Guayaquil

Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city and main port, spent decades with a reputation as rougher and less visitor-friendly than the capital, Quito — a perception the city has worked deliberately to change through major urban redevelopment starting in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Malecón 2000, the centerpiece of that effort, transformed roughly 2.5 kilometers of riverfront along the Guayas River from a neglected, poorly maintained waterfront into a genuinely impressive public space — gardens, monuments, museums, a botanical garden, and an IMAX theater, all connected by pedestrian walkways that draw both locals and visitors in large numbers.

Las Peñas, the city's oldest neighborhood, underwent a similar transformation: once considered dangerous and largely avoided, the steep hillside district of colorful houses climbing toward the Santa Ana lighthouse has been restored and repainted, and the roughly 400 numbered steps leading up through it are now one of Guayaquil's most photographed and visited attractions, with small galleries and cafés lining the route.

Parque Seminario, a small central plaza also known as Iguana Park, holds a resident population of dozens of iguanas that roam freely among visitors — an unusual, low-key city curiosity that's become one of Guayaquil's more distinctive minor attractions.

For most international visitors, Guayaquil functions primarily as the practical gateway for Galápagos Islands flights, alongside Quito, and a short one- or two-day stopover before or after a Galápagos trip is the most common way travelers experience the city — enough time to see the Malecón and Las Peñas without requiring an extended standalone visit.