Overnight Tours
2 days
Free cancellation
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from
$103
per adult
Cuenca City Tour
Cuenca City Tour
4
10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Full view
About
The best way to get to know Cuenca Cultural Patrimony of Humanity is aboard the city's official double-decker bus. In just two hours you can visit the most representative places of Cuenca. There are 2 routes available; "Cuenca Norte" and "Cuenca Sur" there are specific stops to visit museums, churches, and viewpoints of the City. On the route "Cuenca Sur" you can visit the Turi viewpoint. And on "Cuenca Norte" you can visit the Cullca viewpoint and the Homero Ortega hat museum.
Tours and Tickets by Cuenca City Tour
4WD Tours
6–8 hours
Free cancellation
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from
$55
per adult
4WD Tours
4 hours
Free cancellation
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from
$25
per adult
Port Transfers
4 hours
Free cancellation
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from
$141
per group
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
4.0
217 reviews
Excellent
77
Very good
80
Average
30
Poor
16
Terrible
14
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Daniela
Otavalo, Ecuador3 contributions
Jan 2021 • Family
Once I travelled with my family to cuenca it seemed to me a very interesting and very beautiful city with my familia went to a Baños de Agua Santa its a place wonderfu has beautifull landscapes. It also has a varied gastronomy with dishes such as empanadas de viento, and its famous sweet of panela corn. In my opinión it is a city that should be visited never forget my trip with my family there Cuenca is a wonderful place.
Written January 8, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Aussietravellers01
Australia21 contributions
Apr 2014 • Couples
If you're planning to visit Cuenca in Ecuador and want to also explore some of the surrounding attractions, I can highly recommend that you contact Javier Vallejo, who works as a freelance guide and driver in and around Cuenca. His email contact is javivu77@hotmail.com. During our recent trip to Cuenca, Javier was our guide for a tour of the old town and a day trip to the Panama hat factory and the villages of Gualaceo and Chordaleg. Javier has a university degree in Tourism and speaks very good English. He has a wide knowledge of Ecuador but doesn't overwhelm you with facts. He also has a special certificate to enable him to take tourists to the National Parks. Javier has an engaging personality and is very helpful if you need assistance with finding where to buy things or exchange money etc.. In addition, he is an excellent driver and negotiates the crazy Ecuadorian traffic with skill and patience.
Written April 25, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
samantha q
Alameda, CA38 contributions
Mar 2015 • Friends
If you're planning to visit Cuenca in Ecuador and the surrounding villages, Javier Vallejo is a wonderful tour guide. He picked three of us up a little later in the morning at my request (he's super flexible) gave us a great tour of the city (he's so very knowledgeable about everything in Ecuador) and then took us to some of the surrounding villages to see artists at work. We even got a behind the scenes look at the work of a silver jeweler. Javier speaks English beautifully, has a comfy car, and was so patient and jovial with us throughout the entire trip, answering every question we asked and even posing for pics with us. At one point, I bought 7 blankets, had to go back to our apartment for more money, and he both carried the bags of blankets, but stopped back at the house before we headed out some more. His email contact is javivu77@hotmail.com. I highly recommend Javier as a great guide for a tour of the old town and a day trip to the villages of Gualaceo and Chordaleg. In should be noted that in addition to being a really wonderful guide, filled with some excellent knowledge (which he earned through a university degree in tourism), he is an excellent driver. He's one of the best guides we've ever had on a trip, and we look forward to booking another tour with him on our next trip.
Written March 6, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BELANEL
Valencia, Spain35 contributions
May 2024 • Couples
I honestly didn't like the service. We went around the bus and looked at everything. And then they wanted to go through again and go where we wanted. For example, visit the hat museum. But the woman selling the tickets said that you cannot sit down again at the beginning of the tour, but rather you have to go to the next stop. We paid for the opportunity to use this bus during the day. What difference does it make where we get on the bus? I have never seen similar restrictions anywhere else. Cuenca is a nice city, but the demand to go to the next stop greatly ruined our experience. Taking a ride for $8 per person on a bus through traffic jams and then looking for another stop seems unfair to me.
Written May 9, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Luis Laguna
2 contributions
Apr 2019 • Couples
On Tuesday April 30 2019 at 2:30 in the afternoon, a group of friends decided to take the city tour bus. After avoiding tree branches and electrical wires along the way, we finally arrived at Mirador del Turi, the halfway stop of the tour where they direct you to the tourist traps that we are used to. There was no bathrooms available at the Mirador because there was no water. But wait, the bathroom was available to the locals because the lady who sells the toilet paper at the door of the bathroom (yes, they do sell the toilet paper) told us that she owned the bathroom and if was to be used only by those that she considered. I am a disabled veteran, and there was an 86 year old lady that was begging for someone to allow her to use the restroom. The lady couldn't hold herself any longer and I do not have to tell you the consequences. The tour staff when confronted with the situation stated that they do not wanted to get involved. When I questioned the bathroom owner about the situation I was told that I did not clean up there to go in the woods. When arriving back at the city I talked to an apologetic manager, whose name I do not remember now, with the cliche of I will look into it. There was no offer of remedy whatsoever to this situation. Please I beg you not to use this service. Only when they have no customers they will learn to respect them, They might be able to find jobs as bathroom attendants under the supervision of the owner of the public bathrooms at Mirador del Turi
Written May 12, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
lee9
Plantation, FL876 contributions
Jul 2017 • Couples
Advertised as a hop- on, hop-off sightseeing tour.....it's not! There is no local office, can't pay with a credit card, no headphones for audio, no set schedules. Got to the main square for the 9:30 am tour and there was nothing. I suggest you don't get there before 10:30 am. The tour tickets are sold by women who walk around the square they will tell you anything you want to hear to get the sale, because they work on commission. The tickets are $8 per person but they don't tell you that this price is only for one route, if you want the complete circuit it's an additional $4, but the routes are not synchronised, the North route only runs a three times a day, so you have to wait for hours to do the second one! The bus is on a marathon run, you can't even take pictures they are going so fast! Beware if you ride on top deck for low wires and sit on the left side facing forward to avoid being hit by tree branches. The "red route" is suppose to have 5 stops, they only did one, the one at Turi, for 30 minutes. This stop is for observation of the city and restrooms, way too long! None of the other stops were announced. There are no signage identifying the tour stops. The "guide" gave mostly explanations in Spanish and forgot the English speaking paying customers. In reality, all she was pointing out were the names of the places as the bus was flying pass them. There was no historical data or knowledge filled information provided. You can easily take local bus #12 for .25 and get the same experience!!!!
Written July 22, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mark M
Jalisco, Mexico261 contributions
Oct 2015
There is a Red bus and a Yellow bus. Same prices pretty much. A very good expenditure of $8 per person to get a 2 hour overview of Cuenca. It picks up, and drops off, in front of the Old Cathedral (across the square from the Nueva Cathedral) in the center of town. We stood around looking – like tourists? – and a nice young woman selling tickets spotted us, sold us the tickets, and made sure we got on the bus.
We’d spent the previous day doing our own touring on foot, and wished we had done the bus tour first to better orient ourselves. We rode on the upper deck, which provided a great perspective to see some of the fine architecture we had frankly missed on foot at street level. The only downside to the upper deck is paying attention to the utility cables which occasionally come within a foot or so of your head. Just be mindful, and don’t stand up without looking first! It takes you to both the downtown historical center, and the newer south side of town, where the university is, as well as newer housing and apartments. The bus also takes you up to Turi, with great views of the valley and Cuenca below. The tourist trap portion (yes, you get off the bus and are taken to a gift shop) is tolerable and brief, no hard sell, you get a taste of the area drink specialty…canelazo, and you might even see a picture of a cuy (guinea pig) on a stick! They actually have pretty good prices, too, if you need a souvenir.
The tour covered a wide swath of Cuenca, and was well worth the time and money. A great overview. We did not get on / off, other than at Turi (where the bus waits for you) and that was fine, since the next bus doesn’t come for an hour at the other places you could get off. It was not obvious how one would get off anyway, but we assumed you could just ask the driver if you wanted to visit, say a museum.
We’d spent the previous day doing our own touring on foot, and wished we had done the bus tour first to better orient ourselves. We rode on the upper deck, which provided a great perspective to see some of the fine architecture we had frankly missed on foot at street level. The only downside to the upper deck is paying attention to the utility cables which occasionally come within a foot or so of your head. Just be mindful, and don’t stand up without looking first! It takes you to both the downtown historical center, and the newer south side of town, where the university is, as well as newer housing and apartments. The bus also takes you up to Turi, with great views of the valley and Cuenca below. The tourist trap portion (yes, you get off the bus and are taken to a gift shop) is tolerable and brief, no hard sell, you get a taste of the area drink specialty…canelazo, and you might even see a picture of a cuy (guinea pig) on a stick! They actually have pretty good prices, too, if you need a souvenir.
The tour covered a wide swath of Cuenca, and was well worth the time and money. A great overview. We did not get on / off, other than at Turi (where the bus waits for you) and that was fine, since the next bus doesn’t come for an hour at the other places you could get off. It was not obvious how one would get off anyway, but we assumed you could just ask the driver if you wanted to visit, say a museum.
Written November 6, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
wayfarerblue
Huntington Woods, MI121 contributions
Apr 2014 • Family
There are two double decker bus companies that offer the city tour, both start at the same place and both are equally organized and effecient ( which is to say not so much). One company has yellow buses and one has red buses. I am assuming they are different companies as they had different signs and different ticket takers.
Cost - $5 adults, $2 children (which is probably 12 and under)
The start - both start on the main square in front of the old cathederal.
Tickets - are sold by company reps wandering around the start - you'll probably see them but it seemed a bit chaotic. It was really crowded this day. We couldn't get on one bus so they sold us ticket for 90 minutes later and told us to come back 30 minutes before that bus (which was good advice)
Times - posted times are generally on the hour (yellow) or on the half hour (red) with a posted gap around noon. We were ther on Good Friday which was very busy! Our Red bus left on the hour not on the half hour and I don't think they recognized the break at lunch due to the volume
Stops - we had one stop - at the scenic outlook (Mirador Turi) overlooking the city. We stopped for about a half hour and in our case, you needed to be back on the bus, they didn't take a head count and they didn't wait around (they have no where to stop and it was busy). Do not quote me on this, but I think on normal days they make multiple stops and you can get on and off through out the day (our spanish is not that great!). If so, this is a cheap way to get around and get on and off and see a lot of stuff
The route - a great overview of the old city plus a ride up to the great lookout.
The staff - very helpful even though we struggle with spanish - the main guide spoke good english and narrates the tour in spanish and english. No one else spoke english but they were helpful and we got it all figured out!
The value - five bucks - great value - recommended
The tour including the 30 minute stop is about 2 hours
Cost - $5 adults, $2 children (which is probably 12 and under)
The start - both start on the main square in front of the old cathederal.
Tickets - are sold by company reps wandering around the start - you'll probably see them but it seemed a bit chaotic. It was really crowded this day. We couldn't get on one bus so they sold us ticket for 90 minutes later and told us to come back 30 minutes before that bus (which was good advice)
Times - posted times are generally on the hour (yellow) or on the half hour (red) with a posted gap around noon. We were ther on Good Friday which was very busy! Our Red bus left on the hour not on the half hour and I don't think they recognized the break at lunch due to the volume
Stops - we had one stop - at the scenic outlook (Mirador Turi) overlooking the city. We stopped for about a half hour and in our case, you needed to be back on the bus, they didn't take a head count and they didn't wait around (they have no where to stop and it was busy). Do not quote me on this, but I think on normal days they make multiple stops and you can get on and off through out the day (our spanish is not that great!). If so, this is a cheap way to get around and get on and off and see a lot of stuff
The route - a great overview of the old city plus a ride up to the great lookout.
The staff - very helpful even though we struggle with spanish - the main guide spoke good english and narrates the tour in spanish and english. No one else spoke english but they were helpful and we got it all figured out!
The value - five bucks - great value - recommended
The tour including the 30 minute stop is about 2 hours
Written April 18, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Brian
Sabaneta, Colombia30 contributions
Oct 2019 • Couples
Cuenca is a beautiful historic UNESCO city full of history and beautiful architecture. Walking the city and taking the bus tour is just incredible.
Written April 26, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
lucky71153
Charlotte, NC27 contributions
Aug 2019
I had a afternoon to kill, so I decided to try the tour bus. They offer 2 tours, the old town tour, which includes a trip to the Homero Ortega Panama hat factory and the new town tour. I took the old town tour, which provide a good view of the old town and the tour guide provided both English and Spanish very well. The Panama Hat tour was very interesting and of course I bought a nice hat. Priced from $30 to $3000, I bought one for $80. Very happy with my purchase and with the tour.
Written August 24, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi, we are happy you to did enjoy the tour and the shopping, Homero Ortega´s Panama Hats are both beatifull and good quallity.
We love to heard that we are doing a good job. If you have other free afternon you should try the south rute it´s really good I do recomend the 18h00 tour, the view from Turi is amaizing.
Written September 6, 2019
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Can you tell me what the departures times are in the morning for the South loop that goes up to Mirador de Turi? Is it on the top of every hour?
Written June 20, 2017
I don't really know [every 45 minutes] I just went to the main square and took the first one that appeared. I spent some time visiting the cathedral while waiting .
Written June 21, 2017
What are your hours of operation? How often does your red bus go from the Old Cathedral? How long is the red bus tour? How often does your yellow bus go from the Old Cathedral? How long is the yellow bus tour? How much does it cost for each tour, per person?
Written January 27, 2016
Yellow bus tour is about 45 minutes. $8 each.
Written January 28, 2016
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