Experience the ultimate adventure with our Galapagos tours.
Explore this iconic archipelago’s extraordinary wildlife and breathtaking landscapes, where species evolution has occurred uniquely. Join our Galapagos Islands tours for an unforgettable journey and witness giant tortoises, blue-footed boobies, marine iguanas, and other remarkable creatures in their natural habitats. Our Galapagos Tour deals provide an immersive and educational experience that will leave you in awe of this ecological paradise.
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Are you overwhelmed by the number of tour options you’ve seen for Galapagos Tours? Do you need help figuring out how to plan your trip to the Galapagos? Do you need help choosing the best Galapagos cruises to ensure you have the most fantastic trip? Or are you stuck on what makes the islands so unique?
Talk to one of our Destination Experts for the best Galapagos Tour Tips!
The Galapagos Islands are a lifetime experience; all you need to do to “prepare” for them is brace yourself for the amazing. With highly unusual wildlife and otherworldly landscapes that aren’t found anywhere else on Earth, the Galapagos dazzles with its vistas. Sunsets will cast a golden spotlight over the surrounding beaches and scenery, all as a delectable gourmet dinner is prepared by our world-class chef. On top of all this, you’ll also get a luxurious and remarkably experience, where every detail has been thought of before you even consider it. Naturalist guides will provide the perfect touch of an insightful narrative to complement your expedition activities throughout the archipelago as you snap hundreds of beautiful pictures. There are often so many different things to see throughout our comprehensive Galapagos itineraries that it is essential to receive the proper advice from a destination expert!
Talking about expertise, be sure to read this blog on Best Galapagos Cruise Hacks (as well as our other one about which types of Galapagos cruises to avoid and get to know all the curiosities about Galapagos)! From a myriad of options, choosing the right one can be challenging – that’s why we’ve narrowed them down for you. Our handy Choose Wisely e-book offers the best Galapagos Tour Tips to make your decision-making easier.
You’ve dreamt of it for a lifetime.
The Galapagos Islands are a place where history has been made. For centuries, home to pirates and whalers but primarily to highly unusual fauna, the inspiration for Darwin’s theory as presented in On the Origin of Species. And one of the few places on Earth where the wildlife shows no fear of humans, meaning you can observe it from just a few meters away. You´ll want to see and do everything! But with so many options available in this magical, exhilarating, iconic destination, you know there will be some trade-offs when choosing your Galapagos Tours.
How to determine what works best for you?
How to separate the essential from the merely beautiful?
The transformative from the enticing?
Find out more about our Galapagos Tours!
Download our e-book “Choose Wisely.”
The good thing about the Galapagos Islands Tours is that they can visit them all year! During hot and dry seasons, the Galapagos weather is excellent, and wildlife is always on display. Choosing a time to go depends on what Galapagos Tours speak to you. Make sure you know HOW you want to experience the Galapagos before booking your tour.
Ask us about the best Galapagos Tour Tips.
Check out our Galapagos Tour Deals!
We offer an unparalleled experience with activities that allow you to explore your destinations and live an adventure surrounded by magical nature. You can only get the best Galapagos Islands tours with Metropolitan Touring. Build unforgettable experiences.
Hurry up and invest in our Galapagos Islands Tours, the opportunity of a lifetime!
Traveling to Galapagos allows you to feel free and break the routine. Fulfill your dreams with the best activities in our Galapagos tours that Metropolitan Touring offers you.
Live, feel, explore, and relax.
The archipelago sits 926 km (575 mi) off the coast of Ecuador and covers an area of almost 8,000 km2 (3,030 mi2). It consists of 19 islands spread out along the equator, 13 of which are major visitor sites and 4 of which are inhabited. Flights to Galapagos from Guayaquil on mainland Ecuador take under 2 hours. Fun fact: As a result of its equatorial location, days in the archipelago are 12-hours long no matter when you go!
It belongs to Ecuador since 1831 and before that it was unclaimed.
Eleven languages are spoken in Ecuador but Spanish and Kichwa are the official languages of the country. Kichwa is mostly spoken by indigenous groups in the Andes region and, to a lesser extent, in the Amazon region. Most tourism-related services/providers have multi-lingual staff, particularly in English with some German, French, and Italian speakers.
The United States Dollar is the official currency of Ecuador.
Galapagos Time is 6 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC): this is 7 hours behind time in the UK, 2 hours behind standard time in New York, and 14 hours behind time in Canberra. The mainland of Ecuador is 5 hours behind UTC.
Locals of the islands are known as galapagueños and the last census, which was carried out in 2010, estimated their population to be at around 25,000. Most of them have come from mainland Ecuador to live on the islands within recent years. The majority of them are part of the Mestizo ethnic group, and as such are descendants of Spanish and indigenous ancestors. A small minority consists of purely European families.
Near the end of the century, members of the ethnic group called the Salasacas started migrating from the mainland to the most populated islands of the archipelago and formed small colonies. They keep mostly to themselves in closed communities, in which they have their own schools and speak only Kichwa. However there are no indigenous groups autochthonous to the Galapagos Islands.
The name Galapagos is said to come from the Galapagos giant tortoises that are endemic to the archipelago. It turns out the Spanish word for a type of saddle is galapago, and it was often used by the Spanish explorers to refer to the giant tortoises that populated the islands with their iconic saddle-like shell.
Our naturalist guides always have a pair of binoculars that they will pass around when there is something interesting to see. Do feel free to bring your own if you are really into wildlife viewing.
A good pair of walking shoes, ideally with a good level of traction and grip on the bottom.
Batteries, weatherproof camera bags, and extra memory cards will come in handy. Waterproof housings will be necessary if you wish to take your camera underwater. Tripods are handy too if you want to take pictures of the night sky.
Flash photography is not permitted when taking photos of wildlife. Professional photography and videos recorded for commercial purposes must be authorized by the Galapagos National Park. Drones can only be used with a special permit.
Snorkelling gear will be provided to you on board all of our cruises so that you can enjoy the aquatic beauty throughout the Galapagos. If you have your own snorkelling gear however, definitely feel free to bring it along.
No. Sports fishing is prohibited inside the Marine Reserve. Local fishermen are allowed to fish, however.
Of course! Check out this blog on our Top 7 Galapagos Books.
Yes. We sell these on our ships and you can find them on the inhabited islands.
Let’s plan together your next Galapagos Tours. Have a chat with our Destination Experts that have enjoyed our Galapagos itineraries!
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