What a great way to spend the day! Wilson , our guide took us to facinating places including a place where they make the famous Panama hat ( it’s actually a Ecuador hat!) . We Saw Cuenca from high above and visited beautiful villages in the mountains then walked around Cuenca’s historic center and visited a few of Cuenca’s 52 churches. Wilson was an excellent guide and spoke perfect English. It felt like a freind showing us his city. He took us to a place that he knew about and had encebollado , a delicious Ecuador soup for lunch and he gave us a great recommendation for a dinner restaurant.
Great exploration trip with Luis he was very knowledgeable his English was very good the overall trip which was customized for us was excellent
The full day tour of Cuenca was amazing! Very informative and great tour with Luis Gonzales! Definitely recommend to anyone coming to Cuenca.
We did the Cuenca walking tour with Eddy. He was one of the best guides I’ve ever had in my many years of travels. His knowledge and passions about Cuenca were amazing. We learned a lot about the beautiful city. We also did the private tour so he tailored it to our interests. I really recommend and ask for Eddy if it’s possible.
Cuenca city tour with Wilson was amazing, really enjoyed it. Learned a lot about the city and history. Highly recommend it.
Wilson was very knowledgeable and took us to all the wonderful places in Cuenca. We had a great time in this tour.
We had an amazing experience on our day tour of Cuenca with Pedro. He was extremely friendly, accomodating and knowledgeable. He tailored the tour perfectly to suit our family group and was very flexible with plans on the day! We would highly recommend this tour and it’s an added bonus if you get Pedro as your guide!! Thankyou for a great experience
Wilson gave us a great tour of the city and the nearby towns. He adjusted where we stopped and how long to fit the day's weather for us!
I enjoyed it all! Loved touring the Panama hat factory and seeing how the hats are made. Very informative and every one so friendly and allowed you to watch them work. Toured the old city and learned about the history of Ecuador and the people. Eddie born and raised in Cuenca-his English is very good and easy to understand.
Fantastic 4 hours of seeing the sights of town as we’ll overlook! The Panama hat factory was also amazing to see. Wilson my tour guide was very informative and hospitable!
This was the perfect way to experience what Cuenca has to offer. Our guide Wilson was excellent, speaks perfect Spanish and English, had so many interesting facts about the city and Ecuador and even flora and fauna, and history. He clearly loves his city. We were mixed ages and everyone enjoyed it. The hat factory and viewpoint, historic center were wonderful. Highly recommend, very good value and added to our enjoyment of this wonderful place!.
Luis is the best tour guide. He's well informed about the history of Cuenca and Ecuador as a whole. The tour is also perfect for a solo traveller... He recommended dishes, and my oh my. I enjoyed trying out new cuisine. The most memorable part of the tour was when we went to the museum, and learning about the people that recycles waste. I have so much respect to all the people that work so hard to keep our environment safe yet they are not well appreciated. They have no salaries too... but continue to keep Cuenca safe. I was so touched about their journey. I would definitely recommend this tour to anyone. Not forgetting the architecture - spectacular. I would def do this again
Customer service was amazing! I wasn’t able to travel and take the tour but the customer service reps were very understanding. Can’t wait to rebook my trip and take the tour.
This tour was so informative and my guide Sebastian is world class. I highly recommend asking for him. All about the history of Cuenca and everything from the different markets to the Turi city view. I was completely captivated on how rich the city really continues to be.
Where do I begin? Peter was an amazing tour guide! He began with a view of the city from Yotour Point, then off to Museo Pumapungo for a very thorough cultural lesson about Ecuador. After, we rode all around Cuenca, looking at the beautiful and colorful city. We we even treated to the changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace. Next, a delicious lunch that was just amazing, followed by a tour of the beautiful cathedral in the square of Cuenca. A walk through the flower market, and then Peter helped a blind, elderly lady reach the front of the church. Such a heartwarming gesture of respect. He is one of the best guides. I hope to meet him again. Bravo!
Our private tour guide Enrique was fabulous. And SO flexible and open to our “out of the box” tour. We had already walked around downtown area and as we are on a 70 day tour thru South America shopping isn’t our thing (no room for anything). We did want to drive around the city and even check out potential neighborhoods to buy or rent (for future). He was so helpful, we even got to walk thru a home for sale she visited Gringolandia. It was the perfect tour for us and the best thing is he was willing to go with the flow and do what Intersted us most! Recommended!!
Eddy was an amazing tour guide! One of the best we’ve had the whole time we’ve been in Ecuador. He showed us so many beautiful sites in Cuenca and taught us a lot of history. His love of his city is contagious.
Wilson was so knowledgeable and fun! We had a great tour and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to learn the rich history of this city!
Everything extremely well organised, from communication to making the tour. The city tour of Cuenca with Luis was perfect in every segment. Luis is a very knowledgeable, nice and friendly guide. I highly recommend this agency and its team :) Alessio
I had an awesome tour with Maria, going to Mirador Turi and the Centro histórico de Cuenca. Although the weather was rainy it didn't prevent us from having a great tour I learned so much about the history and culture of Cuenca and Ecuador in general. You have to go!
Really enjoyed my tour with Sebastian. He knew the answers to all of my questions. Awesome experience!
We had an outstanding tour of Cuenca with our guide Wilson. His knowledge of Cuenca’s history and culture is extraordinary. He took us to the hat museum, one of the central markets, the riverfront, the central square, residential neighborhoods and we ended at the spectacular city overlook. In each place he gave us insight into the history and the people. He offered us opportunities to sample or buy items and while we tried everything (and bought a hat!), we never felt pressured. I highly recommend buying any snacks he recommends! It was clear how much Wilson cares about and understands his city. We left Cuenca sharing that love.
My experience, a city tour of Cuenca, was fascinating. Tourist sites can be overwhelming, but Genaro, my guide, pointed out the most significant items and explained their context and meaning very easily to understand. Geraro was enormously knowledgeable, did a wonderful job of sharing his knowledge, and was a charming companion, as well. The organization of the tour was excellent. Thanks Javier for your help on this.
Cuenca is a lovely city but with the tour we were able to understand better the significance of the place. The views were amazing too.
We enjoyed everything about this tour. Sebastian was amazing! He gave us so much information about the city of Cuenca, the history, culture, places of interest, etc. We learned so much information! It was very special!
The tour is really amazing. Cuenca is a beautiful city and deserves to explore deeply. Thanks to our outstanding tour guide, we had a very good time to see every beautiful streets and local markets. Strongly recommend this tour!!
The half-day personal tour is a great way to quickly get acquainted with Cuenca. We used this tour as a starting place for our 5-day stay in the city. From there, we planned more detailed visits to the places that most interested us. Our guide -- Wilson -- gave some great suggestions on where to eat and answered all our questions about the history and culture of Cuenca. Overall, very happy and 0 complaints!
Fantastic experience and tour! We loved the detailed descriptions provided by Wilson, as well as the hands-on visits to Homero Ortega Panama Hats, Casa Del Sol Joyeria, and Las Casa Museo de la Makana. We marveled at the amazing artisans that are in Cuenca! We would take this tour again!
Sebastian was prompt, friendly and very knowledgeable about his lovely city of Cuenca. A tour of the real Ecuador Hat was first on the agenda and was very enjoyable. Of course I bought a hat! The Turi viewpoint afforded a spectacular view of the city with the rivers running through it. My special request from Sebastian was to ride the metro train so we went to the station to buy a card which was located in the airport just a few blocks from the hat company. We rode the metro to the big market and there we also purchased bus tickets. Getting around Cuenca is important to me because I will return to spend an extended period of time. Sebastian was a wealth of information that expats crave. From banking, rentals, how to get around, other tours and “must visit “ places, the city vibe…Sebastian did not disappoint. Thank you Cuenca Bestours!
We booked the half day private tour of Cuenca. It was perfect for us to get the lay of the city. Our guide, Wilson, was excellent at explaining the city and the history of Cuenca. Highly recommend this tour!
We had a great time discovering Cuenca with our guide Flavio. He was very professional and knowledgeable about the history and culture of Cuenca. We do recommend this tour.
Accessing the tour link was easy and simple. The vehicle was clean and spacious. The guide was very knowledgeable and spoke well. I definitely will recommend to our friends. Andres was super, we learn many aspect of the Ecuadorian culture, specifically Cuenca’s history. Andres spoke well in both Spanish and English. We never felt rushed or unsafe. The tour was conducted in a professional manner
Diego took us on a great tour, very knowledgeable and friendly. The Turi viewpoint was a highlight for sure. Hope you get Diego for your tour 👍.
Sebastian was a wonderful guide. The Cuenca City Tour was wonderful, especially, the walking tour. It gave us reference to the city and we could go back to places where we wanted to spend more time.
The Cuenca- Turi Tour was excellent. From the time I was picked up by Wilson Avila to the time the tour ended was all memorable. He is kind, fun, informative and excellent tour guide. The view from Turi was incredible. Wilson made sure to give me all the time I needed to photograph what I wanted. He has a colorful way of explaining the history and culture of the people. I appreciated Cuenca even more knowing what I know now. I highly recommend this tour and wish I could go once more. The lunch was yummy. Thank you Viator for the experience.
Our guide Adrian's knowledge and enthusiasm for Cuenca made our city tour special. He was especially helpful in adjusting the pace of the tour to fit our capabilities. Cuenca is a beautiful city and Adrian was able to connect its vibrant history to its culture today. We highly recommend it.
We had an amazing city tour with our guide Sebastian. He showed us little nooks and crannies of the city and the history of it, the buildings, why they where built a certain way and where the material came from. Sebastian was extraordinary in not only showing us the city but also make us experience the culture and vibe of the city. He took us to a small market of hand crafted items, where we purchased a couple of things and now sitting at home and looking at the items, I know I will have to visit the place again. They are so unique and none are alike. We also visited the central market, where we tried an authentic lunch the locals have daily. We absolutely loved it and of course we purchased some items there as well, but the most amazing part was interacting with the locals, listening to Sebastian telling us about the culture and the meaning of food and why it's prepared a certain way. We visited the hat factory as well, which was an amazing experience in its own. Sebastian took us to see a shawl factory where all the shawls are still made by hand from the start to the end and we saw the process. Cuenca is a must city to visit in Ecuador. I am so happy we decided to take the tour of the city. Definitely choose the option with lunch. The food was delicious and the place was great with great views. Sebastian also helped us out with managing our transportation arrangements from Cuenca to Guayaquil. Thank you Sebastian for such an amazing time and letting us discover this little gem in Ecuador.
Sebastian provided our full day tour of Cuenca and he did not disappoint. He has encyclopedic knowledge of the city coupled with a profound love for his town. His English is near perfect and he was an enjoyable gentleman to spend the day in Cuenca
Klever was our guide and he was great! We liked him so much that he was our guide the next day for our 12 hour Devils Nose train and Ingapirca ruins tour.
Our tour guide was able to customize our tour on the fly to include two additional sites that we were particularly interested in and omitted sites that we had seen on a previous trip.
Nice tour, lots of detail and some pretty nice views of this fascinating diverse city. We enjoyed the Homero Ortega Panama Hat factory, the Eduardo Vegas Ceramic studio, the view from Turi, the amazing farmer's marketplace and the little byways through the city. He was kind enough to stop at a cafe so my husband could eat and I really enjoyed the walk by the beautiful Tomebamba River. It was the perfect introduction to this city I had already heard so much about.
We had a great city tour through Cuenca with our tour guide Edy. We saw a lot of the old town and he took plenty of time for everything. Elizabeth, who coordinates everything in the background, was always available and took great care to ensure that we received all the necessary information in advance. The next time we travel to Ecuador, we would definitely book tours through this agency again.
I did a city tour in the city of Cuenca that includes a visit to the Tury viewpoint. 100% recommended. Very interesting.
It was an excellent Service, Andrés our guide was excellent, showed us all the city and surroundings. Highly recommended.
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