Ilocos & Manila

The Spanish north, then the capital

This route runs the length of the old Spanish colonial story — from the cobbled streets of Ilocos down to the museums and walled city of Manila.

Vigan has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999, and it earns it: Calle Crisologo closes to traffic, kalesas take over, and the ancestral houses along it are still homes and workshops rather than exhibits. North of it, Ilocos Norte opens up — Paoay Church, UNESCO-listed and finished in 1710, its enormous stone buttresses built to ride out earthquakes; the wind turbines standing in the surf at Bangui; the pale sculpted rock at Kapurpurawan; and the La Paz sand dunes, where the 4x4 and ATV rides are the day’s adrenaline.

The trip closes in Manila, where the National Museum complex beside Rizal Park holds the Spoliarium and the country’s anthropological and natural history collections — and has been free to enter since 2016. Intramuros and San Agustín Church, the oldest stone church in the Philippines and itself UNESCO-listed, are a short ride away.

The whole route runs on our own DOT-accredited coaches with a Tierra de Ibalon coordinator travelling with the group.

Good to know

• ATV Ride — on pax account.
• Day numbering follows the client’s document, which runs Day 1–4 then Day 6.