This is a small but nice place. The trip from Cuenca can take 2.5 hours by bus. You can pay 60 dollars to go on a private tour that will take you there faster and you can stay as long as you want. Or you can take the bus at the terminal (1.5 dollars in a taxi from the historical center to the terminal) which leaves at 9 am or 12:30 noon and goes directly there; you can buy a roundtrip ticket for 8 dollars. Just keep in mind that it is a public bus, so it stops frequently to pick up and drop off passengers and it has to go all the way to nearby towns such as Cañar, El tambo and some more before it arrives in Ingapirca. The bus will wait for you two hours and then it goes back to Cuenca. If you miss it, you can go to El Tambo and take a bus from there. If you are on a budget, this is the best option. If you can afford it and don’t want to spend 5 hours in a bus, take a private tour. Tha place itself is quite small, you have to take a tour with a local guide, the entrance is 2 dollars and the tour might take 40 minutes. Those tours are at certain hours and you have to wait for more people to complete the minimum number of people allowed. You can actually see the whole thing from the entrance door, but the guide will explain some more.

Beautiful countryside setting with rolling hills in the Canar province primarily featuring the foundation Inca ruins. Ingapirca means inca walls. The site is believed to have been a temple. The temple has been well looked after and restored and although not elaborate it does look imposing. A good portion of the site is a walk around the foundation areas and rings. There are various things to read about the construction and purpose. There is also an inca walk. The site has many tourist shops and people selling things. A newish centre features modern toilets.

Ruins of ancient past are one of my "have-to's" on any journey, so Ingapirca was to be a highlight for me. My guide, however, didn't seem as joyous to be there let alone guide me as I was paying him for, sadly. The special thing about the site is that on one end was the Temple of the Sun (Inca) and directly across from it was the Canary castle complex (indigenous peoples) and running from one to the other is an aqueduct system thanks to the Canaries. This is worth your time and learn about the cultural "union".

I took the bus at 9 from Cuenca (return ticket 8 dollars), we come at 11:30, the tour through the main site with a guide (in Spanish) lasted from 12 to 12:45. Then we could continue on ourselves on a self guided path visiting the Incas game and Incas face etc. The bus departed at 13:30 and came to Cuenca after 16 o’clock. The bus was waiting quite a long time in Cañar. For me it was a little bit hurry. On the selfguided tour (45 min normally) there were some small restaurants of local people, also the possibility to buy the chicha de jora. Also lot of artesania etc. Last but not least there is a nice museum. I would maybe recommend to search for some earlier connection to Ingapirca (via Cañar) or later return connection to enjoy the site for a longer time.

Really glad we stopped here on way to Cuenca. The site is small compared to the Peruvian Incan ruins we've seen but it is significant. We joined a tour at the site with an excellent guide who spoke both English fluently and who really brought the history and meaning of the site alive. It was interesting to learn how the older Canari civilization and beliefs were incorporated by the Incans. And the Sun Temple is unique being an oval shape. Definitely worth a visit!

A beautiful way to end our visit to Ecuador and Galappagos on our way back from Cuenca to Guyaquil. If you have the time take thios detour. After having visited Machu Pichu this was a nice refresher of Maya hostory

We booked this side-trip from our hotel. It was a scenic 6–7-hour trip riding through the countryside. The archaeological site had good signage and our driver explained the ruins, as well. There was a walking trail nearby which allowed us to see some interesting rock formations.