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!
Filed under: Travel
Hi! Thanks for posting your ilocos trip here, it’s very helpful. I am planning to take a trip there this march 18-24, with my 4 y/o son, mom and bro. Most likely we will take the same route as yours: laoag airport to pagudpud, laoag, vigan. I’m planning to fly cebu pacific as well, hence no car…
How much all in all did you spend in the 6/7 days that you were there? My utmost worry is the commute going around with 4 y/o son, it might be hard on him…..
Thanks!
JOY
newmedia101@gmail.com
We spent around 16k not including pasalubongs for the whole trip pero 4 nights lang kami. It would be difficult for 4 persons to travel by tricycle since it will get really cramped unless you take two trikes. But the bus ride would be fine, just look for air-conditioned ones which are more spacious.
Have a nice and safe trip and enjoy the sights!
lahat na ba kau yung 16k? ilan kau?
2 lang kami hehehe. also keep in mind that we went there during off-peak so medyo mura yung stay sa pagudpud. peak is holy week and summer months.
Good day sir! My friend and I will have our Ilocos tour this coming March 20-23. We booked for an overnight stay in Pagudpud and at a hotel in Laoag for the rest of the 4 day tour. We do not want to spend too much for the fares so we decided to just take the bus on the 19th of afternoon or evenight depending on the availability. I actually called some Bus Lines but there are no available tickets yet. Would you know how we can have an early reservations for any Bus Lines bound directly to Pagudpud? I am really worrying about this because its Holy week. Thank you.
Sorry man, I’m not familiar with buses from manila to pagudpud. but if you go from manila to laoag, there are lots of bus terminals there with buses leaving every 30 minutes to pagudpud. as for reservations, wala akong alam sorry.
hey let me know kung anong bus sinakyan niyo going to pagupud from here. we’re planning to go back there this september eh pero by bus na lang siguro. thanks!
Hi! I would like to view parts 1,2,3,5 of your “touring ilocos without a car” blog, but I can’t seem to find it here
Please advise where I can dig it up. Thanks in advance.
Sorry about that, in the Kategorrys section on the upper right part of the page, you can click Travel to view the other parts. I also made links to all parts at the end of each post.
Hi Calvin,
Kudos
to you and Tia’s sense of adventure. Wala ako masabi sa itinerary nyo. I’d probably just go to 2 points if I’m just commuting to Ilocos, but to go visit all those places by bus, jeep and trike? Pedeng pede na kayo sa amazing race!…Parang di ko napansin yung obscenely large _____ nung miniature horses when I visited Baluarte. Yung tigers lang ata napansin ko. Ilocos is the province of my mom, we try to go there once a year. I hope you got to eat empanada, okoy, bibingka, chicharon, etc etc…yum yum.
Ciao,
Judith
Hi! I envy you guys for being to really beautiful and awesome places in just 4 nights.I really love to go to Vigan but because I am still studying, I just don’t have the time and money to go there. But then, I suddenly felt this great urge to go see the place, even just by myself, kahit pa balikan sa isang araw. Can you please give me an advice on how much will I roughly need for bus fare from manila to vigan to manila and for the food? Thanks!
calvin: hi kate. mas ok pa rin if you have to go there with someone, kahit family member or best friend para at least may kukuha ng picture mo. hehehe. My best friend and his friend went there sa vigan overnight lang. The bus fare from manila to laoag is P700++ so baka pag sa vigan lang around P600++. As for the food, same lang rin kung magkano gagastusin mo sa mga fastfood dito although masarap na meal mo doon with that amount. So mga P1500 sa fare (bus,trike, etc.) tapos P1,000 sa food kasama merienda etc. pero mahirap pag-balikan, nakakapagod.
Hi Calvin, this is Joy Gatuz again, sorry, my bad, didn’t see the link for each parts. Your posts are a big help. Thanks
calvin: you’re welcome. musta trip niyo?
hello calvin! c,” ) wow, ang bilis ng reply! thanks for the information. I am looking forward to going to Vigan this year, sana this summer. By hook or by crook, hihikayatin ko kahit isang kabarkada lang para sumama sa aking Vigan escapade.Thanks!
Again,
Kathe
calvin: you’re welcome. sana matuloy and mag-enjoy ka
hi! my barkada is planning on touring laoag, vigan and pagudpod next may. since we’re more than 4 people, do you have an idea as to where we can arrange van rentals for a 4 day/3 night trip? thanks very much!
van rentals including driver? i know some drivers with vans who offer their service pero i have to ask pa kung pwede sila yung 4 days 3 nights. as for van rentals lang talaga, hehe wala eh. try na lang siguro sa yellow pages.
hi! does your 16k expenses includes your air fare or just the travelling expenses back & forth from pagudpud-laoag-vigan plus hotel acc & food? we already booked our flight via cebupac and still looking for a comfy hotel/inn in pagudpud & laoag.
thanks for all the infos, its a big help.
calvin: hi jo! kasama na yung air fare. mura yung nakuha naming fare nun sa cebu pac eh, 3.8k for both of us round trip na. sana kayo din. sa laoag try nyo yung balay da blas, ok yung place and sobrang bait ng owner. kung sa saud kayo, can’t help you there. di ako masyadong familiar sa mga resorts dun sorry.
thanks calvin! mejo expensive pa yung nab00ked namin sa cebupac, 2,6k each.. and we’re 6. hopefully my friend can convince his aunt for us to stay at their place in laoag para menos gastos.. if not definitely we’ll try balay da blas. in pagudpud baka saud kme… it’s a first time for us.. kaya bahala na c batman!
sayang u skipped the windmills… i think it’s one of the must-see in ilocos.
calvin: yeah mahirap talaga pagwalang-car to see the windmills pero nakita naman namin sila along the way and nakapag-picture din from afar. i suppose meron kayong sasakyan dun since 6 kayo. God bless sa trip nyo.
Hi Calvin,
Ask ko lng if un 16K is for both of you na.
I mean 8K for each for the whole 6 days-tour?
Thanks!
calvin: hi annie, yup around 16k yung nagastos namin all in all.
wow! cheap nga xa, compare to a 14k-16k sa mga travel agency that has half day tour on each place, and d pa limited un time. i’ve been to vigan but i want to see pagudpud, kya lang feeling ko mhal pa kse peak season ngyon due to summer..thanks for this post, it help a lot! Godbless!
btw, additional question..hehe.. how much is the rent for an overnight stay at Kapuluan resort?
ahhh quite expensive pero it’s the cheapest compared to the other known resorts in Saud. non-peak kami nun is 1.6k per night tapos small room lang with a bed for two. pero pwede rin kumuha ng isa pang single bed para ilatag sa sahig.
i think 2.4k pag peak. sige punta kayo doon, siguro kahit june ok pa rin weather doon.
thnx.. ah ok na nga.. ok tlga pag non-peak pra cheap.. nabsa ko nga sa tips mo, around june onwards ok lang un weather.. thnks ulet..
calvin: yup! we’re planning to go back din nga around june to september. pasabi na lang kung kamusta na doon. pero this time sa saud kami mag-stay para mas maraming choices sa kainan.
hi calvin…we (5 of us) are planning to go to pagudpud-laoag-vigan on may 15 – 19. is the homestay with manang dolores okay? we are on a budget so we are looking for a more reasonable fix. thanks
calvin: hi fe, im sorry buti have no idea about this manang dolores homestay. but i guess it would be cheap since homestay nga.
HI Calvin,
i just want to ask kung yung 16K is good for 2 persons na.. including all expenses like hotel accomodation, transpo like trike, bus (definitely not hte airfare), food.. except syempre sa pasalubong?
calvin: hey rn, for the whole ilocos trip (sur, norte and pagudpud)? yup ok na 16k especially if you’re taking the bus.
Hello Calvin! Ayos naman trip namin,nakakapagod pero masaya! Salamat sa info talaga pare, it helped a lot!
calvin: sure thing! enjoy talaga pag ilocos. glad nakatulong mga info ko.