Central & South America Ecuador Galapagos Galapagos Guide Quito Galapagos All Galapagos The 7 Best Galapagos Tours of 2021 By Megan Romer Megan Romer Facebook Twitter Megan Romer is a travel writer focused on southern Louisiana. She has a background in tourism marketing and has written for TripSavvy since 2011. TripSavvy's editorial guidelines Updated on 03/04/21 Fact checked by Leila Najafi Fact checked by Leila Najafi on 10/11/20 Instagram LinkedIn Twitter Leila is an L.A.-based luxury travel and lifestyle writer with over five years of experience covering destination guides, hotel reviews, restaurant openings, travel rewards programs, and buying guides. TripSavvy's fact-checking Share Pin Email Our editors independently research, test, and recommend the best products; you can learn more about our review process here. We may receive commissions on purchases made from our chosen links. The Rundown Best All-Inclusive Tour: Eight-Day Galapagos Classic Island Hopping – Buy Tickets at Viator "Your week is filled with once-in-a-lifetime adventures." Best Express Tour: Four-Day Galapagos Islands Express Tour – Buy Tickets at Viator "This quick tour that hits many of the island’s highlights in daily excursions." Best Adventure Tour: Eight-Day Galapagos Adventure – Buy Tickets at Viator "Most of these activities will bring you up close and personal with one critter or another." Best Family-Friendly Tour: Four Days All-Inclusive Galapagos Island Hopping Tour – Buy Tickets at Viator "You will spend four days seeing the amazing flora and fauna that makes Galapagos famous." Best Los Tuneles Tour: Six-Day Galapagos Land Tour: Los Tuneles Program – Buy Tickets at Viator "Instead of doing heavy island-hopping, this tour focuses primarily on Isabela Island." Best Floreana Tour: Full-Day Floreana Tour – Buy Tickets at Viator "Explore the Galapagos National Park, seeing a real pirate’s cave." Best Bartolomé Tour: Full-Day Bartolomé Island & Sullivan Bay Tour – Buy Tickets at Viator "The tour includes hikes around the island’s lava fields, tubes and craters." Best All-Inclusive Tour: Eight-Day Galapagos Classic Island Hopping Getty Images Buy on Viator.com This extensive tour begins at the airport in San Cristobal, where you’ll land after taking a plane from Quito, Ecuador, and begins with a gentle first day at the San Cristobal Interpretation Center, for some history and background of the islands and its animal inhabitants, and then a trip to Playa Man beach. After an overnight in a tourist-class hotel, things really get going. Your next week is filled with once-in-a-lifetime adventures: snorkeling off Kicker Rock and at Los Tuneles, viewing giant tortoises at the Charles Darwin Research Station and on Isabela Island, hiking the Sierra Negra Volcano, viewing the flamingos at Flamingo Lagoon and so much more. Meals are all included, as are hotels, transportation, a guide and snorkeling equipment. Flights can be included if you choose. It’s an extensive trip that is packed with activities but also offers a good deal of relaxed quiet time, where visitors can really stop and breathe in the incredible surroundings. Best Express Tour: Four-Day Galapagos Islands Express Tour Getty Images Buy on Viator.com If you don’t have a full week to spend, consider this quick tour that hits many of the island’s highlights in daily excursions from a Puerto Ayorta hotel (included, as are daily breakfasts). The tour will take you to Tortuga Bay, where you’ll be able to relax on the white sand beach and swim or snorkel near sea lions, an area where you can view reef sharks and marine iguanas, a visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station, as well as a full free day that you can spend doing any number of island activities. Best Adventure Tour: Eight-Day Galapagos Adventure Getty Images Buy on Viator.com Active travelers who really want to get in the thick of it should consider this action-packed, all-inclusive weeklong tour. It includes multiple hiking excursions (Frigate Hill, the highlands at Cerro Chato Reserve, the Sierra Negra and Chico Volcanos, and the Tintoreras Islet), snorkeling expeditions (Punta Carola, Kicker Rock, Concha Perla, and Tintoreras), as well as at least two bike trips, an afternoon of kayaking, and several shorter stops at various natural landmarks. Because the wildlife in Galapagos is so famously unafraid of humans, most of these activities will bring you up close and personal with one critter or another, and allow you to really see them in their natural habitats, which is what brought you to the islands in the first place, right? Best Family-Friendly Tour: Four Days All-Inclusive Galapagos Island Hopping Tour Getty Images Buy on Viator.com Given the nature of the restrictions on tourism in the Galapagos Islands, it’s not like there are any tours that are secretly just party-boat cruises where kids wouldn’t be welcomed, but some make more of a point of welcoming the whole family than others, and this is the best. You (and your kids, if you choose to bring them) will spend four days seeing the amazing flora and fauna that makes Galapagos famous: the flamingos at Flamingo Lagoon, the marine iguanas at Tortuga Bay, the seven species of finch on Isabela Island and, of course, the famous giant tortoises at the Charles Darwin Research Station, plus oodles of others. You’ll also go snorkeling at Concha de Perla and hike up the Sierra Negra Volcano. Hotel rooms and meals (with a vegetarian option) are all included. Best Los Tuneles Tour: Six-Day Galapagos Land Tour: Los Tuneles Program Getty Images Buy on Viator.com Instead of doing heavy island-hopping, this tour focuses primarily on Isabela Island, where you’ll spend a significant amount of time exploring, via boat and on snorkel trips, the lava tunnels called Los Tuneles, one of the most biodiverse areas of the whole archipelago. You’ll go snorkeling in multiple sites, including Concha Perla, Finados, and Tintores, where you’ll swim with everything from sea lions to white-tipped reef sharks. You’ll also stop for a day on Santa Cruz Island to visit the giant tortoises at the Charles Darwin Research Station. Hotels, meals, and snorkeling equipment are all included. Best Floreana Tour: Full-Day Floreana Tour Getty Images Buy on Viator.com If you’re looking to fill just one day and Puerto Ayora is your home base, consider this full-day small-group tour. You’ll be picked up from your hotel early in the morning for your boat ride to sparsely-inhabited but historically-important Floreana Island, where you’ll spend the day with a tour guide and your group (no larger than 10) exploring the Galapagos National Park, seeing a real pirate’s cave, visiting the wildlife on Black Beach and even snorkeling in the crystal-clear waters. You’ll enjoy lunch on the island before heading back to Puerto Ayora by boat for your hotel drop off. Best Bartolomé Tour: Full-Day Bartolomé Island & Sullivan Bay Tour Getty Images Buy on Viator.com If you’ve got a day to fill and Santa Cruz is your home base, consider filling it with this trip to nearby Bartolomé Island, one of the newest islands in the Galapagos chain, known for striking volcanic features which include Pinnacle Rock, the highest point on the island and the one where many iconic photographs of the islands have been taken. The tour includes hikes around the island’s lava fields, tubes and craters, and a chance to go snorkeling in the bay, which is frequented by both sea lions and penguins. Hotel pick-up and drop-off are included, as is lunch and the two-hour boat ride in both directions. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Share Pin Email Tell us why! Submit Continue to 5 of 7 below.