Cuenca

Our favourite city in Ecuador

Getting to Cuenca

To get from Riobamba to Cuenca, you’ll need to take a bus with Patria from the bus terminal. They have several departures daily, but it’s definitely one of the more expensive bus rides as we paid $9 per person, plus an extra $0.20 for the ticket printout.

The ride officially takes around 5 hours, but it was closer to 6 hours. It luckily included a bathroom break along the way.

 

Bus schedule Riobamba to Cuenca: 5:30, 7:30, 9:30, 11:00, 13:00, 15:30, 16:45 and 19:30.

Where We Stayed: Casa Crema

Instead of a hostel, we went for a full apartment, which was great decision. Casa Crema cost us $20 per night for a fully equipped place with two bedrooms.

It was far from the city center, walking down took about 40 minutes, but taxis were cheap, just $1.70 to get back up. For us it was definitely worth it.

 

Don't forget to visit Calderon Park as it is a hub for butterflies.

Final thoughts

Cuenca was our favorite city in Ecuador. The historic center is beautiful and it was very safe.

That said, prices were noticeably higher than in other cities. Food, in particular, was more expensive.