Ruta de las cascadas

Ruta de las cascadas

Ruta de las cascadas
4.5
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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.

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4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles1,431 reviews
Excellent
899
Very good
412
Average
85
Poor
23
Terrible
12

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galadiel67
Chiavari, Italy3,794 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2023 • Family
Banos is a humid place and the Ruta de las Cascadas is a must :-). Best done by bike (there are countless places to rent bikes in the village), but not when the weather threatens rain. In fact, we preferred a half-day tour and, at least, we were indoors as much as possible while it rained more and more during the day. But water was the queen of the day. In fact, the Route allows you to touch the valley between Banos and Puyo, famous for its waterfalls, small, large, squat, elongated. The Manto de la Novia and the Pailon del Diablo are the most famous.
We did not return to Banos, but continued to Puyo by bus. If you travel along this road by public transport, as possible, remember that it is very busy. For this reason, the buses will often be full and will not stop to let you on, even if you are waiting for refugees under a small shelter while it is pouring rain.
Google
Written February 14, 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.

Martine Billing
Lima, Peru20 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Friends
Riding along the rainforest covered mountains, through tiny villages and passing beautiful waterfalls: this was a great activity!

We spent about 1 1/2 hours all the way from Baños to el Pailon del Diablo (the Devils Caldron), stopping to watch and photograph the breathtaking waterfalls along the way. It’s an easy ride with a slope downhill more or less all the way. I guess you’d spend about 30 minutes if you don’t stop. At the Devils Caldron there are busses waiting so you can bring your bike and skip the uphills getting back to Baños. Two of us went on the bus, while me and another friend biked back. It’s totally doable and we spent about 1 1/2 hours on the way back, but this time without stops.

I would though not recommend this route for travelers with children, elders, etc. You will be biking along the main road where cars and trucks will be passing you, sometimes quite fast and rather close. We mostly felt okay, but you should be cautious and take care. Parts of the way are bike/walking only, but you will have to share the road with cars most of the time. This is why I don’t give the experience a full rating.

The prices vary somewhat depending on who and where you rent from. It may be a good idea to pass by a couple of options and ask when you’re there. We had no problems renting that same day and did not make any reservations for this activity.

We were very happy none the less, and very much enjoyed this active way of seeing and exploring the Ecuadorian part of the Amazon. I would definitely do it again, and recommend it, keeping in mind the caution that should be taken.
Written January 21, 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.

Liesel A
Provo, UT8 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2023 • Family
Views were incredible! Worth biking the whole route.

Pro tip: You can bike to the fifth waterfall (the only one where you can swim). Lots of people say you have to walk, but you just continue biking down the road past the Devil's Cauldron, makes it 100x better.

Pro tip: You can go up the left or the right side of Devil's Cauldron. There are two different entrances but they cost the same price. If you go up the right side you can stand underneath a part of the waterfall. This side is not wheelchair accessible--there are lots of stairs and a part where you have to climb/crawl underneath a rocky overhand.

If you go up the left side it is less stairs and you get less wet.
Written October 16, 2023
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.

Hannele J
5 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2022 • Couples
My partner and I both bike a lot both for transportation and pleasure, but despite our experience found this route extremely unpleasant. It is along a very busy highway. Rather than taking in the beautiful views, we had to concentrate all our energy on either navigating bumpy cobblestones or staying between speeding cars on our left and steep drop offs on our right, all the more difficult on rusty bikes which veered wildly with every gust of wind. If you are going to bike this route, which I don’t recommend, please spend the extra money to rent a good bike.
Written January 8, 2022
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.

Matt A
Hermosa Beach, CA580 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2022 • Solo
This is a fun half-dayish activity, although not as fun IMO as climbing Chimborazo or the jungle tour I did.

I rented a bike for $5 in town and rode it to the last waterfall then back to Banos.

Most of the waterfalls are across the canyon and are pretty but not spectacular. El Diablo, at the end, is the exception. There are zip lines, cable cars and other fun things along the route. At El Diablo there is a lot going on.

Riding the bike on the way out was downhill and fun. Yes, you share the road with the traffic but they all know you’re there. I never felt unsafe.

The way back was almost all uphill and was very difficult and not fun. There are trucks at El Diablo that will take you back to Banos, but they said they had to wait for 5 people to go back, or I could pay them $10. I didn’t feel like doing either.

Anyways, this was a fun outing, but given the difficulty of the ride back I wish I had just taken an open-air bus along the route like most people.
Written January 7, 2022
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.

Traveling_Doodle
Ecuador74 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
I would do this every time I come to Baños! The falls are amazing. I wasn't brave enough to do the extreme options, but enjoyed watching others do them and riding the tarabitas across the rivers. The short $2 route to the Pailon del Diablo was the way to go and I think even a better view of and behind the falls. Highly recommend doing this trip with Chebas Tour - they are the ones with the two story open air bus. Definitely the way to go!
Written February 3, 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.

Helen S
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2023 • Friends
Really a lot of cars on the highway and the paths is only following this road. There is no cycling lane. We tried it but stopped at the second waterfall because the road became to dangerous and unfortunately very polluted.
I would not recommend it with a bike and next time I would take the bus until the last waterfall and then enjoy it there.
We didn’t get to see the last one in the end :/
We hitch hiked back with our bikes in a pick up.
Written February 12, 2023
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.

Cheryl G
149 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2021
Went on a $5 party bus tour of Ruta de las Cascades. Fabulous drive through rainforest mountains and small villages while stopping to view and photograph the various waterfalls. While El Pailon was most impressive, the others were much smaller and sometimes hard to see.
Written September 28, 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.

Fred G
Milton, Canada571 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2022
We were a group of sixteen travelers from Canada, and visited the El Diablo waterfall, or the Devil's Cauldron. Is is the province's largest waterfall at 160 feet. We hiked down, down, down across rope bridges, etc, until we arrived at the side of the waterfall. Incredible views there-climbing back up was fairly arduous, use the walking sticks provided at the beginning of the descent.
Written October 8, 2022
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.

Robert O
Rotterdam, The Netherlands6,602 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
For me the best way to explore the gorge of the Pastaza river between Banos and Puyo was on foot. There is a trail called the Sendero de los Contrabandistas on the south side of the canyon. It is not well marked, but taking this route gives you an idea of nature and you avoid the tourist traps on the other side of the river.

The seven waterfalls along the road (Banos to Puyo) are sold as a product for tourists. I wonder if people realize that if they take a Chiva tour bus, they contribute to noise and air pollution. Locals in at least one village blocked to road once to protest the noisy illuminated party buses going through their village. If walking is not your thing there is a local (blue) bus on the same route as the Chiva buses, that stops at all the places of interest. Though I am a fanatic cyclist I would not recommend to cycle along the highway. It is not safe and the traffic is horrible. Especially the first tunnel east of Banos is dangerous. The tunnel is now illuminated, but the side of the road is slippery.
Written February 7, 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.

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Ruta de las cascadas - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2025)

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