Cotopaxi National Travel Guide | Flights to Cotopaxi National
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Flights to Cotopaxi National & Cotopaxi National Airfare

Cotopaxi National Flights & Airfare Overview

While staying in Quito, a bus ride will get you to Cotopaxi National Park. If coming from another part of Ecuador, like Guayaquil, you can get a domestic flight from the Guyaquil airport to Quito and then take a bus to the park.

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Cotopaxi National Description

An hour and a half South of Quito, along the Avenue of the Volcanoes, lays the dominant image on the Ecuadorian national psyche: the perfectly conical Cotopaxi volcano (altitude 5897m/19,347 ft)), claiming to be the world's highest active volcano. Even novice climbers can summit the glacier-topped peak with the help of a good guide, glacier climbing equipment and a warm jacket. The views from the top on a clear day are incredible. Even so, it's a physically demanding climb, (if not technically demanding depending on snowfall and current glacier conditions) so proper acclimatization, good fitness, and training is essential. A week in Quito or any other Andean town with ample walking and summiting of a lesser peak or two should be sufficient.

Walking from the parking lot to the Refugio (base camp) is a popular activity. It takes an hour or so, and you must dress for cold, windy and possibly snowy weather.

Mountain biking in Cotopaxi is a spectacular once-in-a-lifetime experience. Descend from the Refugio parking lot cutting through the thin air at bone chilling speed. Most of the park is very flat due to historical eruptions that caused the glacier to melt and form flat lake beds around the volcano. This is all good news, since riding uphill at this altitude would be extremely difficult to do.

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