Ingapirca Ruins & Inca Mountain Face Tour From Cuenca With Small Group

We thoroughly enjoyed visiting and learning about the history of Ingapirca. Our guide Wilson was very knowledgeable about not only history, but also culture, nature (plants, birds, and other animals. ) We made several small stops throughout the day to experience local food and culture. My only disappointment was to find out that the Panama hat weaving stop is no longer part of the tour. I'd suggest the description be updated to reflect that change. Super high appreciation for organization, promptness, and safety. Thank you!

Pick up on time, very friendly driver Adrian. Excellent modern clean vehicle. Safe drive, good stops along the way. Road was mostly in good condition. Tour of Ingaprica was very informative, just enough good information to be interesting and fun. Altitude is a bit of an issue if you’re a coast dweller like us, not during the tour of the ruins but during the hike to the mountain face. If you stop every 10 minutes it is fine. Souvenir shops are great, priced reasonably and not pushy. Lunch was basic and healthy. Adrian is a very good guide and takes his job very seriously. I would ask specifically for Adrian if he is available. We have had a lot of tour guides around the world, some too academic, some just putting in time and trying to sell stuff. Adrian is none of those things, he is just very good at his job, knows his stuff and perfect English.

We enjoyed this tour. Andres is an excellent tour guide and very friendly. He is fluent in English and very knowledgeable. He explains very well and we learned a lot about the Ingapirca and the surrounding area.

Jovani was our driver and Adrian was our guide. Both were great! The day before we got confirmation of our pick up time via WhatsApp (0840-0845). The entire drive had a beautiful scene. We had our first rest stop at about 15-20 minutes and then stopped at the church. It’s higher altitude here and you will feel it when walking the church steps. It’s about 3-4 flight of stairs. Afterwards, we had our next stop which was catching a taste of cascaritas (toasted pork skin) and learned about the process of cooking the entire pig. We had a free sample of pork meat, then had the opportunity to buy a plate of the pork skin ($6 plate, good size for sampling for 2-3 people). Next we stopped at IngaPirca. Park entrance fee was $2.00 per person. Unfortunately for us, it was raining the entire time. This did not stop the trip. There are local shops that sell rain pancho. Even if it doesn’t rain, highly recommend wearing dry fit clothing, tennis shoes, and an umbrella. Our group had our pants and socks socked through, it was even a bit cold. Despite the weather, I had a great experience! Lastly, we had lunch which consisted 2 chicken options. Option 1: grilled chicken, salad, and quinoa. Option 2: chicken leg in a tomatoe sauce (for Spanish speakers it was like pollo entomatado), fries, salad. Both options included an horchata drink (warm sweet tea). Kudos to Jovani and Adrian. They were great company, kind, and friendly. Thank you for a wonderfully time.

Small group tour to the very beautiful Rocio Virgin Church with unique castle-like architecture. We had a short stop to try roasted/skin flamed pork and then a detailed walking tour of Ingapirca with option to see the “face” in the mountain. We stopped for a delicious lunch too, and our tour guide. Wilson was very knowledgeable, patient and and helpful.

We had a great time! Our guide Wilson was fantastic and provided great information and history about everywhere we went. Would highly recommend!!!

Luis Gonzales was a superb guide ! He’s very knowledgeable, personable, courteous and fun. He is a safe driver and his van was comfortable and clean.

Luis was extremely knowledgeable about the history of the Ingapirca archeological site and the people who lived in that region. We learned much of the small towns we went through. The tie dye and weaving portion of the tour was so very interesting. The man made beautiful woven products—all by hand. A spot we never would have found on our own. The beautiful town of Chordeleg had so many talented creations of jewelry, leather, and handicrafts. Luis’ exceptional knowledge of the English language made our day and communication so much more special. The restaurant which he took us to for lunch was top notch, the food sensational.

Our guide, Luis, did an amazing job. Very knowledgeable about Cuenca, and the history of the region. Very pleased with the tour.

Andres was an excellent guide. He shared his knowledge of Ingapirca and Ecuador with us which made our visit very enjoyable.

It was an amazing tour and very interesting. Wilson is the best guide we have in cuenca . At every stop we had , he showed and explained us every detail so we came home with a lot of knowledge from the history of cuenca and the inkas . Thanks for everything it was an amazing tour.

My husband and I had an amazing trip with our guide, Luis, hiking a section of the Inca Trail and visiting the Ingapirca Ruins. Luis is an amazing guide; he is very knowledgeable, and we learned a lot from him about the recent and ancient history of Ecuador and its peoples. We highly recommend this tour!

The tour was wonderful, nobody else was scheduled so it was a private tour. The guide spoke English fluently and was amazing

Wilson is top notch! This tour guide has both deep knowledge and personal ties to Cuenca, which enhanced our tours —immensely. Whether it be culture, history, botany, geology, archeology, gastronomy —his knowledge shared made me feel like I had taken a college class with a fun professor. And he’s so open to any question. I cannot wait to get back to Ecuador thanks to Wilson. Jamy from Austin, Texas

Thank you, Cuena Bestours. Our tour of Ingapirca with Wilson was spectacular! He’s an excellent guide. As someone that has lived in Cuenca all his life, Wilson helped us understand how people have lived in the region over the last 600 years. We discussed many topics during the car ride and lunch including a quick stop to watch the process of the famous pig roasting. We would recommend to family and friends!

We booked this tour through Viator, which was very easy and straightforward. From the time of booking, Cuenca Bestours was immediately attentive, giving all necessary information and making arrangements for pick-up, etc. We booked this tour months in advance, and in the tour details they request one to send them a confirmation email a couple days before the tour, just to make sure everything is good to go. I liked the communication and attention to detail. No surprises. Our guide, Sebastian, was great! He answered all of our questions related to the tour, Cuenca, and Ecuador in general. He even gave us advice for the different locations we will be visiting during our travels. Sebastian was extremely knowledgeable about everything, we learned so many interesting things in the 7-8 hours we spent with him. We had lunch at this awesome restaurant that is also a museum (and you can do a half-day tour just for that). Great vegetarian options, great vibe. We finished the tour feeling happy, wishing Sebastian could be our guide for the rest of Ecuador, and wishing that we could stay in Cuenca much longer.

The visit to the Ingapirac ruins will a highlight of our visit to Cuenca. It was a large part due to all the information given to us by our guide, Wilson. The trail was very accessible to a person with mobility issues. The site itself had wonderful views of the surrounding area.

Great tour guide, very knowledgeable and informative, excellent English. The site itself a little simple having visited Machu Pichu, but still a great atmosphere and history. Go here before MP if possible. Really good to travel as a small group and avoid the crowds.

Our trip to Ingapirca was wonderful, our tour guide Wilson was very knowledgeable and helpful with all of our questions. He was like traveling with a friend instead of the tour guide. Lunch was really good, I would highly recommend this day trip.

We had a fabulous day on our tour to Ingapirca and a couple of other sites. Our guide, Enrique, was very knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating. He was especially good at engaging our 14- and 16-year olds We had a delicious lunch during the trip and the opportunity to see how silver filigree is made at an artisanal workshop. We also visited a museum/workshop to see how authentic Ikat fabric is made. The drive was very interesting itself and Enrique provided commentary along the way. Our driver, Manuel, was safe and great at pickups and drop offs during the day. Highly recommended tour!

We loved the adventure and variety of activities from seeing they famous Virgen de Rocio in town of Biblian and hearing it's origin story (caution 145 steps! But view worth the climb) to watching unique local pork skins in the making, to the amazing Ingepirca ruins (an easy walk) to seeing the incredible Incan face and enjoying delicious local cuisine... It was a lovely day made better by thee small group atmosphere and great information from Wilson.

I had a fantastic day with Sebastian, the guide, seeing the Ingapirca ruins and Cuenca city tour. He was wonderfully knowledgeable and kind, even telling me about the cleansing ceremonies performed by women at the Cuenca food markets on tuesdays and fridays (normally only something the locals participate in). He also recommended the Pumapongo museum (to learn about the indigenous culture, although I could probably have done without seeing the shrunken heads!), which I did after the tour. It was a great tip. A memorable and enjoyable day.

Wilson was excellent! The tour was interesting, I met some lovely people. Wilson made the tour great

Luis was a spectacular guide, cannot recommend highly enough - helped every step of the way and was an A delight from start to finish. Will be using this service again!

I like to see the Inka-Ruins. It was a very nice Travel from Cuenca to Ingapirca with Sandra. She Trondheim us a lot about this Ruins!

Sebastian made the tour. He was knowledgeable and personable. We got a glimpse into what it is like to be Ecuadorian. Ingapirca is in a great setting and if you can't get to Peru this is a great alternative.

Very disappointed with the company. Had to cancel the tour last minute, very disappointed I was not able to see Ingapirca due to misinformation on the site. The Ingapirca site has been closed since last year, but they claim not to know this and blamed viator and ingapirca management. They offered me to still travel to Ingapirca to see the ruins from outside the site.

The tour to Ingapirca was well organised and a worthwhile visit whilst in Cuenca. Our guide, Andres, was so knowledgeable and passionate about Ecuador and it’s history. I learnt a lot about not only the ruins, but local indigenous communities, wildlife and flora. The lunch included was also delicious. I’d highly recommend this tour.

Had a great tour with Eddy! Very informative and great to talk to. Highly recommend to anyone who is in Cuenca to take this tour.

This was a really fun tour with a great guide, he was very knowledgeable about every topic in the tour and it was a great experience.

Our guide, Genaro, was awesome. He shared so much interesting information on the tour. His explanations made the site come to life. Very knowledgeable and friendly. Our elementary age kids really enjoyed it as well. Definitely recommend if you’re in the area.

Andreas was not only knowledgeable about Inca and Ecuador history, he answered the multitude of questions about customs we’d observed our previous week in Quito. Splayed many mysteries that lrlhad left us scratching our heads!

We took the "Ingapirca Ruins Day-Tour from Cuenca with Small Group" tour and the first half of the tour was great, but the second half was terrible. The Ingapirca portion was fantastic but then we went to Rocio Virgin Church only to discover it was closed. We couldn't go inside the church but there was a small museum on the first floor that was open - instead of taking us there for the alloted 20 minutes (or giving us free time), so we could at least see something after driving all that way, the guide rushed us back to the minivan. Then, the frustrating part, we drove 40 minutes out of the way to have lunch at a hotel. The food was standard fare (locro de papas, pollo a la plancha) so there was really no reason for us to go all the way there. It only would have been worth it if the restaurant was a local hidden gem, which it was not. We would have preferred to save that time and just go straight back to Cuenca since it was the last stop on the tour.

My wife and I decided to take a day trip while visiting Cuenca to see Ingapirca and we really enjoyed it. We chose Cuenca Bestours instead of just taking the bus there and joining a group and that turned out to be a great decision. Sebastian, our guide, spoke amazing English and he was extremely knowledgable on everything we discussed. In addition to his thorough and interesting tour of Ingapirca, on our drive to and from the site, he discussed so much about the Ecuadorian culture, people and their history. We learned more today about Ecuador than we have in our past two weeks of being here. It was a fascinating day and we couldn't have asked for a better tour.

Love it! You must take this tour, the explanation was amazing, they were really helpful with the pick up, even so I mess the hotel direction. Also they follow up all covid19 security measures.

I can’t imagine anyone doing a better job than our guide Andres. He enthusiastically shared his knowledge of the Incas and the political strategies they deployed to coexist with the Ecuadorean indigenous Cañari people. He made us aware of the significance of the Temple of the Sun, constructed jointly, and exemplifying both the Cañari knowledge of the solar solstices, and combined Cañari/Incan building techniques. Going in July, at this altitude, we had light rains off and on during the tour, with chilly temps, and steady breezes, so I would suggest warm clothing and rain gear. Gloves and a scarf would have been nice to have. Before we left the ruins, we had a warm cup of low-alcohol chicha to take off the chill, served at the outdoor gift shop. After touring the ruins, we stopped for a very nice and typical Ecuadorean lunch at a local restaurant. We then headed to a small town in the Cañar province to take in the local Cañari farmers market. Before heading back to Cuenca, our last stop was in the town of Biblián where we climbed the steep steps to the sanctuary of El Santuario de la Virgen del Rocío, or the Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Dew, which is a 100+ year old church built into the side of a cliff. All in all a great day and well worth the cost of the tour!

Had a great tour with Sebastian and one other tourist. I was picked up from my residence precisely on time and the rest of the tour proceded as expected. Sebastian delivers a wealth of information about the Ecuadorian past and life in Ecuador toady. After visiting the ruins of the Ingapirca temple we were treated to a refreshing meal featuring local favorites such as potato soup and mote. I recommend Cuenca Bestours to anyone visiting Ecuador.

Luis was our driver/guide for our all day tour. He was fantastic!! He was knowledgeable on so many topics... from Ecuador overview, to the sites we saw. He really personalized the tour and was very willing to answer all our questions about any topic we brought up. Scenery along the drive, Stone Church, Ruins, lunch were all great. One of our best tours ever...highly recommend.

We had a really nice tour to ingapirca with a lot of additional information from our guide. The guide could speak fluent english and spanish.

Had so much fun seeing the countryside around Cuenca and learning about Ecuador. Javier was very nice, informative and a great host for our group of 6. About an 1 1/2 drive each way, really nice lunch and fun stops always my the way

Habier is so knowledgeable and such a nice guide...he made our day very enjoyable. The scenery and drive to the ruins was amazing and the tour of the Sanctuary of Morning Dew was a highlight. We then stopped for a snack and learned how they roast pigs for their skin which is a delicacy. Lunch was also great.

Our guide, Javier, was very knowledgeable about the customs and lives of the Incans and the Cañaris. We all learned so much. He was very accommodating, stopping for breakfast and a wonderful lunch. In addition he spoke perfect English, so we could all get the most out of the tour. Being picked up and dropped off at our hotel was so convenient. All in all this was the perfect tour and well worth every penny!

My family took a tour of Ingapirca with Javier. It was so much fun. Javier was incredibly friendly and knowledgeable. If I had gone by myself, I would have missed half of what the place has to offer. My parent-in-laws where placed just outside of Cuenca in the 70s with the peace corps and Javier helped them find where they used to live after we got done with Ingaprica. It was such an amazing trip. We will definitely be using him again when we go back to Cuenca.

Our guide Adrian is very attentive. He knows the place very well and gives good explanations of the history of each specific element that is being seen, also makes it enjoyable and it is nice to talk to him.

The place is super impressive, impossible to miss on the visit and tour of Cuenca, the landscape is spectacular and the ruins are very well maintained, the guide explained many things

It was an excellent experience. We learned something new and had a lot of fun with the rest of the group. It was an unforgettable experience