Every Galapagos trip starts on the mainland. Read our guide to flights to Ecuador and on to the Galapagos, with routes, flight times and what a return costs in 2026.
WILDLIFE · VOLCANIC · UNTAMED
Galápagos Islands Holidays
Wildlife Encounters & Volcanic Archipelago
South America
Wildlife Destination
Every trip tailor-made
WHAT TO SEE
Galápagos highlights
Giant tortoises
Walk among giant tortoises at highland breeding centres and research stations
Snorkelling with sea lions
Snorkel with sea lions and marine iguanas in crystal-clear volcanic waters
Island cruising
Cruise between volcanic islands aboard a small expedition vessel
Blue-footed boobies
Spot blue-footed boobies and magnificent frigatebirds in their courtship displays
Gordon Rocks
Dive with hammerhead sharks at the legendary Gordon Rocks
The Darwin Station
Visit the Charles Darwin Research Station and learn about ongoing conservation
Holidays in Galapagos Islands
Galapagos Islands
Tailor-Made
Galápagos Island Hopping: Santa Cruz & Isabela
10 daysModeratePrivate to 2 or more travellers
From£5,399
ATOL protected
Galapagos Islands
Tailor-Made
Galápagos & Machu Picchu Honeymoon: Luxury Twin-Centre
11 daysModeratePrivate to just the two of you
From£6,499
ATOL protected
Galapagos Islands
Tailor-Made
Galápagos & Machu Picchu: Andes Twin-Centre Holiday
10 daysModeratePrivate to 2 or more travellers
From£5,399
ATOL protectedExpedition Cruises from Galapagos Islands
Galapagos Islands
Galaxy Diver II Galápagos Diving Liveaboard with Flights from London
Galaxy Diver II11 days / 10 nightsExpedition Cruise
Price on enquiryView Details
Galapagos Islands
Evolution Galápagos Cruise with Flights from London
Evolution11 days / 10 nightsExpedition Cruise
Price on enquiryView Details
Galapagos Islands
Elite Galápagos Cruise with Flights from London
Elite11 days / 10 nightsExpedition Cruise
Price on enquiryView Details
Galapagos Islands
Hermes Galápagos Luxury Cruise with Flights from London
Hermes11 days / 10 nightsExpedition Cruise
Price on enquiryView Details
Galapagos Islands
Seaman Journey Galápagos Cruise with Flights from London
Seaman Journey9 days / 7 nightsExpedition Cruise
From£6,299
ATOL protectedA specialist replies within one working day. No payment, no commitment. Tell us what you have in mind
Watch the holiday
Ecuador and the Galápagos in twelve days
Read the video script
Imagine snorkelling with curious sea lions, swimming with penguins, and if you are lucky, spotting white-tip reef sharks. And that is only how this grand journey ends. Visit Ecuador and the Galápagos with Travelfab. Start your adventure high in the Andes, in the historic heart of Quito. Browse the colourful Otavalo market, before standing with one foot in each hemisphere, right at the equator. Drop deep into the Amazon, to craft chocolate alongside a Quichua community. Ride the waterfall road to the thunderous Pailón del Diablo, and meet wild vicuñas roaming beneath Chimborazo. Walk the ancient Inca walls of Ingapirca, and wander Cuenca, where Panama hats are really made. Then fly out to the legendary Galápagos Islands. See sea lions sleeping in town, giant tortoises roaming free in the highlands, and dive into that incredible snorkelling we promised you. Experience this beautiful country in twelve days, guided by an English-speaking expert all the way. We offer set dates through 2027, with flights included and full ATOL protection. Prefer a custom itinerary? Our UK team is ready to tailor-make your journey, for any length of time. Plan your trip at travelfab.co.uk.
When to go
The best time to visit the Galápagos
January to May
The warm season. Calmer, warmer seas of 24 to 28°C, clearer water for snorkelling and sunny skies.
June to November
The cool season. Rougher seas but more wildlife, with whale sharks, penguins and albatross active. September to November can be choppy.
December and June
The change between the seasons, and the best all-round months to go.
Our full guide: Best time to visit the Galápagos, month by month.
Where to go
The best places to visit in the Galápagos
Galápagos Islands holidays from the UK, planned around the wildlife calendar rather than a brochure: giant tortoises in the highlands, snorkelling with sea lions, blue-footed boobies a metre from your feet. Choose a small-yacht expedition cruise or a land-based island-hopping route, and pair it with Quito or Machu Picchu. We book your flights with the islands, so the whole holiday is ATOL protected. Prices start from £5,399 per person including flights for ten days with Machu Picchu, and from £6,299 for a nine-day expedition cruise with flights. Or tell us what you have in mind and we will build the trip around you.
LIVING LABORATORY
Where evolution walks beside you
The Galápagos sit 1,000 km off the Ecuadorian coast, isolated long enough that the wildlife evolved with no land predators, and therefore no fear of humans. In 1835 Charles Darwin spent five weeks here observing finches, tortoises and iguanas, the field notes that became On the Origin of Species. UNESCO declared the archipelago a World Heritage Site in 1978, and 97% of the land is now national park.
The headline species deliver on the brochure. Giant tortoises, some 400kg, some past 100 years old, graze the highland meadows of Santa Cruz. Marine iguanas, the world's only sea-going lizards, drape over black lava on the coastline between dives to graze algae. Sea lion colonies lounge on the jetties of Puerto Ayora; blue-footed boobies perform their courtship dance on the Bartolomé cliffs; and Galápagos penguins, the only penguins on Earth found north of the equator, dart through the snorkel channels.
For UK travellers, the practical magic is the zero distance. Wildlife encounters here aren't a long-lens, wait-quietly-in-a-hide affair, sea lions waddle past your feet on the beach, marine iguanas sneeze salt at arm's reach, and snorkellers regularly drift among sea turtles, hammerheads, and reef sharks within the first hour of any guided swim. Bring a polarising filter and reef-safe sunscreen; the rest is laid on.
ISLAND-HOPPING
Land base or boat base
The Galápagos work in two formats. Land-based tours use Santa Cruz or San Cristóbal as a fixed hotel base, taking day-trips out to nearby islands and back each evening, comfortable, family-friendly, and easier on travellers who don't love nights at sea. Expedition cruises aboard 16- to 100-passenger small ships sail overnight between islands, opening up the outer archipelago, Fernandina, Genovesa, Isabela's western coast, that day-trips can't reach.
Cruise itineraries split into two loops. The Eastern Islands (Española, Floreana, San Cristóbal) deliver waved albatross, the Punta Suárez cliffs, and Post Office Bay's eighteenth-century whalers' postbag. The Western Islands (Isabela, Fernandina) deliver flightless cormorants, the Sierra Negra caldera, one of the world's largest, and the most pristine landscape in the archipelago. Most travellers pick one loop per visit, or combine across an eight-night cruise.
Boat classes range from comfortable tourist to expedition-luxury (Silversea Origin, National Geographic Endeavour, Ecoventura's Origin-class). Travelfab books all categories tailor-made to your dates, single departures, family-friendly cabins, adults-only catamarans, or full charter for groups of eight to twelve.
UNDERWATER WORLD
The currents beneath
The water round the Galápagos is as rich as the land. Three ocean currents meet here, the cold Humboldt from the south, the warm Panama from the north and the deep Cromwell from the west, and the upwelling they create feeds far more marine life than the tropics usually manage.
Whale sharks pass the northern islands from June to November, mostly around Darwin and Wolf, two of the best-known dive sites anywhere. Manta rays visit the cleaning stations, sea turtles graze the seagrass, and at Gordon Rocks off Santa Cruz experienced divers go for the hammerhead schools. You do not have to dive: snorkelling from the panga puts you in the water with sea lions and turtles on most itineraries.
BETWEEN PLACES
Between the landings
TAILOR-MADE TWIN-CENTRE
Pair the Galápagos with Machu Picchu
For travellers who came for the wildlife, the natural extension south is five nights in Peru. After Santa Cruz tortoises and Bartolomé blue-footed boobies, Cusco's Inca-built lanes, the Sacred Valley's hacienda hotels, and a dawn arrival at Machu Picchu round out a two-country, ten-day itinerary that pairs the world's greatest wildlife archipelago with the world's most photographed archaeological site.
Travelfab's Galápagos & Machu Picchu, Andes Twin-Centre Holiday is a fully tailor-made 10-day trip covering Quito, Santa Cruz, Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. From £5,399pp including international flights, internal flights, all transfers, central hotels and guided tours. ATOL protected and tailored to your dates.
Ready when you are.
We'll tailor the itinerary to your dates, pace and budget, no fixed departures, no group-tour compromises.
Before you book
Your Galápagos holiday questions
The same visa rules as mainland Ecuador apply, UK citizens do not need a visa for tourist visits of up to 90 days. All visitors to the Galápagos must pay a $200 USD Galápagos National Park entrance fee and a $20 USD Transit Control Card (TCT), both are handled together on arrival at the Galápagos airport. You must also show proof of accommodation, a return flight, and mandatory travel insurance covering medical expenses. Your passport must be valid for at least six months beyond your entry date.
The Galápagos are a year-round destination, but the two seasons offer different experiences. The warm season (January to May) brings calmer, warmer seas (24-28°C), better visibility for snorkelling, and sunny skies, ideal for underwater encounters. The cool season (June to November) brings the nutrient-rich Humboldt Current, which means rougher seas but more wildlife activity, whale sharks, penguins, and albatross are more active, and the sea is teeming with life. September to November can be choppy. For the best all-round experience, visit in December or June at the season transitions.
Ecuador (including the Galápagos) uses the US Dollar as its official currency. Cash is essential in the Galápagos, ATMs exist in Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz) and Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (San Cristóbal) but are limited and can run out of cash. Credit cards are accepted at larger hotels and some restaurants but not at smaller establishments or on cruise boats for tips. Bring sufficient US dollars in small denominations.
All visitors must fly to the Galápagos from mainland Ecuador, either from Quito or Guayaquil. Flights take approximately 2 hours and land at Baltra Island (serving Santa Cruz) or San Cristóbal. Airlines include LATAM and Avianca. There are no international flights direct to the Galápagos. From the UK, connect through Madrid, Amsterdam, or a US hub to Quito or Guayaquil, then take the onward domestic flight.
The Galápagos are very safe. The main health considerations are sun protection (the equatorial sun is intense, wear high-SPF suncream, a hat, and UV-protective clothing), hydration, and motion sickness if taking an expedition cruise or inter-island ferries (bring seasickness medication). The water is not safe to drink, bring a reusable bottle and use filtered or bottled water. Travel insurance with medical evacuation coverage is essential, as serious medical cases must be transferred to the mainland.
Within the Galápagos, inter-island ferries connect Santa Cruz, Isabela, and San Cristóbal (approximately $30 USD each way, 2-2.5 hours, can be rough). Small expedition cruise ships are the best way to reach the more remote outer islands (Fernandina, Española, Genovesa). Water taxis shuttle passengers between boats and shore for a small fee. On the main islands, taxis, bicycles, and walking cover most needs. For day trips from Santa Cruz, local tour operators run snorkelling and island excursions.
Our Galápagos holidays start from £5,399 per person for ten days pairing the islands with Machu Picchu, including international flights. A nine-day small-yacht expedition cruise with flights starts from £6,299 per person, and our Galápagos and Machu Picchu honeymoon from £6,499. Every price includes flights from the UK and is ATOL protected. If your budget is fixed, tell us and we will shape the trip around it.
An expedition cruise reaches the outer islands, moves while you sleep and puts a naturalist guide beside you at every landing, so it is the choice if the wildlife is the point of the trip. A land-based route on Santa Cruz and San Cristóbal suits families with young children, anyone who does not want nights at sea, and travellers combining the islands with a longer mainland or Peru itinerary. Many people do both: a few nights on land, then a short cruise.
Real reviews
What our customers say
“
They organised excellent accommodation and transfers from airport to destination and between destinations which was seamless and gave us peace of mind for our trip. We stayed in the nicest casa particular in Havana right on the outskirts of the major hustle of the old town but within walking distance to every site and lots of lovely restaurants. Our hotel in Varadero had 5 a la carte restaurants which were delicious and wonderful beaches! Would definitely go back to Cuba and use TravelFab again.
Annabelle
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Excellent service. Fabien responded to all our queries promptly and efficiently and was always willing to spend time talking to us. The itinerary was well-considered and well-organised with an adequate amount of time in each location. Locations were varied and interesting. The service provided by the B&B owners was good to outstanding. The organisation of the coach services for transfers from one destination to another was super with comfortable journeys in clean, air-conditioned coaches. Thanks, TravelFab!
David
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I was very impressed with Fabian's dedication, patience and professionalism in organising a group of 8 young persons (over 60's) to get to Cuba. The whole experience has been a very positive one. Despite having to relocate to another hotel at the last minute, that change over went very smoothly. Our accommodations were excellent. We will definitely book with TravelFab again. Thank you!
Yvette T
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Tailor-made · ATOL 10898
Plan your tailor-made Galapagos Islands trip
Tell us when you want to travel, who with, and roughly what budget you have in mind. A Latin America specialist replies within one working day with a bespoke proposal.
Plan a tailor-made Galapagos Islands trip