Galápagos Island Adventure on Celebrity Flora

After enjoying your complimentary airport lounge access, a day flight will bring you out to Ecuador. You’ll be met on arrival by an included transfer to your central accommodation, host to spa treatments and volcano views from its terrace. It’s all set just by the cobbled streets and colonial plazas of the Old Town, which you’ll have some time to explore.

Stay: JW Marriot or similar

You’ll begin your series of included touring today, focusing on the European charms of Quito. Highlights include the 16th-century San Francisco Convent and the immaculately gilded La Compañia Church – a Baroque jewel. It’s all wrapped in charming squares and winding alleyways. In between an included lunch, taken with a spectacular view over the city, and a welcome dinner at a local gourmet restaurant, you’ll even straddle the equator at the Middle of the World museum park.

Stay:  JW Marriot or similar

Bookended by included transfers, you’ll fly out to the Galápagos and your luxury expedition ship. Host to just 100 guests and newly launched in 2019, it’s an intimate, all-suite affair, with each room served by personal attendants, balconies and floor-to-ceiling windows. And, alongside complimentary room service, your all-inclusive indulgences range from the open bars to Michelin-standard dining. There’s even time to begin your included shore excursions, taking in the sea lions, blue-footed boobies and pelicans of Daphne Island. Throughout, it’s all brought to life by expert-led lectures and a well-stocked library.

Stay: Celebrity Flora (Deluxe)

Home to one of the longest beaches in the Galápagos, Gardner Bay is a vision of white sands, host to a giant sea lion colony. Further highlights include the startingly red sally lightfoot crabs and Punta Suarez, your next stop. Here, perhaps making use of the complimentary walking poles, a guided hike will see you head up from the beach and onto the steep southern clifftops, ending at a great blowhole where water gushes up to 50 feet in the air.

Stay: Celebrity Flora (Deluxe)

Today, along with flamingos and the unsurprisingly long-legged stilts, you’ll be treated to something of the region’s human history. Cormorant Point was the Galápagos’s first capital, where Darwin first met the islands’ governor. You’ll even have the chance to send a letter home from the post office barrel once used by whalers to leave mail for outbound ships. As with every evening, there's the option to hire the "first glamping experience at sea", staying in a luxurious cabana under the stars and enjoying the likes of cocktails by the campfire with an astronomer.

Stay: Celebrity Flora (Deluxe)

Simply, Punta Moreno is the chance to step back to the prehistoric era. Among its barren landscapes, expect everything from huge marine iguanas to Galápagos penguins. You’ll also have a choice between a ramble through the reef’s high-and-dry corals or a shorter walk in search of land iguanas and giant tortoises. Urbina Bay also offers the perfect chance to try out the complimentary wetsuits and snorkelling equipment. Keep your eyes peeled for cormorants and marine iguanas. Back on board, perhaps head to the Oceanscope research lab. Visitable each day, it was built in conjunction with the University of Miami and used to study the region's fragile ecosystems. 

Stay: Celebrity Flora (Deluxe)

Heading off the beaten track, Espinoza Point is one of the least-visited sites on Fernandina Island, thanks to its remote location and difficult access. But, it’s well worth it, with its stark-black lava rocks providing a dramatic contrast to the brilliant green of plant growth. The marine iguanas are also special favourites. Then, at Isla Isabela’s Vicente Roca Point, don your snorkel gear once more to spot sea horses on an expert-led dive.

Stay: Celebrity Flora (Deluxe)

The little island off the coast of Santa Cruz will bring you face to face with seal pups and one of the largest colonies of sea lions in the Galápagos. Then, at the appropriately named Dragon Hill, you’ll be treated to fantastic sightings of land iguanas, along with spectacular views over the island. Its brackish lagoons are often animated by flamingos and feeding shore birds.

Stay: Celebrity Flora (Deluxe)

Your last port of call is Puerto Ayora where you’ll focus on its giant-tortoise reserve. Perched among the lushly vegetated highlands, it’s a fitting end to your trip. There’s also the option of wandering through Puerto Ayora, the islands’ largest town, and visiting the superb Charles Darwin Research Station. It shines a light on the Galápagos’s unique flora and fauna.

Stay: Celebrity Flora (Deluxe)

After a last indulgent breakfast onboard, included transfers will once again bookend your flight between the Galápagos and Quito. With a final night here, perhaps celebrate your trip with dinner at one of its superb restaurants.

Stay:  JW Marriot or similar

After breakfast and an included transfer, board your overnight flight home.