10 Reasons Ecuador is an Easy Travel Destination Especially for Americans

Ecuador is an awesome country to explore, To start with, there’s a huge choice of natural habitats to explore, including long tropical beaches, the Andes Mountain range, volcanoes and crater lakes, the Amazon rain forest and the incredible Galapagos Islands.

In addition, Ecuador has several absolutely gorgeous historic towns and cities, intriguing indigenous cultures, delicious food and friendly people.

There’s so much to see and do in Ecuador that it’s probably not possible to see everything in one trip.

With all that going for it, it’s good to know that Ecuador is also a very easy country to explore. That’s especially true for Americans. Here’s why:

1. Ecuador requires no visa to enter

Visitors to Ecuador from most countries do not need a visa to enter the country for a stay of up to 90 days. This includes Americans and most Europeans.

That means one less thing to prepare and one less thing to pay for.

2. Ecuador’s currency is the US Dollar

Amazingly, in 2000 the Ecuadorian government anounced that the country’s official currency would be the US Dollar.

Previously, the currency had been the Ecuadorian Sucre. But inflation was so bad for so long, with the Sucre constantly losing value, that the government simply abandoned the currency altogether.

This makes Ecuador one of the only countries outside the USA where the US Dollar is the official – and only – currency. Several other countries do accept US Dollars in addition to their own national currency. Aruba springs to mind. But very few countries operated solely on the US Dollar.

This makes Ecuador a super-easy country for Americans to visit. That means no need to exhange money or get used to dealing with an unfamiliar currency or having to mentally convert currency rates whenever paying for anything.

3. Ecuador uses the same electrical plug & socket system at USA

Outside the USA, it’s fairly unusual to find US sockets and electrical plugs. The UK uses a different configuration, European countries use yet another configuration, and most Asian countries use a third configuration.

But Americans traveling to Ecuador can use all the same plugs and chargers that they’re accustomed to using back home. That means there’s no need to buy electrical plug converters for any of your devises.

This means one less thing to prepare for and one less thing to spend money on.

4. Ecuadorians in the tourist sector speak good English

Nowadays in most global destinations, local people working in the tourist industry speak good English. The same holds true for Ecuadorians.

This clearly makes travel in Ecuador easy for Americans, as well as other people who’s first language is English.

Keep in mind, though, that locals outside the tourist industry generally don’t speak much English, if any. For this reason, if you can speak a bit of Spanish, that will make travel in Ecuador considerably easier when going to local shops, markets, bus stations, restaurants and other small locally-run enterprises.

But if you don’t speak Spanish, don’t worry. Travelers to Ecuador can get along just fine speaking English.

5. Ecuador is relatively close to the USA

Ecuador is about the same distance from most US locations as is Europe or the Caribbean isles. This South Amercan country, located in the northwest corner of the continent, is actually fairly close to the US.

For Americans in the southern US and western states, Ecuador is considerably closer to you than Europe. For people living in the far northeast, Europe and UK are a bit closer than Ecuador, but not by much.

Regardless of where you’re flying from in the US, Ecuador is considerably closer than Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries.

And, that, of course, means relatively short flights to and from Ecuador from most US locations.

6. Flights from USA to Ecuador are often very inexpensive

Ecuador’s proximity to the USA and shorter flights means lower costs to fly to/from Ecuador. Of course flight prices depend a great deal on where in the USA you’re flying to/from, as well as what time of the year (particularly in regards to high and low tourist seasons in Ecuador).

Depending on your departure city, flights to Ecuador can be extremely inexpensive. In fact, they can be less expensive than flying to many Caribbean islands.

Case in point, I flew from Tampa, Florida to Ecuador in mid-February, 2022. My flight to Guayaquil, Ecuador cost only $121 US one-way! That price included carry-on bags, check-in luggage, seat assignment and priority boarding.

It’s hard to beat that price from Tampa to most Caribbean islands, even though the islands are certainly closer to Florida than Ecuador.

7. Ecuador is very inexpensive

Besides potentially cheap air fares to/from Ecuador, the cost of travel within the country is quite inexpensive (aside from the Galapagos Islands).

Everything in mainland Ecuador is inexpensive: accommodation, food, groceries, public transportation, city taxis, entrance fees to most museums and national parks and other attractions.

Of course, it’s equally easy to explore Ecuador as a luxury traveler, too, staying at expensive international-standard 5-star and boutique hotels, eating at gourmet restaurants, getting around by taxis or privately hired cars, and splurging on expensive guided tours and entertainment options.

Like many coutnries of the world, Ecuador can be as cheap or as expensive as each traveler can afford. For budget travelers, like me, and mid-range travelers, too, Ecuador is quite affordable.

8. Eating is Easy in Ecuador

Restaurants are everywhere, easy to find and often very inexpensive. Local cuisine is the most common food served, but in larger towns and tourist areas, there are also restaurants serving ‘international’ cuisine and possibly Chinese, Italian, Japanese and other specialty restaurants.

Ecuadorians’ daily lunch specials are massive and incredibly cheap. Called ‘almuerzos’, they include a large glass of freshly-made juice, a huge bowl of homemade soup, a main entre of fish or chicken, pork or beef with rice and/or potatoes, and some sort of small salad. Some restaurants also throw in a small dessert. On mainland Ecuador, an almuerzo costs only $2.25-3 US. In the Galapagos they cost $5 US.

Ecuadorian-style meals are quite similar to American meals (compared to say, many Asian cuisines), which also makes travel in Ecuador easy for Americans.

Besides plentiful restaurants, there are a plethora of bakeries, cake & cookie shops, icecream shops, fruit & vegetable shops, butchers, small local groceries and large produce markets. You can barely walk one block in any town without running across at least one or two of these ubitiquitous shops.

In addition, large supermarkets are packed full of all the usual produce and other food items found in American supermarkets. Fresh fruits and vegetables are plentiful, diverse and quite inexpensive.

For all these reasons, eating in Ecuador is a breeze.

9. Covid entry requirements are easy

As of spring, 2022, Ecuador’s Covid entry requirements call for each visitor to be either fully-vaccinated (with proof of vacination) or else have a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of the flight to Ecuador.

That’s pretty lenient among countries at this time. Many coutnries require both full vacination and a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of the flight or arrival in the country.

10. Covid rules & procedures within Ecuador are reasonable

As of spring, 2022, life in Ecuador is proceeding almost like pre-pandemic times. There are no lockdowns or curfews. Overland public transportation and air travel is all functioning normally. Restaurants, cafes, bars, dance clubs, public pools, spas, hotels, museums, churches and other attractions are all open and functioning normally.

The only sign that Covid exists is that people wear face masks in public, both outdoors and inside. Of course, face masks are required in airports, on planes, on buses and inside any public places like museums and restaurants.

A few museums, stores or businesses may require proof of vaccination to enter, but this is fairly rare.

That’s it. Life is almost back to normal here at this point in 2022.

Conclusion

Ecuador is an amazing country to visit. It’s filled with a huge diversity of stunning natural places as well as beautiful historic cities and indigenous cultures.

Quite happily, Ecuador is a very easy travel destination for all the reasons explained above. If you’ve been looking for a great country to explore, consider visiting Ecuador, especially if you’re in the USA.

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