THE PEARL OF THE PACIFIC FOR BUSINESS OR PLEASURE Founded in the 1530s, Ecuador's largest city and main port is the primary access point for Galapagos cruises and home to bustling import-export businesses. Guayaquil is primarily visited by business travelers or tourists on their way to the Galapagos Islands but local tourism is on the rise as well, thanks to a multi-facetted renewal process which has already resulted in a new international airport and urban renewal projects along the River Guayas promenade and in the historic neighborhood of Las Peñas. Guayaquil is in the process of undergoing a major face-lift and is rapidly becoming a more cosmopolitan city and the signs are visible throughout; new and renovated hotels, high-end shopping, and quality restaurants are popping up everywhere. |
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Some of the city’s major attractions and things to do are: |
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El Malecon 2000 Is the most important civic-touristic-commercial center of South America. It's turning into the most complete and modern center of urban recreation of the country. Featured are multiple green areas of entertainment and commercial service. |
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Mall del Sol Travelers will find plenty of shopping in this new mall, and with most of its store names in English, it will feel eerily familiar to North American travelers. |
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Mercado Artesanal Is the largest artisan market in the city. The market is housed in a 240-shop building that takes up the entire block of Baquerizo Avenue, between the streets Loja and Juan Montalvo. Its many vendors sell indigenous crafts, jewelry, paintings, and more! |
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La Rotonda A monument commemorating the historical meeting between Simon Bolivar, the liberator, and Jose de San Martín, which determined the formation of the great Colombia (integrated by Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador) and the farewell of San Martín, who would leave the continent after that. |
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Barrio de Las Peñas This 400-year old neighborhood was declared a cultural patrimony of the nation in 1982, for being the most representative urban-architectural complex of the 20th century. It is located in the very same place where the city was founded and is characterized by its paved streets and Spanish style wooden houses. |
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The Santa Ana hill - ideal to obtain a panoramic View - and the Guayas river constitute their natural surroundings.The picturesque colonial district of Las Peñas, with its working docks and bobbing restaurant boats makes a good place to eat seafood, sip a beer and watch the city's river traffic. The chocolate-colored Guayas River teams with fragile rafts paddled by banana peddlers, huge ocean liners, dugout canoes and fishing trawlers. Las Peñas historic streets now house art galleries and artists' studios, the city's oldest church, Santo Domingo. |
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Church of Santo Domingo It is the oldest church in the city. Its original construction dates from 1548, but had to be restored 390 years later. There is water well on its interior that, according to some faithful people, has curative properties. |
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The Cathedral Originally it was constructed with wood in 1547, but a fire consumed its structures. In 1948, the present temple of neo-gotic style was elevated. They emphasize its glassworks and the marble altar brought from Cuenca. You can find it in Chile Street. |
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Parque del Centenario The biggest in Guayaquil. It occupies an extension of four blocks, where you can observe a number of monuments, being the one of greater importance the one for freedom; it shows the image of the Ecuadorian heroes. On its surroundings, statues of a minor size represent history, justice, and heroism. |
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Parque Bolivar It is the botanical garden of the city and it has less than a century of existence. In their green areas and pools, you can find turtles and iguanas that are used to being in contact with the public. |
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Municipal Museum The Jibaros (a tribe of the Amazonia) had the custom to reduce the heads of their enemies, and after the procedure were the size of a doll head. Until now, the investigators have not been able to discover the methods and techniques used by the natives. An impressive collection of these “Military trophies “ is exhibited in the room located between the Sucre and Pedro Carbo streets. |
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Other interesting museums are the House of the Ecuadorian Culture (it exhibits Pre-Columbian objects found in the Ecuadorian coast) and the Museum of the Central Bank (an important exhibition of Pre-Hispanic utensils and samples of ceramic and textile). |
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With its distinct flavor, Guayaquil is upbeat and intent on developing |
