Central & South Coast - Adventure Guide to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands - page 304

Getting Here
By Air
Guayaquil offers the only major international airport out-
side of Quito. The Simon Bolívar Airport is a few miles
north of downtown along Avenida de las Américas. Inter-
national flights into Guayaquil are actually less expensive
than those into Quito, making it a good place to enter the country if
you plan to visit the south coast. The domestic airport is adjacent to
the international terminal. Numerous daily flights arrive from and
depart to all major destinations within Ecuador, including the
Galápagos Islands. In fact, flights to the Galápagos are generally
cheaper fromhere than from inQuito. (All Galápagos flights originat-
ing in the capital fly through Guayaquil first.) TAME has an office on
9 de Octubre 424, 4-2560-728. Other airlines have offices at the air-

port. AmericanAirlines is also at Gral Córdova and 9 de Octubre on
the 20th floors of Edificio San Francisco,

4-2564-111. Continental

is on the Malecón at 9 de Octubre, 4-

2320-664. KLM is at the airport and AeroPeru is on the 8th floor at
Chile 329 and Aguirre,

4-2567-241, as is Iberia ,

4-2513-691.

By Bus
The modern bus terminal is just north of the airport. Bus
services are quite efficient, with constant departures and
hordes of buses heading in all directions. Just look around
and you'll find the bus you need.

Getting Around
Downtown Guayaquil lies along the west bank of the Río Guayas and
is organized in a grid pattern, with streets running north-south and
east-west. The Malecón along the waterfront is a long walkway and a
good point from which to get oriented, while Avenida 9 de Octubre is
the major east-west thoroughfare. The main downtown area is
straightforward and easy to get around. The airport is a few miles
north of downtown, and the bus terminal is another mile or so beyond
that. Across the river on the east bank, in the suburb of Durán, is the
railway station.