Fly into Quito or Guayaquil

GYE is clearly better.

How much is the bus service to Cuenca? I see GYE is much closer it just appears more people on here fly into UIO.

Thanks

GYE is better, bus service is not recommended, better if you use a van service but lately it looks like they had problems with driving permits and are not allowed to travel between GYE and Cuenca or they use a longer way to get to Cuenca.

About the storage, I know a storage place,probably the only one in Cuenca, I can find out if they have room available.

Vinny

Thanks Vinny

Why the issues with the travel from GYE to Cuenca, what company would you recommend and what should be the cost?

I was quoted $ 14.00 for the Van, but.... that will vary according to the luggage you have with you. I have heard, at the high end, to rent a Van privately, it is $ 80.00. You would have the whole van for yourselves, and of course, you can have a lot of luggage. It is NOT advisable to make this trip in the dark!
Best in Your Travels
Neil

We will fly into GYE and spend the night then travel to Cuenca the next day.

We use the van both going and coming when we fly to the States.  We fly out of Guayaquil.  Renting the van it picks you up where you are staying and drops you at your destination (residence-airport GYE or airport -residence).  If you go the shared route you have to go to the van place with all your luggage.  If you are traveling to Guayaquil they might pick you up at the airport but my guess is you get to the van place.  When you get to Cuenca, then you have to get from the van place to where you are staying.

Azuaytur, which we use, told us they charge 12 USD for each piece of big luggage.  For the two of you it is $160 round trip.  A ton of luggage in a strange place...I would go with the van.

We went to the States last Nov.  The van came at 08h00 to our residence and dropped us off at the airport by 11h00.  When we returned it picked us up at the airport at 18h30 and had us at our residence by 22h30.  Best money I spent.

The cost from Houston to Ecuador is more expensive to go to Guayaquil. On average about 200 bucks. And takes longer. No problem finding a cheap motel for a few hours in Quito. And hopping a short flight to Cuenca from there the next day. Dont take a bus from Quito to Cuenca. Its a looooong haul, from what I hear. Flight is cheap and only 45 minutes.

Tx, with the new Quito airport opening Feb 20, your options are sleep in the airport or take an hour bus ride into Quito and back the next day. Until hostals are open near the new airport GYE is probably a better option.

You are right about the lack of places to stay. The place I normally use, is just about the same distance to both airports. Hotel Bonanza. So it wont make any difference on time. And it saves me about $300, and is a shorter flight. It all depends on where you leave the US from. But time will tell on the Quito airport. When we return from our visit to the US in June, I should have some info on how things are going at the Quito airport. And it may be worth the extra money to avoid it.

I think the flight is about 120 USD...plus cab to and fro is estimated between $25 to #30 each way.  When we looked at it last Nov it was cheaper overall to fly into Guayaquil and a lot more convenient.

Quito, my guess is Tx has a "friend" in Quito that he likes to visit.

Wish that was so, but I am just too ugly to attract much. Fact is take a look at time schedules for Quito and Guayaquil from Houston. And then look at price. Then tell me if I am wrong. It does have to do when you fly. I entered coming back to EC in mid June, and going back to US in mid Dec. Price was over $250 more per person. Price was close to same on some other dates.

It looks like rates from Montana to GYE vary from $990 and up, it looks like we will travel down on March 26 for two weeks, $1043 for each ticket.