Tourist Places to Visit in Portoviejo, Ecuador, America

Tourist Places to Visit in Portoviejo, Ecuador, America

Portoviejo is the capital city of Manabi Province in Ecuador covering a total area of 967.53 sq. km, is the 6^th largest as well as one of the oldest cities of Ecuador. Portoviejo is popularly called the ‘City of the Royal Tamarind Trees’ because of the presence of abundance number of tamarind trees.

Geography of Portoviejo:

Portoviejo coordinates with 1°3′22.25″ S latitude and 80°27′18.78″ W longitude at an altitude of 53 meters. Portoviejo is located about 390 km southwest of Quito, the capital of Ecuador and 205 km northwest of Guayaquil, the largest city of Ecuador.

History of Portoviejo:

Spanish captain Francisco Pacheco was the founder of Portoviejo, founded under the name ‘Villa Nueva de San Gregorio de Portoviejo’ on March 12, 1535. Portoviejo was the home town of Vicente Amador Flor, who was a renowned poet and Sandra Vinces who was the Miss Ecuador 2009.

Connectivity to Portoviejo:

The Reales Tamarindos Airport is serving Portoviejo with air connectivity is situated 3 km away from the centre of the city with connection to domestic locations only.

Other nearby airports includes Jipijapa Airport and Bahia De Caraquez Airport located at the distance of 30 km and 75 km respectively.

Buses are frequent between Portoviejo and its neighboring cities. To move within the city and to reach tourist destinations and the airport, tourists can use taxi or rented car. Bikes and bicycles are also available.

Culture, Food and Shopping in Portoviejo:

There are many traditional handicraft item stores and typical cotton pillow centres in Portoviejo. USD is the currency used in Portoviejo and also a few shops accept cards for tourist’s convenience.

Also tourists can taste typical Manabí cuisine at food corners on Portoviejo-Crucita roadway. List of prominent restaurants in Portoviejo is as follows:

Cevicheria Zavalita
Mosael Restaurant
Restaurante Martinica
Casa Vecchia Ristorante Pizzeria

Things to do in Portoviejo:

Parks
Shopping
Visiting tagua workshops
Walking

Tourist Attractions in Portoviejo:

The Cathedral:

Situated in front of Parque Eloy Alfaro, the Cathedral of Portoviejo is the major landmark as well as a tourist attraction of Portoviejo. Architecture is impressive and surrounding environment is nice.

Portoviejo botanical garden:

The botanical garden of Portoviejo is home to many orchid plants as well as reptiles and birds. Nice relaxation point.

Sosote:

Sosote is an interesting village situated few kilometers away from Portoviejo is especially noted for its tagua workshops, tagua is a typical Ecuador handicraft and tourists can purchase it directly from the workshop or from main street stalls.

Other places of interest near Portoviejo include:

San Lorenzo beach
El Murciélago beach
Banco Central Museum
San Mateo
Barbasquillo
Ecuador kitesurf school
Ocean Freaks
Narwell Cia Ltda
Plaza Casino
Santa Marianita
La Tiñosa
Fantasy Casino
Montecristi town

Best time to visit Portoviejo:

Between May to December will be the ideal time to enjoy holidays in Portoviejo.

Accommodation options in Portoviejo:

Portoviejo hosts many reputed hotels ranging from budget options to star rated hotels with tourist favor facilities like hot water bath, 24 hour internet connectivity, room service and help desk, room with private bathroom, spa and sauna, doctor on call, food on request as well as mouthwatering Manabi cuisines. The major hotels in and around Portoviejo are listed below: