Vigan: 4-Day Itinerary and Budget

Last year, Kria and I went to Vigan. Two soul searchers, travelling on a budget. After a year of putting off chronicling our trip, it's only now I realized that a blog post is indeed necessary, given the many inquiries I received from friends and family.

So here it goes. This post will be in two parts: (1) the itinerary and budget, and (2) a list of things you can do per tourist attraction.

Calle Crisologo

I opted to exclude our photos, because hell, you can just Google tourist photos in Vigan, hehe!

Itinerary and Budget

It's important to note that we came from Cebu, so we had to factor in the airfare. The budget here, however, includes the aggregate total expenses and the expenses sans airfare and pasalubong budget. Take note also that in our 4-day itinerary, 2 days were dedicated for travelling to Manila from Cebu, then to Vigan from Manila.

Time	Specifics	Notes	Budget per Person (Approximate)
Day 1
Noon to Afternoon	ETD: Cebu to Manila		1,300.00 (Promo fare)
7:00 PM	ETD: Manila to Vigan	Travel time: 8H - 10H Partas Bus schedules and fares: http://www.phbus.com/partas-bus/	700.00
Day 2
4:00 AM	ETA: Vigan
4:30 AM	Early check-in at hotel Free time / rest	Green R Hotel: http://greenrhotel.com/ Rate per night: 750/room*3 nights = 2,250.00	1,125.00
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM	Town Tour Day 1: Bantay Church Bell Tower Burgos Museum Calle Crisologo Syquia Mansion Crisologo Mansion Simbaan a Bassit St. Paul Cathedral Plaza Salcedo	No entrance fees for most attractions, save for Bantay Church Bell Tower. Going around the town: ride a tricycle to Bantay Church Bell Tower; all the rest, you can just walk. Budget here is for food, fare, and other incrementals. Actual costs were actually	500.00
5:00 PM	Free time / rest
6:00 PM	Dinner	Café Leona	300.00
7:00 PM	Night stroll	Calle Crisologo
Day 3
7:00 AM	Wake up call  / breakfast
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM	Town Tour Day 2 Baluarte Hidden Garden Vigan Empanadahan Calle Crisologo for pasalubong hunting	Going to Baluarte and Hidden Garden, rent a tricycle + waiting time. Haggle with driver to save.	500.00 1,000.00 (for pasalubong)
5:00 PM	Free time / rest
6:00 PM	Dinner
7:00 PM	Dancing fountain show at Plaza Salcedo	Plaza Salcedo
Day 4
3:00 AM	ETD: Vigan to Manila	Travel time: 8H - 10H Partas Bus schedules and fares: http://www.phbus.com/partas-bus/	700.00
12:00 NN	ETA: Manila
Afternoon	ETD: Manila to Cebu		1,300 (Promo fare)
		TOTAL EXPENSES	~7,500
		EXPENSES WITHOUT BUDGET FOR AIRFARE AND PASALUBONG	~4,000

Where to Go and What to Do There

There were other tourist attractions that we weren't able to venture out, like the Pottery, Pinakbet Farm, and Abel Loomweaving. But those we visited, which are listed below, were enough to satiate our wanderlust.

Places to Go in Vigan	What to Do	Tips
Bantay Church Bell Tower	Take pictures of the breath-taking view atop the bell tower.	Ride a tricycle going there. Actually forgot how much it costs, but it won't go beyond 50php/pax.
Burgos Museum	Learn the history of Vigan.
Calle Crisologo	Buy pasalubong. Eat avocado ice cream (their equivalent of a dirty ice cream). Scavenge antiques.	Best time to go there is at night and at dawn.
Syquia Mansion	Learn the history of Vigan.
Crisologo Mansion	Learn the history of Vigan.
Simbaan a Bassit	The church isn't much, but the cemetery is a good place to sit quietly (and it is indeed very quiet there) and ponder about life. :-p
St. Paul Cathedral	Witness a wedding (which we really did).
Plaza Salcedo	Watch the dancing fountain show at night.	Time schedule starts at 7:00 PM, with a 30-minute interval between shows.
Vigan Empanadahan	Eat . . . empanada.	While there are stores in Calle Crisologo that sell empanada, the actual empanadahan stations are at the back of Plaza Salcedo.
Café Leona	Eat . . . everything.	Kria and I highly recommend the tokwa't baboy.
Baluarte	Safari with the animals. View Chavit Singson's taxidermy collection. Buy pasalubong.
Hidden Garden	Buy plants and pots. Eat at their restaurant (we didn't, but we heard the food is delish).