Holiday in Luzon

What makes Luzon special as a destination?

Luzon is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines and boasts some of the most spectacular landscapes in Southeast Asia — far beyond the capital Manila. The northern Cordillera region is a UNESCO World Heritage site that makes every trekker's heart race: the 2,000-year-old rice terraces of Banaue and Batad, carved like gigantic stairs into the mountains. The rice terraces of Banaue and Batad are considered the eighth wonder of the world: dug into the steep slopes of the Cordillera by the Ifugao indigenous people over generations, they cover 10,000 square kilometers and are still cultivated today. The hike from Banaue to Batad — four hours through terraced landscapes and Ifugao villages — is one of the most unforgettable trekking tours in Asia. Sagada in the Mountain Province is Luzon's hippest mountain town: the hanging coffins of the Igorot on the limestone cliffs, the mystical Sumaguing caves, and the coffee culture in the cool mountain villages attract backpackers and adventurers like a magnet. The sunrise viewpoints above the Sea of Clouds — clouds that fill the valleys like an ocean — are breathtaking. The Mayon Volcano in the Bicol region has the most perfect cone of all volcanoes worldwide: an almost mathematically exact conical shape that rises 2,462 meters above the plain. Vigan in the northwest is a UNESCO World Heritage city with Spanish colonial architecture: cobblestone streets, horse-drawn carriages, and 16th-century houses that remind one of a piece of old Spain in the tropics.