Tagaytay is the nearest and most accessible weekend getaway from Metro Manila. Located in the province of Cavite, a Tagaytay daytrip from Manila is very popular with tourists. And even with its proximity, it hosts a number of scenic spots, delectable food places, and fun activities suited for couples, families, barkada, and even the solitary traveler. It is, arguably, one of the most famous and loved tourist spots in the Philippines. 

The city provides a cool and breezy holiday—the so called Tagaytay weather—to soothe frayed nerves and bestow a renewed sense of vitality to city-worn souls. Much has been written about this place, but for those new to the city, this Tagaytay travel guide (with a sample itinerary and a budget guide) is an invaluable resource for a trip to literally one of the coolest places this side of the Philippines.

The water was cold on first dip. Too cold, in fact, that I doubled back a bit if I really wanted to take a morning swim at Nasugbu’s Long Beach. But my son, A, was already on his merry way along the waters—hands splashing on his sides, totally unmindful of the cold. Oh heck.

It was a quick weekends of sort at Nasugbu—a seemingly never-ending town in Batangas. It was my niece’s birthday, and they’re celebrating it on their hometown. We were only too quick to say yes to their invitation to join—wanting to let in a bit more of the outdoors in our too homebound lives nowadays.

Batangas has long been associated with weekend beach getaways. With its proximity to Metro Manila, the province has always been one of the go-to places for people looking for a quick escape from the grind of the daily city life. But there’s something more to this province south of Manila than crowded beaches. Delve deeper and rediscover a luxurious side to Batangas, something you can easily do with a day tour, and without breaking the bank.

Here are five day trips you can do in Batangas. You don’t even need to plan too far ahead, you can purchase these best-priced deals instantly via hotel websites like Agoda, then call the hotel to secure your booking dates. No worry, no fuss—just a relaxing, luxurious, and hassle-free weekend getaway to someplace new.

►SIDETRIP: LONG BEACH NASUGBU

An islet within a volcanic lake within a natural lake, all within another island—Luzon Island, that is. It took me a while to figure out what the island within a lake that is on an island within a lake that is on an island phrase that kept coming up whenever Taal Volcano is mentioned, totally forgetting that Luzon is an island too, lol!

VULCAN POINT, AN ISLET IN THE MIDDLE OF TAAL VOLCANO’S CRATER

I visited this conundrum of a volcano a couple of years back, remembering it after a failed hike from our Taal Vista Hotel staycation. Tired from always looking at that volcano in the middle of Taal Lake from the many restaurants lining the Tagaytay ridge, I, together with a few companions decided to finally take that ride down to the town of Talisay and see the volcano up close.

Clouds flew fast against the cobalt blue sky, the day was turning out to be a scorcher. We were at the Sun Coral Cafe, one of the seven restaurants found at the Pico De Loro Hamilo Coast, a sprawling 5,900 hectare development located at the province of Batangas. We were practicing the art of doing nothing—sipping beer and trying mixed drinks, lazily lounging around and waiting for heat of the day to wear off.

Surprisingly, it only took us ninety minutes by van from Manila to traverse the road en route to Pico de Loro Cove, a residential development inside Hamilo Coast. I reckon that was faster than it would take me to go home from Makati to Malabon via EDSA during rush hour.

► BOOK A BUS TO BATANGAS ONLINE

Caleruega has always been a favorite haunt whenever I climb up to Tagaytay City. It’s the perfect place to forget the bustle of daily life and embrace nature’s silent whispers. It’s a hilly retreat where one can simply sit still, look at the far off landscapes of Nasugbu and trace the rugged outlines of Mount Batulao.

► CHECK OUT: TAGAYTAY TRAVEL GUIDE

I can’t count how many times I’ve visited this place; with friends, families, and old flames. Caleruega’s many stone hallways are probably familiar with my steps now, the rough adobe walls silently saying their welcome backs as I retrace my steps along its smooth brown-tiled floors.

Ryan Adams -- no B on Ryan, yes -- sang to me the whole night from Vigan City to Manila about love being hell and self-notes about not dying. I woke up at the back of a van and morning light streamed in through the plastic windows. Half an hour later and I’m back home, throwing dirty shirts to the laundry bin from my backpack and putting a fresh batch of clean ones in.

I tried to relax but can’t seem to. A few hours from now would be the second leg of my trip. From Northern Luzon, I was now bound to Northern Mindanao; and I ain’t gonna take no plane to get there.

Five hours after unloading my bag down from my two-day trip in Ilocos, it was quickly refilled and I’m on the road again, this time to Dipolog to attend the Hudyaka Zanorte Festival. Low on cash, together with C of JuanderfulPinoy, we decided to do a more exciting route by land and sea. From Batangas Port, we’ll be crossing to Calapan by ferry, then Roxas by van, cross to Caticlan, bus to Iloilo, then Bacolod, Dumaguete, Dapitan and finally Dipolog. This is gonna be one interesting trip.

It’s been less than a month since we visited Casa Rap Batangas and we’re back again in no time at all. And this time, we’ve got the whole gang in tow. It was drizzling as we navigated through the roads of San Jose, coming all the way from Taal. A jeepney transfer later and we were at KM90 of the National Highway.

THE RESTAURANT IS INSIDE A GREENHOUSE OF SORTS

QUAINT DECORS AT CASA RAP

I made three separate posts about this restaurant before; Casa Rap Restaurant’s interiors, the Casa Rap Prayer Room, and Casa Rap’s food. Do check the links so I won’t have to delve much into details about it again.

A trip to any locale would not be complete without a souvenir item or two, and after searching and not finding even one ref magnet in Taal, we turned to a more unconventional memento, Batangas’ famous balisong.

Butterfly knives, fan knives and click clacks are just some of the names that have been associated with the peculiar knife that hails from this province.

The knife originated from the French fan knife and its first local incarnation was handcrafted from a small barrio named Balisong in Batangas. It was said that the term balisong came from the term baling sungay (broken horn) since the first of these kinds were made from carved carabao horns.

Descending one hundred steps down a three-meter wide stone stairwell called hagdan-hagdanan and into a concrete entryway; we entered the grounds of one of the oldest church in Taal.

Unlike its more famous neighbor, the Taal Basilica, Our Lady of Caysasay Church looks quite plain and humble. Its body is built of coral stones and its roof, made of plain corrugated tin. Most of its exterior wall is unpainted, except for the facade which is done in a light yellow tone.

Its interior is also very homely (and looks about ready to crumble anytime), with the exception of its north and south transept crossings which is towered over by painted domes done by artist Cesar Aberoni.

There are barely any décors outside and you’d hardly take a second look at the structure if you don’t have any idea about its rich history.

The next house we visited, just a stone throws away from the Goco House, was Glicera Marella Villavicencio’s ancestral home.

So what’s with the long name you might ask? It so happens that the owner of the said heritage house is considered to be the Matriarch-General of the Revolutionary Forces, named by none other than General Emilio Aguinaldo for her contribution in the uprising against the Spaniards and the Americans.

The house is also called the Gift House, it being a gift of husband, Eulalio Villavicencio, to his wife on their wedding.

We wandered around the town of Taal despite the intense heat of the midday sun. Having no map on hand, we walked around aimlessly; our goal was to reach Caysasay Church, the other old church, at the far end of the municipality. Passing several old houses, we were surprised that a few were open to visitors like us. One of these is the ancestral home of the Goco Clan.

We were cordially greeted by two Filipiniana-dressed guides who welcomed us to check the old house. We were more than glad to do so.

I checked my camera’s viewfinder, backing away as I did so. I was trying to fit the massive edifice of the Taal Basilica on my camera frame. It took some steps back to finally enclose the church fully in my camera, and I was using an ultra wide lens at that.

Colossal is the word that comes to mind as one steps under the shadow of the ancient Basilica of St. Martin of Tours in the historic town of Taal, Batangas. Almost a hundred meters long and 45 meters wide, made of adobe and coral stones, this is the largest church, not only in the Philippines, but through the whole of Asia.

Three hours of grueling bus ride is more than enough for one’s stomach to grumble in protest, especially if you haven’t had proper breakfast yet. I hope you’ll forgive me if my first post at the historic Taal Town is about a restaurant.

The day was a scorcher as we took shelter at Don Juan BBQ’s cool interiors after being directed here by some of the locals.

Don Juan looks like a typical Filipino house on the outside; painted in warm white, it has a pitched roof with capiz (mother of pearls) windows circling the whole structure. The place seems to be emulating the old houses which Taal is known for.

I was surprised at the printed icon of Batangas’ Starbucks City Mug. I thought they would probably use coffee beans (kapeng barako) which Batangas is known for, or maybe balisong (fan knife) which is another uniquely Batangueño product, and then there’s also tawilis, a freshwater fish endemic to Taal Lake; but none of my guesses were correct, instead, they have jusi printed on the mug.

I actually had a hard time guessing what the print was; was it a carpet, a tea bag, a trellis in an orchard, perhaps? After much research, it turned out to be jusi, the fabric used in making barong tagalog.

It found later that Batangas, ignorant me, produces one of the finest barong tagalog in the country. With the abundance of pineapples in the area, it should have been a no-brainer.

I was initially confused about the name of this austere church in Lipa, some call it Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and some Our Lady of Mediatrix. A few Google queries answered my questions. According to the Archdiocese of Lipa website, the church is officially called the Monastery of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace (a mouthful, I know), and is part of the Carmelites convent in Lipa City.

The story goes that the church was founded in 1946, a year after Lipa was ravaged by the Japanese forces during the Second World War. The Carmelites from Manila then transferred to Lipa, which coincided with the feast day of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace.

The seat of the Archdiocese of Batangas, San Sebastian Cathedral or simply Katedral (Cathedral) to Lipa’s locals, was the next destination in our Batangas daytrip.

Not really part of the plan (the plan being to eat at Casa Rap, buy a Batangas Starbucks Global Icon City Mug, have coffee and then go home), but since we’re already at Batangas and it was still quite early, I was thinking, why not check it out.

Unable to locate its location in Google Maps; from Starbucks Lipa, we just flagged a tricycle (Php30.00) and asked the driver to drop us at the cathedral. The ride took us into the streets of the city, which interestingly has a few ancestral houses of its own. Ten minutes later and we were craning our necks at the towering belfry of the Romanesque cathedral.

According to the National Historical Commission marker near the gargantuan wooden doors, the church was originally from the shores of Bombon Lake but was destroyed by Taal Volcano’s 1754 eruption. The rebuilding of the cathedral on its present location was done in 1865 under Rev. Benito Varas, its then parish priest.

With no idea what Casa Rap’s bestsellers were, we went ahead and ordered the usual Filipino breakfast fares.

From their handwritten menu, we asked for longanisang hubad (Php130.00) and corned beef (Php130.00) breakfast meal. Both comes with fried rice, egg and a choice of coffee or hot choco; we settled for their hot choco. We added three sticks of barbeque (Php30.00/stick) just in case the serving size was not up to par with our grumbling tummies. For desserts, we ordered their famous halo-halo (Php80.00).

We originally wanted to try their fried chicken and fried lumpia but they were, unfortunately, by reservation only. This means customers should call ahead of time (like a day ahead) for these dishes.

It’s important to note that Casa Rap is not the usual heat and serve restaurant. It is as they called it, a slow food café. Food are cooked the traditional way as they are ordered, so be prepared for a long waiting time. Good thing the restaurant is so wonderfully pretty and vast (you can even trek down to the river at the ravine below and they even have a prayer room) that waiting won’t be no problem at all.

Some steps away from Casa Rap’s dining area is its Prayer Room.

Pass trees, a gravel path and a concrete bridge overlooking a ravine, the prayer room sits in isolation. It’s basically a small greenhouse-like structure; inside, two benches sit opposite each other and in the middle, a small stone table.

Not really a prayer room with statues and the works, it’s more like a place where one can have some peace and quiet. I guess Casa Rap’s owner, being a former nun, just named it as such.