Travel by your side visits Vigan Ilocos Sur, A Glimpse of Philippines' Past

Vigan City is a World Heritage site located in the province of Ilocos Sur, Philippines. It is well known for it's well preserved Hispanic town and old churches.

From Manila, there are many options you could choose if you want to go to Vigan. The fastest and easiest way is by taking a domestic flight to Laoag Airport. From this airport, it will just be 1 hour drive away to Vigan. You need to go to Laoag airport as there is no direct flight to Vigan. Another option is by bus like Partas. It will take roughly around 10 hours travel to reach Vigan using this option. For us, we hired private jeepney. This option is long but more adventurous.

Traveling to Vigan by jeep is good if you are looking for an extra adventure. This will give you an opportunity to have a quick visit to some Luzon provinces.

Like for us, we had our breakfast in Hacienda Luicita Mall in Tarlac. We also visited some of our relatives in Pampanga, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Viscaya, Pangasinan and La Union.

One of the notable churches in Vigan is St. Paul Metropolitan Cathedral or simply known as Vigan Cathedral.

Bantay Church and it's bell tower is a well preserved old church in Vigan's neighboring town Bantay. The bell tower is said to be in the tallest point of the town and used to be a watch tower during Spanish colonial period.

We also visited Baluarte. a zoo located in Salindeg. Tigers, ostriches and camels are the main attractions of the zoo. The owner of the zoo is the former Ilocos Sur Governor Chavit Singson.

Our last stop is Calle Crisologo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The entire street is lined with Spanish Era ancestral houses and cobble-stoned street. We used calesa to tour around and to have a complete feel that we really traveled back to Spanish era. We also visited some souvenir shops and a traditional clothe weaving tailor shop.

Trully, Vigan will make you appreciate the beauty of Philippine history that we barely see nowadays. The combination of culture, history and nature made Vigan one of the top destination in the Philippines. 

Share you experiences in VIgan in the comments section and continue to join us as we travel and explore the beauty of life.