Galapagos, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia

Metropolitan TouringBoard in the islands, then continue into the Andes

Metropolitan Touring works out of Ecuador and puts the Galapagos together with the mainland. You can sleep on a ship, sleep on an island, or do both, and the mainland side runs through Quito, cloud forest and highland culture into Peru and Colombia. Naturalist guides lead the landings and water outings throughout.

Ecuador is the base. The company runs Galapagos expedition ships and hotels on the islands, and also operates routes through Ecuador, Peru and Colombia on the mainland.

Discuss this journey Before you go

Read this page in Chinese

PlaceGalapagos and the Andes

TypeCruise and land operator

SuitsFirst-time Galapagos travellers

Stay5-8 nights

Off the ship in the Galapagos, then into the Andes

Galapagos, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia — Galapagos cruise and land operator.

Ecuador is the centre of gravity, and the Galapagos sits inside a wider South American network. You can take the ship, take an island hotel, or put the two together, and the mainland days are arrangements in their own right rather than transfers. The trip is not confined to a single sea route.

On a first visit to the islands, the useful comparisons are where you go each day, how you land, and how hard the activity is. Ship size and cabin comfort matter, but so do the quality of the naturalist briefing and the hours actually spent ashore.

This suits a first trip to the Galapagos, and travellers who want the naturalist explanations to be solid and the ground operation to be steady. The range is broad, so what counts is the specific ship, hotel and route on your itinerary rather than the company name.

Stone terraces of a mountain ruin disappearing into cloud, green peaks rising behind them. — Machu Picchu under cloud, terraces stepping down

A grid of lit windows and street lamps across a historic district, photographed at night from above. — A colonial quarter lit up after dark

Small painted boats lined along a narrow channel, a few visitors standing on the stone bank.

Landings led by resident naturalists

Daily walks, snorkel sessions and skiff cruises are built around whatever lives on that island. Each landing point has its own ground, its own animals and its own rules, so the briefing changes with the site. Choose a route for the habitats you care about rather than counting how many islands it touches.

Five or six travellers standing together on dark coastal rocks, sea and sky behind them.

A ship and an island hotel move differently

A ship moves you while you sleep; an island hotel keeps one bed and one bathroom for several nights. The first spreads the archipelago wider, the second asks less of your luggage and your sleep. Both are ways of doing the Galapagos, and the choice sets how many transfers your week actually contains.

Two visitors crouching at eye level with a black marine iguana on a rocky path.

Mainland chapters that change the altitude

Quito, highland haciendas and cloud forest attach to either end of the sailing, and each brings a different altitude, climate and set of things to look at. Moving between them costs road time, so the mainland leg needs slack rather than a tight sequence of stops.

A corner of an old building lit by warm lamps at night, empty street, cut stonework visible.

Route

A seven-night sailing, or a two-week run

Take the seven-night sailing on its own, or stretch it into twelve to sixteen nights across Ecuador and its neighbours. The island section usually runs five to eight days, with at least one mainland night on each side for the domestic flights and boarding. The longer version is where Peru and Colombia come in.

Building the islands and the mainland into one trip

The range is wide, so pin the ship, the island hotel and the mainland route before anything else goes on the calendar.

Stay

Plan five to eight days in the archipelago, with at least one night on the mainland on each side of the flights.

Getting there

Domestic flights from Quito or Guayaquil reach the islands, and boarding happens at the assigned airport and dock for your ship.

Season

The Galapagos can be visited all year. Month by month, sea temperature, currents, breeding activity and visibility change what a route emphasises.

Watch out

The range is large, so judge everything by the specific ship, hotel and route in front of you rather than by the brand.

Plan this into a journey

Tell us whether you want the ship, the island hotel or both, and how much mainland time you can add. We will shape the sequence.

[email protected]

Read this page in Chinese

Discuss this journey