The cherry on the cake in the Las Peñas district is surely the Cerro de Santa Ana, the 60-metre (197-foot) hill crowned by Guayaquil’s most impressive lookout, with sweeping views over the entire city and nearby coast and ocean (and it goes without saying the sunsets up here are memorable indeed!). Also up here you’ll find the cute little Chapel of Our Lady of Mercy along with an iconic lighthouse, finished off with a whimsical swirl of barber-pole-style stripes of white and pastel blue (and yes, you can climb that, too!). And of course I sat on the bench out front and took a selfie with the statue of Juan Pueblo, the city's mascot, based on an early-20th-century cartoon character.

You get up here by climbing 444 steps (above - they're numbered!) along a series of staircases – taking the occasional breather at more cute shops and galleries along the way, of course, as well as the El Fortín Museum, built around built the remains of the original colonial fort which once defended the city against pirates, with the lighthouse looming right above.

Read more in our post Las Peñas, the Charming Colonial Core of Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Ecuador Tourism