Departing from Cuenca our first stop will be at the small town of San Bartolome. Craftsmen here have been creating handmade guitars for generations. We’ll visit a local workshop to observe the process of making these instruments considered a crafts for its unique designs and inlaid decorations.
Chordeleg is famous for its silversmiths and jewelry shops that line the streets and main plaza. We will visit Favio Jara's workshop, his family founded this art in the town and now all the community makes a living out of it. We will have the chance to observe how he makes fabulous filigree items. Afterwards, you’ll have time to shop around and check out the local jewelry and crafts. Here you’ll also have a chance to watch artisans weaving 'Panama' hats and other items made of toquilla straw. We will also visit Fernando Loja's workshop to see is miniature ceramics that show aspects of the local culture
Our tour continues to Gualaceo to admire the vivid, bright colors of its market and the interesting clothing worn by the local women. Here you will learn about (and taste!) delicious, just-picked fruits that are grown only in Ecuador. Meat lovers should not miss the tasty roasted pig, a very typical dish of this area, although leave some space for lunch. Then our final stop will be at Jose Jimenez's workshop where we’ll see the process of weaving shawls and ponchos on antique looms, using dyes extracted from plants. At the end of this full-day tour outside of Cuenca, you will be returned to your hotel.
This experience was unforgettable! Even though my dad’s limited movility, my family and I were able to enjoy many touristic spots in Cuenca as well as visit many places where main city’s hand-made crafts were done like jewelry, clothes, hats, and guitars. Our tour guides Adrian and Diego were very friendly and knowledgeable about Cuenca’s culture. I would definitely recommend this tour operator!
My wife, sister and I booked a private tour with Cuenca Bestours, and Luis our English speaking guide was very good. We were able to adjust our tour so we could have more time to explore the jewelry stores in Chordelg. That is what the ladies were most looking forward to, but we enjoyed the other stops very much as well. It was an enjoyable trip that we highly recommend.
This was a great trip. My driver/tour guide knew the best places to go and had great advice for things to do in Cuenca. I highly recommend it.
I really enjoyed the trip. Eddy was an amazing guide who took us to see the Artisan villages near Cuenca. We can definitely recommend Cuenca Bestours and this tour!
Our guide Eddy was very pleasant and informative. Never knew so much work went in to handmade guitars and textiles. The orchid farm was amazing! Enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the way and lunch was very good.
I can't recommend Cuenca and this tour company enough. They picked us up at the Guayaquil airport, took us on an artisanal tour of the surrounding community, organized a cooking tour with a local woman who hosted us for a lunch we cooked and a cocoa tour on the way back to the airport. Our main guide Sebastian was a wealth of local knowledge and customs of both Ecuador and Cuenca specifically. Steven, our driver, perfectly navigated the winding roads in fog and rain. I'm so happy to have had a driver as you don't need a car in the city. Javier, the owner was always prompt and allowed us to change our itinerary to better fit our interests. I definitely will be back in Cuenca as it's a beautiful mountain town that's extremely safe and fun. Plus the prices of everything are mostly half what they are in America. Language was never a barrier. I look forward to hiking Cajas National Park next time. It's breathtaking! Thanks to the crew for the memories.
Great experience! From the quick response to our initial request to the guide/driver going the extra mile to make us discover local specialties, they provided excellent service.
We had taken a tour of the craft towns 5 years ago, but Luis ( our guide ) managed to make them seem new again, pointing out new sites and making new observations about the people and culture. We saw handmade guitars, silver jewelry, Ikat textiles, and clay figurines of local life and took a quick tour of a Gualaceo market.
We went to the craft towels to see guitar workshop, silversmith, and weaving demonstration with additional steps at a figurine maker and a cuy farm. It was the perfect day with the great balance between learning and shopping.
The tour with Sebastian was a wonderful experience! He was very knowledgeable and speaks perfect English. The villages and artisans were all incredibly interesting. We thought about trying to take a bus or taxi to visit the villages on our own to take our time exploring, but we would never have been able to find the top artists’ workshops to see the demonstrations.
Our guide, Javier, introduced us to multj-generational craftspeople who had perfected their techniques to produce truly one of a kind handmade souvenirs. We bought a scarf and shawl from a family that made vestments for the Pope's visit to Cuenca. We bought flilagreed silver jewelry from the original family that launched the silver jewelry making industry in Chordeleg. It was also a beautiful trip out of the city of Cuenca. We highly recommend this adventure.
Wonderful tour today to Gualaceo and Chordeleg with our guide Andres- excellent guide, very personable and knowledgeable. This is 2nd tour with Cuenca Best and I have to say their guides absolutely have made a huge impression on our stay in Ecuador. Great to see the beautiful countryside and culture of the smaller cities. Highly revommended.
Didn't use a tour package but took the bus like a big boy and had a great time. Sigsig and the weavers museum is the best part. Price wise you might get a better deal in Cuenca for silver and Panama hats but the experience makes it worth the little extra you might pay. Had 2 hats made on the spot and watched the process. It help you to appreciate the labour.
What a surprise when our favorite guide, Herman, picked us up at our bnb for our tour! As usual, his driving was safe and secure on some very twisting mountain roads downhill to the towns. Herman did his usual - told us about flora, fauna, history of all the areas we passed, speaks excellent English, remembered us and took extra care to be attentive to our friend who was traveling with us. He and my hubby had a stone skipping contest (Herman won) and at the Panama Hat factory found my perfect hat. The craftspeople were amazingly skilled, showed us ancient techniques, beautiful results of alpaca, silver filagree and of course - those real Ecuadoran "Panama" hats. Herman explained the processes to us, did not pressure us to buy and the ceramics (Fernando Lojo and Rosa Guzmon) were of the finest quality. When I asked about one technique, Herman helped me explain Rosa used the same techniques the Cherokee Native Americans do for firing and we'd be back once we were settled to buy. There was never any pressure to buy and we spent extra time in SigSig just enjoying the beautiful little town. We stopped for lunch at a lovely resort with an incredible view, Food, service and banos were excellent. I'd say this is a tour for children old enough to watch and understand what they are seeing - tiny tots might cause headaches trying to rein in their energy and attention. But anyone looking for a beautiful day, excellent handiwork and good times - as well as a very interesting peak inside the crafts and rural life of Ecuador should enjoy this trip. This is where you find the best gifts for home and for yourself. This was our third tour with Javier, our second with Herman and we highly, highly recommend the both of them. Thank you, Javier and Herman!
Cuenca Bestours is just what the name implies~THE BEST~Javier and his team are true professionals. They picked us up at our Guayaquil on-time and we headed out to Cuenca. The driver stopped for us to get drinks and use the restroom a couple of times during our 3-4 hour trip over the mountains into Cuenca. We also used Cuenca Bestours for a great day trip up to the Cajuns mountains one day on an all-day tour. Was a wonderful trio guided by Adrian who was totally bi-lingual. The also picked us up on our return trip to Guayaquil to fly back to Florida, I would highly recommend them for any of your travel needs in Ecuador.
Great tour to get to know Ecuador a little more in depth. Our guide Wilson was fantastic. Recommended 100%
We like to learn from artisans and more about the history of Cuenca on the way. We suggest bringing enough money to buy jewelry in Gualaceo if that interests you.
We had booked with our hotel Floré boutique a private outing for 65$ per person lunch included Village of Gualaceo for jewelry and Panama , village of Chordeleg for fabrics , goldsmith and a typical local market where we taste various things Very nice.
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