Immigration requirements change quickly and are applied unevenly, meaning just because entry requirements may be easy for citizens of one country, they may be difficult for citizens of the country next door.  We are not authorities on the matter. You should always check with the Ecuadorian embassy or consulate in your home country what the latest requirements are for your particular case.

We accept payments by Credit Card and PayPal. Reservations are only secured with a full payment for the service in advance.

There are to Peru, but not to Colombia. We have a few bus routes from Guayaquil and Loja going to various points in Peru. To Colombia, we have both shared and private shuttles to Ipiales, and then you can take buses in Colombia from there.

Absolutely! EcuadorBus comprises the most popular direct routes for purchasing tickets online. But if you don’t find what you need here, visit AndesTransit.com and explore more routes and schedules in Ecuador and other countries not listed here.

You can, but it’s both more risky and time-consuming. Bus stations are often far from the core of town, so you have to go way out of your way just to get a ticket, taking away time you would probably rather spend sightseeing. Plus, once you get to the bus station, travelers often get overwhelmed by shouting vendors trying to pull them in various directions and eventually into something they didn’t really intend. If they do make it to the right place, the information about routes is often colloquialized and has to be further interpreted to see if it’s what they want, and then at the last moment they find all the seats are sold out. Bottom line, the bus station is always a possibility, but for less experienced travelers who don’t have a lot of time to waste, it’s not worth the effort.

Yes! Ecuador has a few ferries, but they aren’t necessarily as large as you may think. Ferries in Ecuador include some motorized boats with canvas tops that depart from Coca and go up the Napo River toward Peru; ferries to get to Jambelí island off the coast of Bolívar near Machala, and of course as downscaled public yachts in the Galapagos that have regular schedules for moving people between the islands.

For reservations, we treat ferries the same as buses.  They are just a small bus on the water to us, so you search for them the same as you would a bus!

It depends on the bus company and route. Some only allow one to three days in advance, while others any time within the same calendar month, and a few are even more generous than that. When you purchase your ticket here, your Cart will tell you the Release Date, which is the date we best estimate you will be receiving your ticket, based on that company’s rules for that route.

15 kg is the norm across Latin America, but Ecuador is a little more informal and flexible. Still, if you’re carrying more than 15 kg of luggage around a small country like this, we feel sorry for your back! Lighten up!

The train in Ecuador was publicly owned, but the government had to divest from it from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and offer it up for sale to private investors. So at this point, there is a train, but no train service. Hopefully, it will be back in business soon.

Do not travel the day before major holidays in Ecuador. Traveling on the holiday itself is pretty easy because most Ecuadorians are already where they want to be (although good luck in finding lodging on a holiday).

Also, avoid the day before people are supposed to be back at work after a holiday break. We black out all these days in our calendar when you try to reserve online, but it’s always better to do some research yourself on local traditions and government-sanctioned holiday periods in Ecuador before you make travel plans because public transportation seems to never be fully prepared to handle the crowds.

Yes.  Shared Shuttles get grouped in with buses, so you can find them through the home page on this site, or just by searching for public options on andestransit.com.

Private shuttles go anywhere you want, as they are created around the itinerary you design. To get a private shuttle, just go to the private shuttles page, and if you don’t find one to match your route there, you can customize a route at the custom shuttle questionnaire.

Yes! Any of our inter-city drivers also can provide around-town service.  Just use our Around Town page to reserve.

Yes! If you need transportation for groups of up to 45 passengers, we can connect you with providers that operate with vehicles with capacity for 10, 15, or 45 people. Just let us know your requirements at our partner site’s Custom Itinerary page.

As long as there’s availability, 48 hours in advance. But for a more hassle-free experience, we recommend you reserve at least five days in advance.

20 kg is the standard per person. Please include luggage description in your shuttle request so we can dispatch an associate shuttle provider with enough room for your luggage.

Yes! Just let us know the time and flight number so we can monitor it if it’s early or late.

The shared shuttle is similar to a bus, but its size is more like a car or minivan.  It carries just a handful of people but on a regular schedule.  They only can operate if they have enough people signed up to ride, so shared shuttles are only found on the most heavily trafficked routes.  Shared shuttles don’t pick you up from your hotel.  You have to go to their central pickup location, and they will drop you off at a central drop-off location as well, and then from there walk, bus, or take a taxi to your hotel.

Private shuttles, on the other hand, are everything a shared shuttle is not.  They are a vehicle just for the size of you or your group, they pick you up from your hotel and drop you off at your next hotel.  Their only schedule is your schedule, and they stop at any point along the way to your destination that you want to stop, like a viewpoint, an interesting restaurant, or a roadside artisan.

Your ticket is sent on the release date, which is always before your travel date and may even be the same day you order.  Every bus company in Ecuador has its own rules about how soon they start printing tickets for their reservations.  Your release date is displayed in your cart during checkout, and you also will receive an email after your purchase is complete to remind you again of the release date.  For more detail, see Release Date: What is it?.