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Best time to visit Ecuador

Being on the equator, Ecuador has similar temperatures all year around, with a rainy season that shifts depending on where you are in the country. It's holiday seasons – June to September and December to January – that dictate the most popular times to visit, rather than the best weather conditions. The Highlands are driest from May until September, and the beaches are best between December and May. The Amazon is rainy all year, but rainier from December to April.

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Best time to visit Ecuador

Straddling the equator, Ecuador’s seasons are wet and dry rather than summer and winter.

There is no best time to visit Ecuador; peak seasons are dictated by holiday periods – mid June to early September is busiest, as is late December to early January. It’s hardly the Costa del Sol, though, and crowds are still pretty rare. The exception is the Galapagos – where thousands of visitors mean that in peak season, it hardly fits the ‘remote archipelago’ image you may have in mind. Here, January to May are the warmest months with the calmest seas, plus the odd shower. The Andes are damp year-round, with warm days and icy cold nights – while the Oriente is hot and rainy, particularly from December to April. Pack layers and waterproof bags!

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A month by month guide on when to go to Ecuador

January in Ecuador

Sunny beaches

Sunny Galapagos islands

Rainy season

Visit the Pacific coast of Ecuador in January. From now until spring it’s at its best: warm and sunny, with clear skies through most of the day, and you can plan around the short, sharp rain shower that’s typical in the afternoon. The pattern is the same on the Galapagos Islands at this popular time of year. January is also a slightly less wet month in the Oriente, the region east of the Ecuadorian Andes.

February in Ecuador

Carnival season

Deals available

Sun and showers on the coast

Ecuador in February is in carnival season, and so, like December and New Year, it can be a busy time in parts of the country. If you land in Quito you’ll find it a little cooler and rain is a bit more common, as it is across the Highlands. However, it’s dry and sunny in the Amazon, and the coast is still experiencing sun and showers. This can be a good time of year to find deals on our holidays.

March in Ecuador

Quiet time

Warm water at the coast

Some stormy days

There are few crowds anywhere in Ecuador in March. The rainy season continues in the Highlands, and the coast is sunny, but those afternoon showers might be heavier; this is the rainiest month of the year in Guayaquil. There are occasional storms, leading to big waves for surfers – great, because the sea has reached its high of 25°C. In the cloud forests, you might spot lots of birds; March is a great time to spot migratory visitors, too.

March is a great time for our land-based Galapagos tour

April in Ecuador

Easter festivities

‘Rainy’ season in the Amazon

Sun and showers on the coast

April is the rainiest month in Quito, and it’s wet in the Highlands – but this is normally in a consistent pattern of morning sunshine and then afternoon showers. The Amazon is wet too, as this is the start of the rainy season in the Oriente. This is, of course, relative; it’s never dry in the rainforest. Holy Week – and Easter – is an important time of year for many people and you may catch religious processions in Ecuador in April.

May in Ecuador

Last month of the wet season

Drier in the Highlands

Rainy Amazon

Ecuador in May finds itself in a time of seasonal shifts. The Highlands moves into its dry season, so there are fewer showers and more sunny days, but the Oriente (the Amazon lowlands) is getting rainier. On the coast, it’s the end of the rainy season and the start of the cooler dry season. If you head to the Galapagos, you might see blue-footed boobies doing courtship dances, and hatching marine iguanas and green sea turtles.

June in Ecuador

Humpback whales in Manabi

Peak season for visitors

Dry season in the Highlands

If you visit Ecuador in June, you’ll be accompanied by lots of fellow tourists who are combining Ecuador with Peru. The Amazon is rainy, getting a maximum of 488mm of rain. The Highlands are in dry season, and so is the coast and the Galapagos – but don’t be fooled. It might be dry but it’s often overcast, with garua – morning mists – common. The humpback whales don’t care – they’ve just arrived in Puerto Lopez for breeding season.

Ecuador doesn’t have seasons. Our weather is very variable all year round… so any time of the year will give you a great experience.

– Rebecca Adventure Travel, our Quito-based specialists

July in Ecuador

Lovely in the Highlands

Dry and cool on the coast

Combine with Peru

You’ve got your best chance of seeing Cotopaxi in Ecuador in July, as the Avenue of Volcanoes is usually under its clearest skies from July to August. It’s clear, sunny and generally lovely in the Highlands, and it’s the driest month in Quito. The coast and the Galapagos Islands are both dry and cool, and there’s still a risk of the sky being overcast. Plus, it’s still a bit rainier in the Oriente.

August in Ecuador

Main holiday season

Warm and dry Highlands

Cool on the coast

Ecuador in August is still in its main tourist season, with lots of visitors seeing the mainland and Galapagos alongside other South American nations. It’s warm and dry in the Highlands, with good view of Cotopaxi volcano possible. The Amazon’s season of lowest rain runs from now until February, whilst the coast is still in the cool, dry throes of sea mist season.

August is a popular time to combine Ecuador with Peru on our adventure holiday

September in Ecuador

Last month of peak season

Sunny Highlands

Low rainfall

The last month of the country’s busier period, Ecuador in September is winding down a little. It’s sunny but not too hot in the Highlands, and in the Galapagos its cooler and cloudier, with some rough seas (though acrobatic sealions may tempt you to visit anyway!). It’s still a popular time to come to Ecuador, with fairly low rainfall measurements across the country. You might catch the start of harvest festivals in Andean towns, and the last of the breaching humpbacks.

October in Ecuador

Great time in the Galapagos

Amazon looking green

Start of the wet season in the Highlands

‘Low’ season begins in Ecuador in October, though there’s no bad time to visit a country that has so little seasonal variation. It’s a shade rainier in Quito at the start of this, the wetter season, and the average daily high is unchanging at 20°C. The Amazon, consistently about 10°C warmer, is looking lush and green. In the Galapagos, temperatures are starting to warm, and it’s a great time to go to the archipelago.

November in Ecuador

Transition season

Warm Galapagos

Deals available

It’s the last month of slightly overcast and cool beaches on the mainland, and rainy season in the Highlands continues. Ecuador in November is in a transition season with less predictable weather. Since it’s outside of the main tourist seasons of summer and winter holidays, there may be deals available, though not around the Day of the Dead, which – like Easter – is a nationwide holiday.

December in Ecuador

Holiday season

Sun and showers on the beaches

Cool in the Highlands

It’s another holiday season, and so Ecuador in December has lots of visitors. It’s cooler and rainy in the Highlands but great in the Galapagos and on the mainland beaches: we’re back to a pattern of rainy season showers bookending glorious, sunny 25°C days. Quito is celebrating its founding, and the cloud forests are celebrating the arrival of migratory birds. There’s an annual bird count in Mindo.

December is a great time of year for our Ecuador and Galapagos tailor made tour

Quito and highlands Weather Chart

MIN °C

MAX °C

RAIN (mm)

JAN

121

FEB

143

MAR

158

APR

174

MAY

128

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

132

NOV

127

DEC

109

PLAY

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Best times to visit Ecuador for festivals & events

Carnival (February)

Across towns and cities country-wide, Ecuadorians come together for carnival. The pre-Lent celebrations usually can’t be contained to just one parade. Expect carnival queens serenely waving from parade floats, whilst in the crowd below, people get into foam fights, spraying each other with foam out of a can. Even the smallest town will have a few trucks blasting music, dancing, and traditional (and somewhat less traditional) costumes.

Semana Santa (week before Easter Sunday)

The week leading up to Easter Sunday is the most important week in the Catholic calendar, and it’s busy with religious ceremony, music and public display. Ecuador celebrates with solemn religious processions, including that of the purple and black-clad, cone-headed cucuruchos walking barefoot through the streets. It’s tradition to eat fanesca – a gourd and pumpkin soup – during the period. It’s a dish that dates back to traditional precolonial harvest festivals.

The Sun Party (end of June)

Inti Raymi, the festival of the sun and harvest, is one of the most important Indigenous festivals and takes place in Andean villages across Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Ecuador. Rituals are carried out at springs and waterfalls during the summer solstice, for spiritual purification and strengthening of the relationship with Pachamama – the Incan Mother Earth. Join the celebrations in the city of Otavalo.

Day of the Dead (2 November)

Celebrated across Latin America, Dia de los Difuntos is a day for families to commemorate their late loved ones. Florists are hard at work, as people commission flowers to spruce up family plots, and gather at the graves of their family to celebrate together. Purple – a common colour of mourning – drapes and decorates. Look out for Ecuador’s distinctive baked ‘bread babies’ – loaves iced to look like children – which are sold outside cemeteries, and travel with a local guide who can steer you away from intruding on private ceremonies.

Fiestas de Quito (late November to early December)

All aboard the chiva! These heavily decorated party buses tour the capital’s streets during the many fiestas that celebrate the city’s diverse traditions on the lead-up to Foundation Day (6 December). There are also dance and music performances, and parades, as well as street parties in all the neighbourhoods. A queen of Quito is crowned every year.

Our travellers also ask...

What is the best month to go to Ecuador?

We think the best month to go to Ecuador is December, but we aren’t alone. It’s a busy time of year because the beaches are great and the Galapagos is hot (with baby tortoises), and it’s not too rainy in the Amazon. As it’s on the equator, Ecuador’s seasonal variation is minimal, but it does have rainy and dry seasons. December is in the rainy season, but this usually means sunny days with the odd rain shower.

What is the rainy season in Ecuador?

Ecuador’s rainy seasons vary depending on where you are. The rainy season for the coast is roughly from January to June. In the Highlands, it’s rainiest from February to May.

What is the hottest month in Ecuador?

On the coast, the hottest month in Ecuador is March, when coastal cities like Guayaquil can get very humid, with daily average highs of 32°C. This is the height of rainy season. In Quito, the hottest month is August, but this city never gets hotter than the 20°Cs, enjoying a beautiful, spring like climate year-round.

Best time to visit Ecuador

Best time to visit Ecuador