Touring Ilocos Without a Car Part 6: Going to Vigan from Laoag
On our third day in Laoag, we took a trip south to Vigan City, the capital of Ilocos Sur. We only planned to visit Calle Crisologo and Baluarte to save time.
After a quick breakfast at Balay da Blas, we took a trike and left for the Bus Terminal going to Vigan. I forgot the name of the bus but it’s only an ordinary one (non-airconditioned) and the fare was Php100 each. The ride lasted for 2 and 1/2 hours with some short stops picking up passengers by the road.
If you could spare Php20 more for your fare, I would suggest riding an air-conditioned bus like PARTAS. The seats are more comfy, they don’t stop to wait for passengers, and you don’t have to take in the scent of burning leaves by the roadside every few minutes.
We got off at the Vigan City Hall and asked directions from the traffic cops on how to get to Calle Crisologo. From the city hall, Calle Crisologo is about 3 blocks away so we just traveled there by foot.
First thing we saw is Plaza Burgos which is some sort of mini Rizal Park complete with a little statue of Jose Rizal in the middle. You can also see a lot of calesas for hire parked here. We did not hire one since we don’t plan on seeing the whole of Vigan and the ride is expensive for our budget.
Plaza Burgos
Beside the park is St. Paul’s Cathedral or what is commonly known as Vigan Cathedral. Just like St. William’s Cathedral in Laoag, this church is old but you wouldn’t recognize it since it is regularly maintained giving it a freshly painted look.
Vigan Cathedral with locals included
On one side of Plaza Burgos is the street leading to Calle Crisologo. You could easily see the statue of Leona Florentino, the famous Ilocana poet, satirist and playright during the Spanish Period, in front of the first Max’s Restaurant.
Tourist info center on the left, Cafe Leona on the right
If you are new to Vigan, you could head straight to the Ilocos Sur Tourist Information center and ask for a brochure as well as directions and other things. It is situated at the start of Crisologo St. besides Cafe Leona.
You can also see the Ilocos Sur Tourist Information center near the statue. We went there first to grab a brochure of Ilocos Sur and ask questions regarding other places to visit and transportation fares as well. The information guy is friendly and very helpful. Besides the information center is Cafe Leona which is a very nice place to eat. They serve huge servings of Filipino and Italian food at a decent price. Make sure to try their iced tea!
CALLE CRISOLOGO
Calle Crisologo or Crisologo St. is a 4-block street with cobblestone pavement lined with souvenirs and antique shops. No vehicles are allowed (only calesas) on the street except for the intersections. So if you’re going to take a nice photo of the street, make sure there are no cars, scooters, motorcycles passing through the intersections. We spent a great deal of time here to buy souvenirs for our friends and family.
Afterwards, it’s time to go to Baluarte, the home and mini zoo of Chavit Singson. We took a trike for Php40 after haggling it down from Php60 and it took us around 20 minutes to get there and there’s no entrance fee.
Calle Crisologo
BALUARTE
When you first step into Baluarte, you could see ostriches around the lobby and information area. Yup, they’re not fenced! There are also little horses with small carriages on them that you can ride for free to tour you around the place. I won’t be writing about what I saw at the zoo since that will sound like an elementary school paper but one thing’s for sure, the little ponies have huge dongs. Hehehe.
Tia posing with a little pony at Baluarte
Do not stay late at Baluarte if you don’t plan on bringing your own vehicle. I don’t think the tricycle drivers waits there all day long.
We finished at around 3pm and luckily there are still lots of tricycles outside Baluarte to take us back to the city. Price is still Php40 but originally the driver’s asking for Php50. Anyway, we asked the driver to drop us off at the PARTAS bus terminal going toback to Laoag.
The bus is air-conditioned and Php20 more expensive but it’s more spacious and the seats are well-cushioned. We arrived at Laoag at around 5 PM and went back to our suite.
FARE BREAKDOWN
- Ordinary Bus from Laoag to Vigan – Php 100
- Tricycle travelling to and from Baluarte – Php 40-50
- Air-conditioned Bus from Vigan to Laoag (PARTAS) – Php 121.00
For dinner, we ate at C&E Pizzeria and tried their Bagnet Pizza. Mmmm. I strongly suggest that you try it yourself. We just packed our things and pasalubongs in the evening for our flight tomorrow noon.
The day after, we arrived at the airport 1 hour before our flight which is 12 noon but found out that it was delayed for 3 hours. Hayyy Cebu Pacific talaga.
This concludes the series of our Ilocos Tour. I hope you find it helpful in planning your trip to Ilocos. It’s a must-visit place here in the Philippines!
If you have any questions/suggestions/corrections, please feel free to leave a comment. Thanks!
You might also be interested in:
- Touring Ilocos Without a Car Part 4: City of Laoag
- Touring Ilocos Without a Car Part 1: From Manila to Laoag
- Touring Ilocos Without a Car Part 5: South of Laoag
- Touring Ilocos Without a Car Part 2: Going to Pagudpud
Filed under: Travel
hi steve
can i ask how much is the rent for the van for 9 pax that includes vigan, laoag and pagudpud tour hotel and airport transfers.. travel period is feb 20-22. thanks. this is for the tourism development planning under alan canizal. thanks in advance.
hi annie, you might want to contact steve through his cell (09267124472). cheers!
hi annie here’s what steve said:
“3 thou, per day po kasama na po ung rent ng van, tourguide driver, gas at parking fee, now i can send you a itenerrary, sa mga spot na pupuntahan kapag mayron na kaung flight details, now if you have question, you can email me to hardin0417@yahoo.com.ph or you can txt and call to 09267124472/ 09196688100″
hi calvin,
im so thankfull for your site, because there are many tourist who knows me, because of your travelogue, nyway hope i can repay you, just give me a mail if you are planning to come here in ilocos, so i can give a free service just for you!!!
again thanx!!
you’re welcome steve. sige i’ll contact you if mapadpad ulit kami sa ilocos area. i would like to make you a page just like what I did to ritchie of bohol para mas madaling makita info about you. ok lang ba?
fantastic and informative! super thanks!
Hi Calvin! Ang daming pwedeng puntahan sa Vigan, malalayo nga lang. What we did before was, we went to the tourism office and they would assign you a tour guide (it’s free). But you have to go there early kasi kapag late na nakalabas na lahat ng tour guides, which happened to us the last time we went there, it’s a good thing we still remember most of the places to go to and we took a map just to be sure
Meron din don mga calesa na pwedeng dalhin ka sa mga tourist spot, per hour ang bayad naman sa kanila which can be very expensive. But it was fun going to those places like I think it’s called the Burnasan (not sure about the name, gawaan sya ng mga jars). Another nice place to visit is yung weaving nila doon, gamit nila yung weaving loom noong unang panahon pa, ang galing.
Isa pang dapat hindi ma-miss pagpunta sa Vigan ay yung Vigan empanada, iba talaga ang lasa. Pero hindi pare-pareho ang lasa ng empanada don, kailangan yung empanada na tinitinda sa tabi ng Syquia Museum, the best talaga empanada don.
thanks for the info. actually we thought of going to the jar and empanada pero naubusan kami ng oras sa kaka-shop ng mga pasalubong hehehe. dapat pala di na kami nag baluarte kasi di naman maganda.
next time siguro i-hire namin si steve para vigan and laoag tour.
hi calvin,,,
kinda appreciate your assistance to those first timer to ilocos….well because i read your immediate reply to all, i have all the enthusiasts to try it myself……..so i got a booking already for cebu pacific becasue i know you can help me and my family…..
got a booking manila laoag march 11 1955h arrive 2100h
return——laoag manila March 14-1855h
God bless..
joy
4 adults
2 kids
please help me calvin to get a cheap but comfortable travel for my famiy….i want to have a private van also and a hotel in saud beach….near maira ira if possible……
please email me or txt me so i can col you……
Hi joy, for van rental try mo si steve, DOT accredited sya.
hardin0417@yahoo.com.ph or txt/call 09267124472/ 09196688100″
for resort, limited lang yung choices sa maira ira. hannah’s is the most popular pero madaling mapuno. try niyo rin yung punta azul. we stayed there and parang bahay yung set up.
Hi there! I find your site very informative.
We are planning to go to Ilocos this coming March 18-21 via PAL. I was thinking since we are going to stay in Laoag most of the time and since arrival namin is lunch time, we tour Laoag city, Batac and the sand dunes on our first day. Will that fit in a day?
Then we can go to Pagudpud on our second day, Vigan on our 3rd day. Is that feasible?
Also, what are the best foods to buy as pasalubong in Ilocos? and what are the must try foods/dishes when we are there?
Thanks!
Cathy
Yup, kayang kaya yung plan niyo although mas maganda kung may sasakyan kayo para di maubos time niyo sa commute in the outskirts of laoag.
as for food, chichacorn is the usual pasalubong. bagnet din. longganisa and empanada sa vigan. try niyo rin yu ng mga weird pizza flavors nila. check out saramsam cafe.
check out steve (see previous comment) if you’re planning to hire a tour guide for hassle free traveling. dami rin syang masusuggest.
hi cathy,
helllo its me!! steve your friend here in ilocos seee yaaa!!
helloo calvin thanks for your recomendation, hi cathy its me steve, well nice to here that you are planing to come and explore ilocos, well im so glad to assist you in visiting ilocos, just give me a email i will provide you and suggest some of the information you need here in ilocos just give me a ring or email seee yaaa!!!
hi calvin,steve,thanks for your reply ü how much charge nyo for the tour? 2 lang kmi ng bf ko actualy pupunta and we wil be staying in laoag. Pls give us your best rates and whch places we can commute by ourselves and whch are recommended to go by car?
helllo cathy,
pls provide me your flight details, what will be your ETA and ETD, kindly email me hardin0417@yahoo.com.ph
Hi Calvin,
Thanks for the detailed information.
Anyway, my husband and I are planning to take the same tour you took but the difference is, we don’t intend to stay in Laoag City for days after 2 days in pagudpud. What we want to do is just to have a short tour of Laoag City (which you said we could take photos of the historicalsites in a very short period of time because they’re all closed to another another), vigan then travel to Banaue and stay there for a night before going back to manila. We only have 5 days for this itenerary and I know, the transport system is not as convenient, but knowing what route and means of transport to take would really help me plan our trip.
thanks and hope to hear from you.
Well going to the historical sites outside the city will take time so if you have the budget to hire a driver then much better. You don’t want to get stuck waiting for jeepneys (who will wait for other passengers) or tricycles. Sad to say I forgot details of how we got from point a it b. if it’s not written in my posts then I’ve forgotten about it anymore. sorry.
if you want to take a tour, go for DOT-accredited guides. One is Steve and you can contact him via email at hardin0417@yahoo.com.ph.