Excellent Ecuador museums can be found throughout the country, concentrated in the larger cities. Quito, Guayaquil, and Cuenca in particular are home to a plethora of historical Ecuador museums. While Ecuador museums showcase everything from colonial art and artifacts to ancient Incan handiworks, a nice range can be found in most areas of Ecuador and travelers should have no trouble locating a museum to suit their interests.

Some of the best archaeology museum exhibits can be found in Cuenca. Perhaps the best archaeology museum in Cuenca Ecuador is the Museo de las Culturas Aborígenes, open Monday through Saturday throughout the year. This popular museum in Cuenca Ecuador exhibits Incan artifacts from as far back as 500 B.C. The expansive museum has more then 5,000 pieces and will take guests the better part of a day to view them all.

Another of the more popular archaeology museum exhibits is the Todos Los Santos. An open air museum, this museum in Cuenca Ecuador is free of charge and open all times of the day and night. Once the site of an archaeological dig in 1972, the museum has pieces with Cañaris, Inca, and Spanish influences co-existing in one place. Other archaeology museum exhibits are located in Cuenca, along with modern art museums and colonial Ecuador museums.

Ecuador Map

Yet, another great city for museum lovers is Guayaquil. Located in the southern coastal region, the museums of Guayaquil showcase the coastal life of the ancient Incans along with the coastal history of European settlers in later years. Since Guayaquil is not one of the most heavily trafficked tourist cities in Ecuador, travelers should note that most of the museums would have explanations primarily in Spanish, with a few offering pamphlets in English and even fewer offering explanations in English.

Exhibits in both English and Spanish are plentiful in Quito, another city with museums and plenty of popular Ecuador attractions. Most of the museums in Quito are located in historical district, sometimes referred to as Old Town. The main town museum, Museo de la Ciudad, opened in August of 1998 and is perhaps the most modern museum in the country and highly popular among Ecuador attractions. With only a short time to spend in Quito, the Museo de la Ciudad is the place to go. Showcasing artifacts from pre-Colombian cultures up through colonial times and even more recent developments, the Museo de la Ciudad gives an excellent overview of where Ecuador has been and where it is headed.

Other museums in Quito include the downtown Museum and Library, which has historical artifacts as well as one of the most comprehensive collections of Ecuadorian writings. Nearby, the Ecuadorian Museum of Natural Science is another of the most popular Ecuador attractions. The natural science museum exhibits pale ontological artifacts collected throughout Ecuador. Due to the wide variation of species in Ecuador, this museum provides for endless fascination.

So, whether you make a tour of some of the many museums found in Ecuador, or simply spend a day strolling through a favorite, Ecuador offers museums with something for everyone.