Inside
To see a very different Philippines: cold, pine-scented and shaped by mountain traditions.
Add Sagada to my journeySagada sits at around 1,500 metres in Mountain Province, and the first thing you notice is the cold. Nights can drop close to 10°C in January, which makes it a favourite escape for Filipinos from the lowland heat. The Igorot people of the area traditionally laid their dead in coffins hung on cliff faces or stacked in caves, and you can still see them in Echo Valley and Lumiang Cave. Add caves you can wade and climb through, pine-forest walks and a strong local food culture, and Sagada is one of the most distinctive places in the north.
Sagada's highlights are close together but almost all require guides arranged through the town. Sumaguing Cave is the big one: a descent into slippery limestone chambers with pools and rock formations. The cave connection, from Lumiang to Sumaguing, takes around 3–4 hours and is for fit, confident people only. Echo Valley's hanging coffins are a short guided walk from town, and Bomod-ok Falls is a pleasant walk through rice terraces.
Sagada is known for etag, salted and smoked pork used in soups and stews, local coffee grown in the hills, and fruit pies. In the cold, a bowl of hot broth with etag is exactly right.
Insider notes
21 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium / Signature
Manila • Banaue • Sagada • El Nido • Bohol • Siargao
Three weeks from Manila's old city to the rice terraces of the Cordillera, then Palawan, Bohol and Siargao. The whole country in one trip, without pretending it is a small one.
From €3,300per person ·
View journey →
13 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium
Manila • Banaue • Sagada • Coron
The mountains of the north first: the rice terraces of Batad and the caves and pine forests of Sagada. Then Coron's lakes, reefs and limestone islands.
From €2,000per person ·
View journey →10 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium
Manila • Banaue • Sagada • Vigan
Manila's old town and food, the rice terraces of Banaue and Batad, Sagada's caves, then the Spanish colonial streets of Vigan. The Philippines' history and mountains in ten days.
From €1,700per person ·
View journey →Use this journey as inspiration. Change the islands, hotels, pace, activities or number of nights.
Add Sagada to my journeyAround 11–13 hours from Manila directly. It's better as part of a northern Luzon trip with Banaue or Baguio.
For caves, hanging coffins and most trails, yes. Guides are arranged through the town's tourism office or guide association.
Nights from December to February can be around 10–15°C. Bring layers.
Inside
The Ifugao rice terraces, carved into the Cordillera mountains by hand over many generations and still farmed by the same communities today.
Inside
A huge, hectic capital with a walled Spanish city at its heart, the world's oldest Chinatown, serious museums and the country's best food scene.
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