Ecuador Cruise Train: A Beautiful Journey Between Volcanoes

This cruise train has been named by World Travel Market as the best tourist product outside of Europe.  No wonder, this train moves through the rugged Ecuadorian geography with ascents of 3,600 meters and descents to sea level, amidst natural beauties: volcanoes, rivers, lakes, mountains and the mythical Devil’s Nose. A tour with a flavor of the travels of yesteryear.

History of the train that travels between volcanoes

This incredible train was the work of a distinguished Ecuadorian, José Eloy Alfaro, who counts among his exploits the abolition of slavery, the vote of women and the establishment of secular education. In order to connect the coast with the mountains and the tropical Pacific with the cold Andean mountain range, he built this train, initiating an era of modernity in Ecuador.

The works of this infrastructure ended in 1908, resulting in an integration of the regions and the union of two poles that defied the heights of vertigo, something that the difficult Ecuadorian spelling had not allowed.

In the 1980s, the heavy rains and floods brought by the El Niño phenomenon caused damage to several sections of the route, leaving the train in decline since the late 1990s.

It was recently restored to become the Tren Crucero, a renovated luxury steam train that operates a new service that traverses the Andes between Guayaquil and Quito, the highest capital city in the world.

Tren Crucero, an elegant railway with the flavor of yesteryear

The train was restored to offer a complete experience in the fantastic Ecuadorian landscapes. Currently it includes accommodation in farms scattered along the route, excursions and guided tours in four days and 450 kilometers of crossing. The carriages are equipped with a cafeteria and excellent traveler services.

It is too much beauty: plains, mountains, volcanoes, natural parks , winding roads, rivers, jungles and hidden villages.  All this without neglecting heritage jewels, markets with handicrafts, museums with multi-ethnic traces and an autochthonous gastronomy worthy of universal recognition.

The Cruise Train routes

The Cruise Train offers segmented routes that include visits to sites for recreation and nature discovery. One of them is the El Boliche station, next to the Cotopaxi National Park, where direct contact with the Ecuadorian people and culture is established. You can also enjoy picturesque and charming places such as Machachi, Guamote or Palmira and several more, which can be known on the different routes:

• Freedom Train
• Volcano train
• Ice Train I
• Ice Train II
• Devil’s Nose Train
• Sweetness Train
• Train Costa Sierra
• Quinoa Train

The Devil’s Nose

The Devil’s Nose is one of the most impressive parts of the train journey.  It is the result of the maneuvering of its builders on the steep mountains near Alausí, a rocky slope at 1,900 meters of altitude, through which the Tren Crucero travels.

Advance and retreat in a vertiginous zigzag that exceeds 400 meters of unevenness in two kilometers of distance to continue with the trip, travel back in time and experience the construction of the road at the point of pick and shovel, a century ago in the history of this magical country.

The Avenue of the Volcanoes

From the panoramic windows of the railway or, if you are more adventurous, from the open terrace of the Cruise Train, the Ecuadorian mountain range opens, showing the Avenue of the Volcanoes, an inter-Andean corridor that winds between more than seventy parallel volcanoes, 27 of them still active, along 300 kilometers.

The highest volcano is Chimborazo (6,310 meters), the highest active volcano in the world and the furthest point from the center of the Earth. On its slopes are fields of cultivation of quinoa, potatoes or corn, which look like multicolored paintings worked by the natives.

You will be able to admire indigenous populations such as Alausí, with their houses protected by the statue of San Pedro; Guamote, where the picturesque craft fair is held; or Colta, with its old church and its beautiful lagoon and the Balbanera.

The train, which was once called the most extreme in the world, is today classified as “the most beautiful cruise train in the world”, due to the great beauty it shows on its routes, you cannot miss it.