Type of rental car needed

[LARRY ROSE]

We are planning our first trip to Ecuador, flying into Quito on November 26th, departing on December 9th. We want to visit Otavalo area, Cuenca, Guayaquil, and back to Quito for our flight out. Would a compact rental car work for this trip? 4 wheel drive vehicles are much more expensive. Any advice would be appreciated.

[COUNTRY EXPERT – WENDY DECHAMBEAU]

A compact car would work fine for that route as all the major highways are in good condition. That’s a pretty ambitious schedule you have for that amount of time though. Even though Ecuador is a small country it takes longer than you might expect to drive from point to point, largely due to the mountainous terrain. The roads curve often and you can’t maintain a speed of 60+ mph on the highways.

You’ll also want sufficient time to spend in each location to really be able to check it out. If I were you, I would look at either flying between the major cities or paring down the itinerary.

[LARRY ROSE]

Thank you Wendy, I am beginning to think that way. Will look at some short hops from Quito. Any suggestio9ns ?

[COUNTRY EXPERT – WENDY DECHAMBEAU]

With the amount of time that you have I don’t think it would be unreasonable to drive to Cuenca and back if you’re interested in seeing that city. I wouldn’t bother with Guayaquil as it takes more time and isn’t that attractive to most expats. If you do go to Cuenca allow for a full day of driving each way. Or maybe stop in Baños overnight on either the way there or back.

If you just want to do short trips out of Quito I would definitely recommend hitting the Otavalo/Cotacachi area. Saturdays are the big market day in Otavalo and that’s always a fun time so you may want to schedule your trip up there around a weekend. Mindo is in the cloud forest and only a couple of hours from Quito. And I already mentioned Baños which is a few hours south. I definitely think Quito’s valleys are worth exploring too and that can keep you busy for a few days.

I hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions!

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