1. Take an early Calle Crisologo walk
Set your alarm early, preferably before dawn. Get your camera ready, or your sketch pad, or your notebook and pen—whatever your personal artistic tool of preference is. Just before the dawn breaks all over the archipelago, find yourself along Calle Crisologo, sans the hustling and bustling tourists, all shops still closed, the street mostly quiet except for the waking sounds of nature.
Snap away, or draw, or write all the details down in your notebook. When the shops open go ahead and get satisfy your shopping itch with souvenirs, antiques, and hard-to-find jewelry. This is one magical experience you’ll want to treasure forever.
Photo credit: Flickr/Dusk at Crisologo/fitri agung/CC-BY
2. Dine at Cafe Leona for a mouthwatering longganisa meal
This world famous restaurant was named after poetess Leona Florentino, the Mother of Philippine women’s literature. Her ancestral home is now a busy restaurant, which all tourists to Vigan City cannot afford to miss. This is where you must eat the Vigan longganisa and bagnet, although their menu also carries Filipino, Japanese, Italian and Thai cuisine. Cafe Leona is located along Calle Crisologo, so it’s the perfect spot for your breakfast (or lunch, or dinner)!
Photo credit: Sarah Facuri
3. Cruise along Mestizo River
Soak up on history and get fascinated by the rich history of Vigan City via the River Cruise. The cruise lasts for 45 minutes as you float by five tableaus, each telling a chapter of Vigan’s story: its discovery, to the conquest by the Spanish, to the present. This has got to be the most relaxing and beautifully visual history lesson you’ll ever get—something you might have missed out on back in school!
Just visit the Ilocos Sur Tourism Office (it is right beside Cafe Leona along Calle Crisologo) and inquire about the Vigan River Cruise. Make sure to ask about a free shuttle ride to Mestizo River! Bring your cameras and sunblock!
Photo credit: robbierealtime
4. Witness Abel weavers at their craft
Rowilda’s Loomweaving was established in 1989 by Manong Dominic Panela. Their showroom is located in Camanggaan. They create the finest hand-woven Abel-Iloko products like table runners, shawls, hand towels, table napkins, dress materials , pillow cases, bathrobes and blankets. There is a Zen-like quality in the weavers’ focus and laser precision. “You are suspended in a state of timelessness,” as one tourist described. “There is a music to their movements and then suddenly, before your eyes, a beautiful blanket emerges!”
Photo credit: rachelreistph
5. Bantay Bell Tower is worth the climb
Aside from the aerobic benefits, Bantay Bell Tower offers you postcard perfect scenery, a musical cacophony of bells ringing, the wonderful expanse of the sky, and tall, brick edifice that has been a witness to Vigan’s centuries of history. It stands beside the Sanctuary of the Nuestra Señora de La Caridad, one of the oldest churches in Ilocos Sur, where mass is still held regularly in one of its ruins.
Photo credit: Flickr/Bantay City/fitri agung/CC-BY
6. Visit Baluarte
Fond of animals? For every Juan’s favorite price of zero pesos, you can set foot inside Baluarte, and catch a sight of a variety of animals from the Philippines and other countries. Owned by Chavit Singson, Balaurte also offers an animal museum and an interactive wildlife show that takes place every afternoon.
Photo credit: yamskigee
Vigan City in Ilocos Sur is waiting for your visit. It has been waiting for you for the past four centuries. And like Basi, Vigan’s local wine brewed from sugar cane, the Hispanic City grows ever more beautiful as it ages.
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