Iloilo & Guimaras

A UNESCO City of Gastronomy with Miagao's baroque church, colonial mansions and a riverside esplanade, while Guimaras Island across the strait grows the sweetest mangoes.

Iloilo lies in southeastern Panay in the Visayas, the Philippines, and is the main city of Western Visayas. Flights to Manila take about 1 hour, and ferries run to Bacolod and Guimaras. In 2023 it was named a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, and its signature dishes include La Paz batchoy noodles, pancit Molo dumpling soup and chicken inasal. The city has three main areas: Calle Real and Plaza Libertad in the old downtown; the colonial churches and sugar-baron mansions of Molo and Jaro; and the riverside Esplanade and the newer Mandurriao district. A southern route along the highway through Tigbauan and Guimbal leads to the World Heritage-listed Miagao Church, San Joaquin Church and Garin Farm, making a good day trip. From the city wharf, a pump boat takes about 15 minutes to Guimaras Island, where you can hire a tricycle for a loop of the island: the Trappist Monastery, the Mango Research Center, Balaan Bukid and Guisi Lighthouse, then stay a night at Alubihod Beach for island-hopping. In the north, the Bucari pine forest offers seas of clouds and camping. The best season is the December–May dry season. The Dinagyang Festival on the fourth weekend of January is the liveliest time, and April–May is mango season on Guimaras; June to October is the rainy season, with frequent typhoons. Plan on 3–4 days.

Top sights

• Miagao Church – One of the “Philippine Baroque Churches” listed as a World Heritage Site. Its sandstone façade is carved with a coconut palm and St. Christ…
• Molo Church – A coral-stone Gothic Revival church with twin spires. Sixteen statues of female saints line its nave, which is why it is nicknamed the “fem…
• Calle Real Heritage District – Iloilo’s old commercial main street, lined with early 20th-century neoclassical and Art Deco arcaded buildings. It is known as the “Queen C…
• La Paz Public Market (La Paz Batchoy) – The birthplace of Iloilo’s signature batchoy noodle soup, a pork-bone broth topped with offal, crispy pork cracklings and egg noodles. Many…
• San Joaquin Church – A coral-stone church whose façade carves a scene from the 1860 Battle of Tetouan, making it the Philippines’ most unusual “war-themed” chur…
• Garin Farm Pilgrimage Resort – A farm resort on San Joaquin Hill. Climb 456 steps past the Stations of the Cross to the white “Heaven” sculpture complex at the top, with…
• Guimbal Church – An 18th-century church built of yellow coral stone, beside which remain the old stone watchtowers once used to guard against pirates.
• Tigbauan Church – A church whose façade features Churrigueresque carvings in the Mexican style, and whose interior is decorated with colorful tile mosaics te…
• Molo Mansion – A white colonial-style mansion from the 1920s, restored and open to visitors, with a local handicraft shop and café on the ground floor.
• Jaro Cathedral & Jaro Belfry – The archdiocesan cathedral dedicated to Our Lady of Candles, with a separate freestanding brick bell tower on the plaza opposite.
• Casa Mariquit – A house over 200 years old with a coral-stone ground floor and timber upper floors, once home to the family of former Vice President Lopez…
• Nelly Garden – A white Beaux-Arts style mansion completed in 1928, often called the 'Queen of Iloilo's Heritage Houses', still a private residence of the…
• Camiña Balay nga Bato – A colonial-era house from 1865 in Arevalo, where you can see antique furniture and sample traditional local chocolate drink and snacks.
• Plaza Libertad – The historic plaza in downtown Iloilo, where Spanish forces surrendered to Philippine revolutionary troops in 1898, surrounded by old colon…
• Museo Iloilo – The first public museum in Western Visayas, displaying prehistoric gold ornaments, shipwreck porcelain and artifacts from Iloilo's colonial…
• Iloilo River Esplanade – A roughly 9-kilometer riverside promenade along the Iloilo River, shaded by trees and popular with locals for jogging, strolling and watchi…
• Bucari Pine Forest – A highland pine forest in the mountains of Leon town, nicknamed the 'Baguio of Iloilo', with camping, cloud views and strawberry picking.
• Our Lady of the Philippines Trappist Monastery – The only Trappist monastery in the Philippines, where monks make mango jam, cashew sweets and baked goods, making it a top souvenir choice…
• Alubihod Beach – The most popular white-sand bay in southwestern Guimaras, with a cluster of resorts, where you can charter a boat for island hopping and sn…
• Guisi Point Lighthouse – The second-oldest lighthouse in the Philippines, with the ruins of a Spanish-era stone lighthouse hidden among the hills and forest, and Gu…
• Balaan Bukid Shrine – A Catholic pilgrimage site on a hilltop in Jordan town, with a giant cross overlooking the Iloilo Strait, and home to the famous Holy Week…
• National Mango Research and Development Center – Guimaras' national mango research facility, where you can tour the orchards and learn about the island's Guimaras mangoes, said to be the s…
• Roca Encantada – A seaside vacation villa built on a rock promontory by the Lopez family, a landmark of Guimaras where you can look out across the strait to…

Where to eat

• Netong's La Paz Batchoy – A long-established stall at La Paz Market that has sold batchoy since 1948. Its broth is the most traditional, and it's…
• Breakthrough Seafood Restaurant – A long-established seafood restaurant on Villa Beach in Arevalo, with the widest selection of live seafood. Seasonal an…
• Roberto's Queen Siopao – A Chinese-run shop on JM Basa Street in the old town since 1978. Its giant 'Queen Siopao' is generously filled and is a…
• Madge Café (La Paz Market) – Iloilo's oldest coffee shop, open since 1940, brewing local coffee with cloth filters, with regulars' names written on…
• Tatoy's Manokan & Seafood – Started in the 1970s as a seaside hut, famous for its grilled chicken with lemongrass and tamarind leaves. Bamboo huts…

Itineraries

• Western Visayas Heritage, Food, and Boracay Route – Eat your way through Bacolod, Iloilo, and Guimaras while exploring heritage sites, ending at Boracay's White Beach.