Full Day Tour Gualaceo, Chordeleg, And San Bartolomé From Cuenca

We were greeted by Moses who was on time and likable from the very start. He took us outside Cuenca to three historic towns known for their artisans. This included a world renowned guitar maker, Then Museo de la Makana featuring traditional weaving. Anna-Marie was a bilingual joy. We also explored the silver town of Chordeleg. And the third artisan was a ceramic figurine maker who was truly a master. Moses was an adapt bilingual interpretive guide with a full hearted laugh and sense of humor. We look forward to booking him specifically, again.

Edu made this trip so much better with all his information about Cuenca and Ecuador. Great guy and enjoyed all the stops and lunch. We have 10 and 11-year-old boys and they were a handful, but Edy handled it with ease!

Diego was a great guide. Although we booked a group tour, as there were only two of us, it became a private one. We were picked up on time, and driven to several towns to see the town squares etc. with stops at 4 artisans. Each of them gave us a demonstration and the opportunity to buy - we did at two places. There was no pressure to buy but it was expected to leave a small tip $1-2 if you didn't. Diego speaks excellent English and is very knowledgeable about all aspects of Ecuador, so altogether it was a great day out.

Our tour guide Diego Parra was Phenomenal he picked us up at our AirBnB promptly he gave us a quick brief on what we would be experiencing during the tour and we began. The vehicle in which he picked us up was new and very spacious. He took us to 3 beutiful villages not very far from cuenca. Diego spoke excellent English and he was extremely informative he literally made frequent stops to point out landmarks or points of interest and he explained things to us in detail which we thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated. His courteous and professional attention to detail was very impressive, we felt very safe with him the entire tour. We plan using this tour service again during our stay in wonderful Cuenca and we will definitely ask for Diego in any future tours. We highly recommend his tour service we give them and Diego Parra . Stars 🌟.

We had a great experience with Eddy on the full day tour to Bartolommeo, Chordeleg, and San Bartolommeo. Eddy was very kind and informed. He taught us tons about the areas we visited and the areas we passed through. We also enjoyed a great lunch at an award winning restaurant. We would highly recommend the tour.

My guide Edy was super friendly and very knowledgeable in all the cultural and social activities of the area. Highly recommend this day tour to see what the life in Ecuador is.

The tour today was so great. We appreciated and enjoyed every place we visited and also the information provided by our tour guide. We visited Artisans making guitars, miniature ceramics, silver filigree, and weaving . We were served a great Ecuadorian style lunch and a tour of hundreds of beautiful orchids. We saw 16th and 17th century architecture, and a Spanish aqueduct nestled amongst tremendous mountain landscapes. Gracias por brindarnos un maravilloso recorrido durante todo el día. Not to be missed!

The artisan workshops were incredible to visit. Diego was very knowledgeable, friendly, and fun to tour with. Xxxxxxx

An excellent trip! Edison was so knowledgeable about anything and everything to do with Cuenca and Azuay. We saw all the big sights and had a lot of flexibility in the itinerary since it was just us. Highly recommend!

If you’re in Cuenca, do yourself a favor and take this tour with Eddie—it was hands-down the highlight of my trip. Seeing the jewelry-making in Chordeleg and the weaving in Gualaceo was incredible, and getting to watch true masters at work was something I’ll never forget. Eddie made the whole experience even better with his knowledge and passion for the culture. There’s plenty to do in Cuenca, but getting out to the smaller towns gives you a whole new appreciation for Ecuador. Highly recommend this tour!

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Diego - he is very knowledgeable of Ecuador's natural history and passionate about sharing that knowledge! He was also very kind and respectful to the places and people we visited, which assured us that we chose the right tour group to travel with. As non-Spanish speakers, we enjoyed the opportunity to meet the people who live in these communities, learning about their crafts and appreciating their artistry - from resourcefully handmade guitars to clay handicrafts derived from local rock minerals, beautifully designed textiles from native plants, and meticulously crafted filigree jewelry. Having done the tour towards the end of our time in Ecuador, we acknowledge how much richer our experience was with this guided tour. We learned so much and appreciated the opportunity to connect with the artisans, ask questions, and purchase products directly from them. Thank you for making our tour of Gualaceo, Chordeleg and San Bartolome a highlight of our trip!

This was an excellent tour. Our guide was top notch. He shared all sorts of interesting information and took excellent care of everyone in the group. Communication was great, they brought water and healthy snacks. I highly recommend Polyepsis for your sightseeing experiences.

Edison our tour guide is awesome! I would recommend him. It’s so nice to know about Ecuadorian culture, crafts and arts.

Diego was a great guide. He explained things well, answered our questions all while being a safe driver. We enjoyed the a stops and lunch.

Edison our tour guide was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about our tour. St Bartolome was nice and the guitar factory was so interesting. The jewelry was beautifully crafted as well as the ceramics. The textiles were fantastic. We recommend bringing cash to buy a little bit of everything! 10/10 experience.

What an outstanding tour! Diego speaks fluent English and knows every fascinating detail about Cuenca, the history of Ecuador, plants and native traditions. The tour company was very easy to work with! They were directly on time. Our ride was wonderful!

Moises was prompt at pick up time. He patiently stopped for my photo shoots. The towns were lovely and the artesans took the time off to teach me their art. Very interesting

I have never learned so much of Ecuador within a day. After living in Quito for several months, I left this tour with a deeper knowledge of Ecuador’s geography, artisanal traditions, people, and way of living. Our guide, Diego, is very knowledgeable and educated of all things Ecuador. Our walks through the town were very informational, where he thoroughly explained each detail of each stop. Also, don’t skip out on the lunch of the hornado en Gualaceo! By far my top favorite Ecuadorian dish!!! We truly appreciated and enjoyed this tour, and wouldn’t have imagined leaving Cuenca without experiencing this well thought out, intentional, and culturally immersive tour! Gracias Diego por enseñarnos tu bella ciudad!

Diego was an excellent tour guide. He was knowledgeable and kind. Each place that we visited treated us as guests. It was an honor to learn so much about the skills of the local craftspeople. Lunch was great too!

Expert guide. Very good sites. The meal was excellent also. The guitar maker and all the artisans were great.

My friends and I took a tour with Diego. He was an extremely knowledgeable guide that told us a lot about Ecuadorian life and culture. I purchased an exquisite nylon string guitar from a local craftsman in San Bartolome. The trip was fascinating and engaging. Diego's English was exceptional, and he was very well informed.

The drive to and through San Bartolomé, Chordeleg, & Gualaceo from Cuenca were absolutely stunning!! Diego was an incredible host to the culture and history amidst each artisanal expression & community. I would highly recommend!!

Our guide Diego took us to all these delightful places that is pure Ecuadorian charm, where at each one respectively we saw how jewellery, guitars, clay objects and clothing was made. The pure talent in Ecuador is incredible, with virtually everything made by hand, no machinery. The clothing section was shown to us by a man who is the sixth generation of his family doing this! The detail, the talent, the Ecuadorian secrets and history that go into making these is incredible. Diego knows just as much of these trades which he shared with us as well as stories and interesting information about Ecuador and he was very funny and entertaining as well, he made the tour so much more enjoyable. We also got to enjoy a nice traditional Ecuadorian meal together. I would definitely recommend this tour, you can then do the archaeological tour and others separately and see plenty of the beauty Cuenca has to offer.

The experience that I had with Polylepis tours was excellent. Wilson the tour guide was very knowledgeable, respectful and friendly. Best tour

This was our first time taking a tour like this, so we weren't exactly sure what to expect. It was a fun day! I enjoyed the beautiful scenery and learning about everything. It's a good idea to bring some small bills/coins with you for a tip/tea & snack/entrance fee to the different places, some that we didn't know about. There are many opportunities to buy great quality, handmade items. Plenty of photo opportunities as well. The tour was organized and went very smoothly. We both left happy.

The best way to describe this trip is that the tour is a look at the some incredible master craftsmen and women using traditional techniques to create great guitars, ceramics, filigree jewelry, and woven clothes and accessories. Some of the artisans come from multi generational artisan families and others have university degrees in design who seek to protect the traditional crafts but apply new designs to the traditional techniques. The countryside and mountains make a nice background, but the tour is really about traditional crafts and arts. The guide Eddie knew his stuff and was a five star guide. (Actually, most Ecuadorean guides leading tours are very competent because Ecuador licenses the guides who have completed at least two years of advanced schooling and some guides, seeking national guide licenses and tour agency licenses take five years of training. I have yet to take a tour in Ecuador through a tour agency where the guide did not rate at least 4.5 of 5 stars. This is why you rarely see a bad review of guide arranged through a tour company.)

Wilson took us to a few small towns outside of Cuenca. He was so wonderful in translating between the natives and us travelers. I loved the artisans specifically the guitar and textile shops.

Wow wow wow! What a great way to spend a day! I was Solo traveling from Hawaii and needed a day away from Cuenca and couldn’t have been happier with my decision. My tour guide was awesome, super knowledgeable, and was able to help me with my poor gringo Spanish, although he spoke English I tried My best to go all Spanish. The history, the sights, the souvenirs, the culture, the people, and just an overall grand time. Highly recommend this trip, the stops I made and people I chatted With we’re well worth it.

Great tour and Eddie was so knowledgeable about the area and its history…definitely recommend. Inwould have liked to have seen more about shoes and the makers but maybe another time

Outstanding experience meeting premier local artisans who demonstrated their crafts ranging from guitar making to pottery figurines to silver filagree jewelry to weaving! 3 charming towns, wonderful lunch and lots of great information. Diego is superb guide providing lots of additional information about the plants, history, and culture plus he's an excellent driver.

I had a wonderful day exploring these villages near Cuenca with Diego. He took me to workshops to see guitar making, ceramics, filigree and ikat dyeing/weaving. I learned a lot from Diego and the craftspeople and enjoyed wandering through the villages, seeing the locals also enjoying their day. A lovely way to spend the day.

Diego was the best! He had great knowledge not only about artisan crafts but the land and how people live in the area as well.

We enjoyed a wonderful day trip through three of the villages near Cuenca. Our goal was to see multiple villages, artisans, and areas in a short space of time. We could have tried to do the same thing on our own with buses and cabs and GPS, and we have done that in other places. But we decided that a guided tour would be cost-effective for us and save time. We knew we could always take a bus and go back on our own later once we had an idea of the directions and how to get around the area. We made our reservations online and were immediately contacted to confirm a pickup time and location. The trip started the next morning with an on-time pickup by the tour director, Edison. He immediately put us at ease about the trip and the locations we would see and what we should expect. Our Spanish is poor (we're working on it!) so it was great to have a guide who could translate not just the speech but the local culture. We learned a lot before we even reached the first stop in San Bartolemé. You should definitely ask for Edison if possible! You can read online about San Bartolemé, Chordeleg, and Gualaceo. The thing to know is that these are all different places of different sizes, and that it will give you a good overview of Ecuadorian towns, villages, and cities. You will do some riding through the beautiful mountains, and you will do some walking at each stop. You will see beautiful architecture, guitars, jewelry, ceramics, and textiles. And you will meet beautiful people as well. These type of tours to artisanal communities are important for the economy. The artists are happy to show and explain their crafts to you. You don't have to buy anything, but be appreciative of their time and be prepared to leave a tip for the time they are giving to you. We enjoyed all of our trip and highly recommend the tour leader and tour company based on our experience. These tours are especially good if it is your first trip to Ecuador and you don't have much time. But even if you have visited Ecuador in the past like us, a guide can really help you understand what it is that you are seeing.

We really enjoyed this trip. The guide was knowledgeable about each of the areas. We saw some artisans at work, shopped a little and ate some wonderful food. Highly recommend the tour to anyone who wants to learn more about the cultures and countryside surrounding Cuenca.

What a lovely day to visit the towns of Gualaceo and Chordeleg. Quaint towns rich in history and traditions. We visited several artisans and learned a great deal about the techniques and watched the artisans at work. We visited an orchid growing facility and saw hundreds of orchids and other plants.

I was invited by a friend to accompany her on this tour - I went even though I had taken the craft villages tour with another company several years ago. Wilson offered a really full day - we visited a family’s home where they plucked a variety of plants from the garden and made us a lovely horchata tea - and got to see their cuy pens (which really excited my dog who got to come along for the tour). We visited many of the usual places: the guitar workshop of Jose Omero Uyaguari, the miniature clay figurine workshop of Fernando Loja and his wife Rosita, got a peak of the filigree jewelry process at a jeweler’s store in Chordeleg plus some time to stroll around on our own to window shop, a quick almuerzo, a visit to the marcana weaving workshop of José Jiménez, and as a bonus, we were able to stop off at Ecuagenera and tour the orchid greenhouses. Throughout it all, Wilson was a charming, knowledgeable, accommodating guide and a good driver.

Great experience, the tour was incredible, a lot of history and great places to visit like San Bartolomeo and Gualaceo. You'll find beautifil local handicraft

Excellent! We got to watch artisans making guitars, jewelry, and ikat fabrics. Guide was very knowledgeable and even had "show and tell" items to explain during the drive. Lots of good shopping too, at great prices.

Edison was a great tour guide. The tour was really personalized and interesting, he took us to 3 small manufacturers (2-5) employees. All were very interesting and Edison was a great help in translating and answering our many questions. Lots of information about Ecuador, over and above what was on the tour. Really nice way to spend a day.

This is a great day tour to the surrounding towns of Cuenca. We visited various artist and watched them work on their creations. Edison, our driver and tour guide, speaks very good English and is very knowledgeable about the area. This was our second tour with Polylepis Tours and we can highly recommend them.

We were able to observe several local craftsmen working in their shops and learn about their crafts. Great to know we are supporting locals. Diego was a great driver and guide. Very good English and knowledgeable of the area.

We found Polyepsis Tours through a Google search and I’m so glad we did. Our guide Angel was courteous, knowledgeable and friendly. They went out of their way to make us feel comfortable and welcome the whole day long. Angel was a fountain of information and answers all of our questions in clear English. We will definitely be going back to them for other excursions in the future.

Eddie was awesome! He really knows his way around and I got to see everything. His English is quite good and I was so happy that he was patient and helped me practice Spanish. I had a great day!

Did this tour with Diego who is an amazing guide and I highly recommend him to any interested tourists in Cuenca. He showed me a few villages/towns in the Azuay Region not too far from Cuenca and each having their own unique style. Each town we visited had a special artisan production, from textiles to jewelry and even guitars! Definitely interesting and glad I got to go on this tour.

Edy, took us to wonderful artisans who he clearly knew and had a relationship with. We met a weaver who took us step by step through the process of her craft. We had the opportunity to purchase but it was not pressured. Next we went to Chordeleg and had another wonderful experience with an artisan jeweler. We visited the local square and then had a traditional lunch. An absolutely lovely day for my husband & I!

This tour was fascinating, and a Diego was an excellent guide. He brought us to meet some truly gifted artisans, and we all developed a greater appreciation of these arts (guitar making, silver work, and macana weaving). Also, lunch in the mercado of Gualaceo was delicious. Diego educated us about culture, language and tradition all along the way. He was also great with my 5-year-old son, making this a memorable trip for all of us!

Flavio was a great driver and a great guide! He accommodated our every need and was friendly and knew all sorts of insights to the area.

The guide did so well at accomodating our interests and abilities. He took us to places where we were able to meet with the artists themselves. Only unfortunate thing is that my camera disappeared on my return trip to Quito so I have no photos. Not related to this tour.

This is one of the last family operated textile weaving and dying miles left, so it was a true treasure to visit this wonderful place. There is a nice gift shop located upstairs on the property so that visitors can support this trade of hand-made crafts. It is worth the visit!