Things to do in Cuenca.

Spend your hours tracing the red-tiled rooflines and the blue domes of the New Cathedral. Cuenca is a city best understood by navigating its cobblestone grids until the colonial geometry starts to make sense. Skip the curated spectacles and find a quiet corner of the Tomebamba riverbank to watch the water ignore the 16th-century walls

How to spend a layover in Cuenca.

A brief window in this high-altitude valley is best used to track the four rivers that slice Cuenca into distinct architectural eras. Walk the path along the Tomebamba, where the riverbank acts as a laundry line and a natural barrier for the old town above. It is a steep climb up the broken stone staircases to reach the northern plazas, but the reward is a quiet courtyard away from the tour groups. Grab a glass of unhurried filtered coffee in El Barranco and watch the shadows shift across the roofs

More things to do in the Ecuadorian Sierra.

The Pan-American Highway cuts through the Avenue of the Volcanoes, offering a vertical landscape that demands respect from your lungs. Stop in towns where the Sunday market remains a functional necessity rather than a performance for outsiders. From the wind-swept paramo to the crater lakes, the Sierra rewards those who prefer thin air and high-altitude silence

Where to stay in Cuenca.

Look for converted Republican-era mansions that have traded heavy gilding for clean linens and soaring ceilings. Prioritise establishments with internal courtyards that effectively muffle the city’s rhythmic hum. You want a heavy brass key and a room that feels like it has survived several centuries of seismic and political shifts without losing its composure

What to eat in Cuenca.

Food in the southern highlands relies on the intense, slow heat of clay ovens and the starch of the valley floor to counter the sharp evening drop in temperature. The markets here smell of roasted pork from hornado platters, where the meat is pulled directly from the carcass and paired with llapingachos—heavy, pan-seared potato cakes designed to sustain a full day of riding through the paramos. For a sharper palate cleanser, look for vendors serving mote pillo, a comforting, scrambled mix of hominy corn and local eggs that avoids the rushed sweetness of modern Andean transit food. Wash it down with a glass of bitter chicha de jora, an earthy, fermented corn broth that carries a sour kick and tastes entirely of the regional soil

Where to eat and drink in Cuenca.

Seek out mote pillo in a corner eatery where the furniture is as sturdy as the service. The local coffee scene is finally prioritising high-altitude beans that actually taste like the volcanic soil they were pulled from. In the evenings, skip the neon signs and find the basement bars serving artisanal spirits that carry the sharp kick of the Andes

When to visit Cuenca.

Prepare for four seasons in a single afternoon and pack your layers with pragmatic intent. April brings the rains that keep the highlands lush, while the dry window of July and August offers a crisp clarity that suits the city’s stone facades. The calendar is largely secondary to the permanent, contemplative mood of the mountain air

Is Cuenca safe?

The question of safety in Cuenca is less about constant peril and more about maintaining a baseline of sensible detachment. While the coast deals with its own heavy weather, Cuenca remains largely insulated by the Andes, though a state of emergency means you might encounter more fatigues and rifles than your average morning commute requires. Treat the historic centre after dark with the same healthy scepticism you’d give a cheap padlock

The history of Cuenca.

Cuenca’s past is a literal layering of civilisations, where Spanish colonial stone columns were built directly over the foundations of the Inca city of Tomebamba, which itself replaced the ancient Cañari settlement of Guapondelig. This constant state of urban reuse has left the city with a fractured, fascinating geometry, where marble facades from the nineteenth-century export boom clash with the older, whitewashed adobe walls. It is a city that has always been stubbornly isolated by its geography, a trait that preserved its independent artisan culture long before the paving stones arrived. Walking the narrow alleys of San Sebastián reveals this quiet defiance, where traditional metal workshops and weaving studios continue to operate completely unbothered by external expectations

Ecuadorian cycling culture.

In the Sierra, cycling is less of a hobby and more of a tactical battle against gravity and oxygen deprivation. You will share the narrow shoulders with heavy-duty buses and the occasional stray calf, earning every descent through sheer physical stubbornness. The quiet nod of respect from a mountain local as you summit a pass is worth more than any digital trophy

Everything we’ve written about Cuenca.