A helicopter ride from Quito is not a journey from A to B. It is a chance to look Ecuador’s monster volcanoes in the eye, and to soar above the giants that dwarf us when we’re in the city below. It is a moment to share the skies and a perspective with Andean condors, and to swoop over ancient Incan battlegrounds, wild horses, white-tailed deer and Andean foxes. It is a chance to forget, for a moment, the limitations of being human, and to fly!
We work with an aviation company with almost a decade of experience flying helicopters in Ecuador.
The helicopters can seat up to 5 passengers (six people including the pilot).
Depending on the route you chose (see below), the tours range from 71 km (35 mins) to 204 km (89 mins). The tours are all designed to view the ‘Avenue of Volcanoes’.
The tour starts from the small town of Tambillo, which is about 1 hour by car south of Ecuador’s capital, Quito.
As the name suggests, the Avenue of Volcanoes is a picturesque corridor of volcanoes stretching through the Ecuadorian Andes, from Tulcan in the north, to Riobamba in the south.
Named in the early 1800s by the German geographer, naturalist and explorer, Alexander von Humboldt, this 400 km-long mountain chain includes many of Ecuador’s most beautiful volcanoes, some of which are still active today.
Depending on the length of your tour, some of the volcanoes and sites you can expect to see include:
Your English-speaking pilot will also serve as your tour guide.
Although the tour is available all year round (subject to the weather conditions on the day), the best conditions for flying (and for great views!) in this particular region tend to be between June and early September.
We have 4 routes.
1) TAMBILLO, CASCADAS, COTOPAXI, RUMIÑAHUI (71 km / 35 mins).
On this tour, you can see:
2) TAMBILLO, CASCADES, COTOPAXI, RUMIÑAHUI, MACHACHI (82 km / 39 mins)
On this tour, you can see:
3) TAMBILLO, ANTISANA, COTOPAXI, RUMIÑAHUI, MACHACHI (123 km / 56 mins)
On this tour, you can see:
4) TAMBILLO, MACHACHI, RUMIÑAHUI, COTOPAXI, ANTISANA, CAYAMBE, QUITO, TAMBILLO (204 km / 89 mins)
Rates vary, depending on the route you chose. As a guide, they currently start from $1615. For an exact quote, please contact one of our Safari Designers.
It is possible to take helicopter transfers to certain locations, such as Mashpi Lodge in the cloud forest, but as the flight is so weather-dependent, it is not necessarily an option we recommend, particularly as the weather in Ecuador can be unpredictable. In addition to the 1-hour drive to the heliport, you may have to wait for lengthy periods for the weather conditions to be right, and even find it is not possible to fly at all. Fortunately Ecuador is a compact country and it is possible to access the key regions relatively quickly and comfortably by car, or on short commercial flights, such as the 30-minute hopper plane from Quito to the Amazon rainforest. Or a 1.5 hour flight from Guayaquil, and a 2-hour flight from Quito to the Galapagos Islands.
No. It is not possible to fly a helicopter to the Galapagos Islands. We can, however, organise a private jet for you. It is important to note, however, that there are no private jet airlines in Ecuador. Therefore the plane has to be taken from, or flown in from another location, such as Miami or Lima. Needless to say, this option is very expensive and only suited to those who are not limited in any way by budget.
For more ideas on what to see and do on mainland Ecuador, please visit our Ecuador Safari Extensions.