Cornelius Amann
October 06, 2026
5/5
Philippines: Northern Luzon, Banaue, Batad, Sagada and Vigan
9 days from Manila: up through Baguio to the Banaue and Batad rice terraces, two nights in Sagada, two in Spanish-colonial Vigan, and a flight home from Laoag.
9 days · Round trip from Manila · up to 12 guests
Rice terraces above Banaue, seen from the viewpoint on the Bontoc road Photo: User: (WT-shared) Roundtheworld at wts wikivoyage, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Banaue-terrace.JPG)
The facts
At a glance
- Length
- 9 days, 8 nights
- Start and end
- Round trip from Manila
- Group size
- 7 to 12 guests
- Activity level
Moderate
Most days have one to three hours on foot on village paths, stone steps and old town streets, at around 1,000 to 1,500 m in the highlands. The Batad walk is the hardest: about 45 minutes down to the village on a steep trail and stone steps, then up again, on narrow terrace walls with drops to one side, about 3 hours in all, or 5 to 6 with the optional climb to Tappiyah Falls. Sumaguing Cave involves scrambling over wet, slippery limestone barefoot or in sandals. There are three long drives. Every walk has a shorter or seated alternative.
- Meals included
- 8 breakfasts, 7 lunches, 1 dinner
- Room of your own
- + CAD 520 (estimated price)
- Season
- December to May
Highlights
Why this trip
- Walking down into the amphitheatre of terraces at Batad, part of the UNESCO-listed rice terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras
- Lunch in Batad village with the terraces stepping up on every side
- The hanging coffins of Echo Valley in Sagada in the late-afternoon light
- Into Sumaguing Cave with a Sagada guide, over smooth limestone and through cold pools
- Bontoc Museum and its old photographs of the mountain peoples of the Cordillera
- A calesa ride through Vigan's Spanish-era streets and Calle Crisologo at dusk
- Shaping a pot on the wheel at a Vigan burnay pottery yard
- Santa Maria Church on its hill and Paoay Church with its huge buttresses, both on the UNESCO list
What makes this trip different
Free time is part of the plan
Free time and choices are marked on the days they fall.
Solo without the penalty
A room of your own is + CAD 520 (estimated price).
Day by day
Itinerary
Tap any stop on the map to open that dayClick any stop on the map to open that day
Arrive in Manila
Ninoy Aquino International Airport to your hotel near Intramuros, then the walled city
- Welcome dinner
- Stay in Manila
Fly into Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL), where a driver meets you in arrivals for the drive to your hotel near Intramuros. Manila traffic is slow, so allow an hour or more.
Afternoon
If you land by early afternoon, rest, then join your See Sight Tours guide for a late-afternoon walk in Intramuros, the walled city the Spanish began in the late 16th century. We walk a stretch of the old walls, pass Manila Cathedral, step into San Agustin Church, the oldest stone church in the country and one of the four Baroque churches on the UNESCO list, and end in Fort Santiago as the heat goes out of the day. You will see two more of those four churches later in the week, in the north.
Evening
In the evening a short briefing covers the road ahead, the mountain lodges and what to pack for Batad, then we sit down to a welcome dinner of Filipino dishes.
Included
- Pick-up at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)
- Late-afternoon walk in Intramuros with your guide: the walls, Manila Cathedral, San Agustin Church and Fort Santiago
- Welcome briefing and welcome dinner
Easier option: If you land late, skip the walk and meet the group at the briefing and dinner.
Free time: Free until the late-afternoon walk
Activity: Land by about 2 pm to join the Intramuros walk. The latest arrival time is confirmed with your final itinerary.
North to Baguio
Manila to Baguio by the expressways, with lunch on the way
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Baguio
- Drive about 4.5 h
Morning
We leave after breakfast, at about 8 am, once the worst of Manila's morning traffic has eased, and head north on the expressways across the flat rice bowl of central Luzon. The drive is about 250 km and four and a half hours, right at our daily limit, and it is the price of breaking the long road to Banaue into two days instead of one nine-hour run.
Afternoon
We stop for coffee after the first hour and a half and sit down to lunch about halfway, then climb the last stretch up the mountain road to Baguio, at about 1,500 m. The air is suddenly cool and smells of pine. In the mid-afternoon your guide walks the group down Session Road to Burnham Park and through the public market, where the highland farms send their strawberries, vegetables and coffee.
Evening
The evening is free; Baguio has good small restaurants within walking distance of the hotel.
Included
- Drive from Manila to Baguio with your guide, with a coffee stop
- Sit-down lunch on the way
- Orientation walk in Baguio: Session Road, Burnham Park and the public market
Easier option: Skip the walk and rest at the hotel; the market is a few minutes away if you want it later.
Free time: Evening free in Baguio
Activity: About four and a half hours of driving in three legs. The walk is about an hour and a half, on pavements with some slopes.
Over the mountains to Banaue
Baguio to Balete Pass and Bayombong, then Lagawe and Banaue
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Banaue
- Drive about 6 h
This is the longest drive of the trip, about 240 km and six hours on the road, because no regular flight links Baguio and Banaue, and of the two mountain roads the Nueva Vizcaya route is the safer, smoother one; the Halsema Highway through Bontoc is slower. We leave at 8 am and cut it into three legs. The first stop is Balete Pass, the high saddle where one of the hardest battles of the Second World War on Luzon was fought in 1945, now a quiet memorial with a view down two valleys.
Afternoon
Lunch is a sit-down meal in Bayombong, the provincial capital. The last leg climbs into Ifugao province through Lagawe, and the first terraces appear on the slopes above the road. We reach Banaue in the late afternoon, in time to look out over the terraces below the town as the light goes, and you stay two nights.
Evening
Dinner is your choice; try pinikpikan, the local chicken broth.
Included
- Drive from Baguio to Banaue with your guide
- Stop at the Balete Pass memorial
- Sit-down lunch in Bayombong
- First look at the terraces from Banaue town
Free time: Evening free in Banaue
Activity: About six hours of driving in three legs of about two hours or less each, on winding mountain roads for the last part. Bring motion-sickness tablets if you need them.
The Batad amphitheatre on foot
Banaue to the Batad Saddle, then on foot to Batad village and back
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Banaue
- Drive about 1.5 h
Afternoon
An early start, at about 7:30 am, so we walk down before the day-trip vans and the midday heat. Our van, or a local jeepney if the road is rough, takes us about 45 minutes to the Batad Saddle, where a local Ifugao guide joins us. The trail drops steeply through forest for about 45 minutes, then opens onto the view people come for: a bowl of stone-walled terraces climbing the whole valley like the seats of a theatre, part of the rice terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras listed by UNESCO. We walk along the terrace walls into the village, where the guide explains how the water is shared from terrace to terrace and how the work follows the rice year. Lunch is in a village restaurant looking across the amphitheatre. The climb back to the Saddle comes in the cooler afternoon, at your own pace, and we are back in Banaue by late afternoon.
Included
- Transfer to the Batad Saddle and back
- Guided walk down to Batad village and through the terraces with a local Ifugao guide
- Batad environmental and guide fees
- Lunch in Batad village
Easier option: Stay at the Saddle viewpoints with a coffee, or walk only the first part of the trail to the first view of the amphitheatre and back.
More active option: Continue from the village down to Tappiyah Falls and swim in its cold pool: about an hour each way on steep steps, adding two to three hours.
Free time: Evening free in Banaue: a walk through the town or back to the terrace viewpoint above it for the last light
Activity: About 3 hours of walking in all, steep down and up, with stone steps and narrow terrace walls. Porters can carry a daypack for a small tip.
Bontoc, then Sagada's hanging coffins
Banaue to the Banaue viewpoint, Bontoc, then Sagada and Echo Valley
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Sagada
- Drive about 3 h
Morning
After a slower breakfast we leave Banaue at 8:30 am and stop first at the viewpoint on the road north, where the terraces drop away in tiers below the road. The road to Bontoc climbs over a high pass in cloud forest, about two hours.
Afternoon
In Bontoc, once the capital of the old Mountain Province, we visit the Bontoc Museum, a small collection of tools, textiles and old photographs of the Bontoc, Ifugao and Kalinga peoples, then sit down to lunch in town. It is under an hour on to Sagada, a quiet town of pine woods and limestone. After checking in, and registering with the tourism office, we walk with a Sagada guide through the churchyard and down into Echo Valley, where coffins have been hung on the cliff face by the Igorot people for centuries. The late-afternoon light is softer then, and the day groups have mostly gone.
Evening
The evening is free.
Included
- Banaue viewpoint
- Bontoc Museum
- Sit-down lunch in Bontoc
- Sagada registration and environmental fee
- Echo Valley and the hanging coffins with a Sagada guide
Easier option: See the coffins from the upper viewpoint in Echo Valley without the steep path down.
Free time: Evening free in Sagada
Activity: About three hours of driving in two legs. The Echo Valley walk is about an hour and a half on a rocky path with some steep steps. The burial sites are sacred: no touching, no climbing, and photos only where the guide says. Bontoc Museum opening days are confirmed at booking; if it is closed, we swap it for a walk through Bontoc town.
Sumaguing Cave and a free Sagada afternoon
Sagada to Sumaguing Cave and back to town
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Sagada
- Drive about 30 min
We go to Sumaguing Cave first thing, at about 7:45 am, before the queue builds at the guides' office and while the cave is quiet. With a local cave guide and his lantern we climb down into the largest cave in Sagada, over smooth, polished limestone into chambers of flowstone and cold, clear pools. Shoes come off for the lower part; the rock grips well barefoot.
Afternoon
We are out by late morning and walk back to town for lunch together. The afternoon is free. Sagada is good for slow time: sit in one of the cafes over a cup of Sagada coffee and lemon pie, visit the weaving workshop or the pottery at the edge of town, walk out to the rice fields, or book a massage.
Evening
As evening falls, the town is quiet and the air cold, so bring a warm layer for dinner.
Included
- Sumaguing Cave with a local cave guide and lantern
- Lunch in Sagada
Optional experiences
- Lumiang to Sumaguing cave connection instead of Sumaguing alone, about 4 hours (price shown at booking)
- Bomod-ok Falls walk through the rice fields in the afternoon (price shown at booking)
- Massage in Sagada (price shown at booking)
Easier option: Visit only the upper chamber of Sumaguing, or the entrance of Lumiang Cave with its stacked coffins, and skip the scramble.
More active option: Take the cave connection from Lumiang to Sumaguing, a longer underground route with ropes and squeezes.
Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Sagada
Activity: About two hours in the cave, scrambling over wet and slippery rock, partly barefoot, with some wading to the knees. Not for anyone uneasy in tight or dark spaces; the easy option stays near the entrance.
Down to the coast and Vigan
Sagada to Cervantes and the Ilocos coast, Santa Maria Church, then Vigan
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Vigan
- Drive about 5.5 h
Today's drive is about 200 km and five and a half hours, the second of the two long days, because the only road from the highlands to Vigan winds down through Cervantes to the coast. We leave at 8 am and break it up. The first leg runs through pine forest and over the ridge to Cervantes, where we stop for coffee. The road then drops to the sea at Tagudin and turns north along the Ilocos coast.
Afternoon
Lunch is a sit-down meal near Santa Maria, then we climb the stone stairway to Santa Maria Church, a brick church set on a hill like a fortress, one of the Baroque churches on the UNESCO list. We reach Vigan in the late afternoon and check in for two nights.
Evening
At dusk your guide walks the group along Calle Crisologo, the cobbled street of Spanish-era houses with capiz-shell windows, after the day buses leave and the lamps come on, and on to Plaza Salcedo.
Included
- Drive from Sagada to Vigan with your guide, with a coffee stop in Cervantes
- Sit-down lunch near Santa Maria
- Santa Maria Church
- Evening walk on Calle Crisologo and Plaza Salcedo
Optional experiences
- Vigan dancing fountain show at Plaza Salcedo (free to watch; times confirmed locally)
Easier option: Skip the stairway at Santa Maria and see the church from below; skip the evening walk and rest.
Free time: Dinner free in Vigan
Activity: About five and a half hours of driving in three legs, winding for the first half. The stairway at Santa Maria has about 80 steps.
Vigan by calesa and pottery wheel
Vigan heritage district, Bantay and the Pagburnayan pottery yards
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Vigan
Vigan is one of the best-preserved Spanish colonial towns in Asia and is listed by UNESCO, and the mornings here are cooler, so we start at 8:30 am. A calesa, the horse-drawn carriage still used in town, takes us through the grid of old streets: the ancestral houses of the merchant families, with stone ground floors and wooden upper storeys, Syquia Mansion, St Paul's Cathedral, and out to the bell tower of Bantay Church on its hill above the town. Then we walk to the Pagburnayan yards, where potters still turn the earthen burnay jars on kick wheels and fire them in long brick kilns, and you try the wheel yourself.
Afternoon
Lunch is Vigan food: empanada fried to order and Vigan longganisa sausage. The afternoon is free for the museums, the weaving shops selling abel cloth, or a rest out of the heat.
Evening
In the evening the group shares a farewell dinner.
Included
- Calesa ride through the Vigan heritage district with your guide
- Syquia Mansion
- Bantay Church bell tower
- Pagburnayan pottery yard with a turn on the wheel
- Lunch of Vigan dishes
- Farewell dinner in Vigan
Easier option: Stay on the calesa for the whole morning loop and skip the climb up the Bantay bell tower.
More active option: Hire a bicycle in the free afternoon and ride out to the river and the villages around the town.
Free time: Afternoon free in Vigan
Activity: An easy morning, mostly seated in the calesa, with about an hour of walking on flat streets.
Paoay Church and the flight to Manila
Vigan to Paoay, then Laoag airport and Manila by air
- Breakfast
- Drive about 2 h
Morning
After breakfast, at about 8:30 am, we drive north along the Ilocos coast for about an hour and a half to Paoay. Its church of San Agustin, built of coral stone and brick in the 18th century, is held up by enormous buttresses against earthquakes and is the third of the UNESCO-listed Baroque churches on this route, after San Agustin in Manila and Santa Maria. We spend time there before the short drive to Laoag International Airport, where your guide sees you through check-in for the included flight of about an hour and ten minutes to Manila. The flight time is set by the airline, so the Paoay stop flexes around it. The group lands at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL), where you connect to your flight home or stay on in Manila. Manila's terminals are not linked inside, so allow time, and book an international flight leaving after about 6 pm.
Included
- Paoay Church
- Transfer to Laoag International Airport (LAO)
- Flight from Laoag to Manila (MNL)
Activity: Book your flight home from Manila after about 6 pm; the Laoag flight time is confirmed with your final itinerary.
- Manila1 night
- Baguio1 night
- Banaue2 nights
- Sagada2 nights
- Vigan2 nights
- Manilaend
- Overnight stop
- Day trip
- By boat or train
Wildlife and weather: December to May is the dry season in northern Luzon. December to February is the coolest time in the highlands, with clear days and cold nights near 10 C in Sagada and Banaue; March to May is warmer, and the lowlands around Manila and Vigan are hot. The terraces change colour through the year: bright green while the rice grows, golden near harvest, and brown or flooded mirrors at planting. From June to November rain and typhoons bring landslides to the mountain roads, so we do not run then.
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Before you book
Right for you?
Good for you if you want
- Travellers who want the Philippines' mountains and old towns rather than its beaches
- Walkers happy with steep paths and steps at a steady pace, with an easier option on every hard day
- Anyone curious about the Ifugao and Igorot peoples, their terraces and burial customs
- Travellers who prefer two nights per base and a flight home over a long road back
Not for you if you want
- Anyone who needs 3-star-plus comfort every night (Banaue and Sagada have simple lodges)
- Travellers who get badly car sick on winding roads; there are two long mountain drives
- Anyone uneasy around burial sites or in dark caves, though both can be sat out
- Travel from June to November, the wet and typhoon season
Book flights after we confirm your seat.
8 nights
Where you'll stay
Your hotels are named in your trip confirmation.
- Manila1 night
- Baguio1 night
- Banaue2 nights
- Sagada2 nights
- Vigan2 nights
One price
What's in the price
Included
Accommodation
- 8 nights: 1 in Manila, 1 in Baguio, 2 in Banaue, 2 in Sagada and 2 in Vigan
- Central hotels of a 3-star-plus standard in Manila, Baguio and Vigan; the best simple mountain lodges with private bathrooms and hot water in Banaue and Sagada, where no hotel of that standard exists; we name each when we confirm your dates
- Rooms shared, or your own for a supplement
Transport
- Pick-up at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) on day 1
- Our own air-conditioned van and driver from Manila to Laoag
- Local jeepney or small van where the Batad road needs it
- Flight from Laoag to Manila on day 9, with a checked bag
Your guide
- A See Sight Tours guide with the group from day 1 to day 9
- Local Ifugao guide in Batad, and the local guides Sagada requires for the caves and burial sites
Activities
- Manila: Intramuros walk with Manila Cathedral, San Agustin Church and Fort Santiago
- Baguio: Session Road, Burnham Park and the public market
- Balete Pass memorial
- Batad: guided walk through the terraces to the village, with environmental and guide fees
- Banaue viewpoint
- Bontoc Museum
- Sagada: registration and environmental fee, Echo Valley and the hanging coffins, Sumaguing Cave
- Santa Maria Church
- Vigan: Calle Crisologo evening walk, calesa ride, Syquia Mansion, Bantay bell tower, Pagburnayan pottery with a turn on the wheel
- Paoay Church
Meals
- 8 breakfasts
- 7 lunches: on the road on days 2, 3, 5 and 7, in Batad village, in Sagada and a Vigan lunch
- 2 dinners: a welcome dinner in Manila and a farewell dinner in Vigan
Not included
- International flights to and from Manila
- Visa, if your passport needs one
- Travel insurance
- Meals not listed
- Drinks
- Tips for your guide, driver, local guides and porters
- Optional activities: the Lumiang to Sumaguing cave connection, Bomod-ok Falls, a massage in Sagada
- Porters in Batad
- Extra baggage on the Laoag flight
- Personal expenses
Extras
- Room of your own
- CAD 520 (estimated price)
When you can go
Dates and prices
Pick your start date when you request to book. We check that date and confirm it in your quote.
Prefer to travel without a group or guide? Ask us about arranging hotels, transport and city tours for you to travel independently.
Before you book
Booking terms
Nothing is charged now. Full terms and the cancellation schedule come with your quote, before you accept.
Business addresses
See Sight Tours Trips (USA): 3172 N Rainbow Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89108, United StatesSee Sight Tours Trips (Canada): 5305 50 Avenue, #1091, Red Deer, AB T4N 4B6, Canada+1-888-961-6584Guest reviews
What guests say
Reviews from guests on our day tours.
Jane
October 06, 2026
5/5
Susan
October 06, 2026
5/5
Tom L
October 05, 2026
5/5
MandL83
October 05, 2026
5/5
Darren O
October 05, 2026
5/5
Good to know
Questions
Prices in these answers apply from Dec 2, 2026. Black Friday offer: 5% off the small-group price for requests received by Dec 1, 2026. From CAD 2,940 per person. From Dec 2, 2026: from CAD 3,095.
What does the Northern Luzon trip price include?
Eight nights of accommodation, 8 breakfasts, 7 lunches and 2 dinners, our own van and driver from Manila to Laoag, the flight from Laoag to Manila, your See Sight Tours guide throughout, local guides in Batad and Sagada, and every visit in the day plan, including the Sagada fees, Sumaguing Cave, the calesa ride and three UNESCO-listed churches.
How big is the group?
The small-group trip runs with 7 to 12 guests. That fits one van, so we stop where we like on the mountain roads, walk the Batad trail at the group's own pace and sit around one table at lunch. Other trips on this route take up to 16 or 18.
Who leads the trip?
A See Sight Tours guide travels with the group from Manila to the last flight. Local guides join where the community requires them: an Ifugao guide in Batad, and Sagada's own guides for the caves and the hanging coffins, as Sagada's rules ask.
How hard is the Batad rice terraces walk?
It is the hardest day: about 45 minutes down a steep trail and stone steps to the village, walking along narrow terrace walls, then the same climb back, about 3 hours in all. If you prefer, stay at the top viewpoints or walk only to the first view. Tappiyah Falls is an optional extra climb.
What are the hotels like in Banaue and Sagada?
Simple. Neither town has hotels of a 3-star-plus standard, so we use the best mountain lodges or inns, with private bathrooms and hot water, plain rooms and blankets rather than heating. Manila, Baguio and Vigan have central 3-star-plus hotels. We name each place when we confirm your dates.
Why are some driving days so long?
No regular flights or trains reach the Cordillera, so the road is the only way in. Two days run over our four-hour limit: about six hours from Baguio to Banaue and five and a half from Sagada to Vigan. Each is split into legs of about two hours or less with a sit-down lunch and a sight on the way.
I am travelling solo. Do I pay a single supplement?
Only if you take a room of your own, from CAD 520 more, about 17 percent of the trip price. Solo travellers join the same departures, van and tables as everyone else, and the supplement is shown up front, before you request to book, so there is no surprise at checkout.
When is the best time to see the Banaue rice terraces?
We run December to May, the dry season. The terraces are greenest from about March to May as the rice grows and golden near harvest; at planting they are brown or flooded like mirrors. June to November brings rain, typhoons and landslides on the mountain roads, so we do not run then.
Can we see the Sagada hanging coffins up close?
Yes, with a Sagada guide, on a path down into Echo Valley below the cliff. The sites are sacred to the local Igorot families: you do not touch the coffins or climb to them, and photos are taken only where the guide allows. Sites can close for burial rites, and then we change the order.
Do I need a visa for the Philippines?
Canadians and many other nationalities can visit visa-free for up to 30 days, with a passport valid for 6 months beyond the stay. Every traveller must register on the government's eTravel website within 72 hours before arrival. We confirm the rules for your passport when you book.
How does booking work, and can I choose my own dates?
Pick a small-group start date and request to book; we confirm within 24 hours and take no payment until then. For your own dates, choose the private trip for your party only, or ask us from the dates section for an independent quote using the same route and lodges.
Can I combine this with Palawan or Cebu?
Yes. This trip ends at Manila airport after the flight from Laoag, which suits a night in Manila and a domestic flight on to our Palawan trip or our Cebu, Bohol and Siquijor trip. Ask us and we arrange the night in between and match the start dates.
See Sight Tours has been providing travel services across North America since 2006. Operating in 20 cities across Canada and the USA, the company specializes in small group tours that offer personalized, high-quality experiences for travelers.
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