Iloilo Travel Destinations

Experience the value of a real vacation. Discover Iloilo, a province rich in historical and cultural attractions, home of the famous Dinagyang festival, stately mansions, majestic centuries old churches, unspoilt countrysides, and exotic delicacies. Savor local hospitality in Iloilo’s numerous accommodation facilities and restaurants. Come and Explore Iloilo!



Churches

Featured:

• Molo Church
  Earned the nickname "Feminist Church" because of the presence of 16 statues of women saints inside. It was built in 1931 using coral rocks joined by a mortar made from egg whites mixed with sand. The Molo Church has become one of the most familiar landmarks of Iloilo City.
• Jaro Cathedral The Jaro Cathedral is the center of Roman Catholicism in Western Visayas. A high point in its history was the the visit of Pope John Paul VI, conducting a mass in 1982. He set a crown upon the Lady of the Candles, and declared it the Patroness of the Western Visayas.
• Guimbal Church
  The Guimbal Church is one of the oldest churches in the country. Its vintage belfry is 4 stories high and doubles as a watchtower during the Spanish town against pillaging Moro pirates. It was built in 1774 and made from adobe stones called igang and coral stones.
• Miagao Church
  The creative and aesthetic abilities of Spanish colonizers are reflected in many colonial churches in the Philippines. This is especially true in Miagao Church - a world-renowned religious structure now included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
• San Joaquin Church
  The militaristic motif of the San Joaquin Church distinguishes itself from other churches in the Country. Carved on a large pediment on the church’s facade is an intricate sculptural relief depicting the Spanish victory over Moroccan forces in the Battle of Tetuan.
• Santa Barbara Church
  In 1991, the National Heritage Institute declared the Santa Barbara Church and Convent as a National Landmark. The declaration is a testimony of the significance of the Santa Barbara Church in the Country’s history during the revolution against Spain in the Visayas.
• Cabautan Church
  The tuscan-style church of Cabatuan earned the title "Model of Temples" because of its massiveness. It is the only church in Iloilo which once had three facades and six belfries, in spite of this, four of these belfries were destroyed in the 1948 earthquake.
• San Jose Church
  The first church in the city of Iloilo was built by the Jesuits around 1607 to serve the needs of the military stationed in Punta, as Iloilo was then called. A precious treasure of the church is an image of the Nuestra Senora del Rosario.
• Dingle Church
  The Dingle Catholic Church was built in 1886. This church of Baroquial style is made of limestone from Bulabog Mountain, painstakingly carried by the early parishioners through narrow, steep and dangerous trails to the present site.
• Duenas Church
  The Duenas Church is one of Iloilo’s finest examples of Baroque Architecture. Inspecting the Facade, the overpowering proportion of its octagon belfries is very evident and gives the church an extraordinary beauty that is quite different from the other churches in Iloilo.

Delicacies

Featured:

• La Paz Batchoy
  
• Pancit Molo
• Chicken Inasal
• Tinuom of Cabautan Town
  
• Seafoods
  
• Biscocho House

Cemeteries

Featured:

• San Joaquin Cemetery
  
• Cabatuan Cemetery
  
• Janiuay Cemetery
  
• Jaro Cemetery
  
• Miagao Cemetery
  

Festivals and Events

Featured:

• Dinagyang Festival, Iloilo City (January)
  
• Fiesta de Candelaria, Jaro, Iloilo City (February)
  
• Paraw Regatta, Arevalo, Iloilo City (February)
  
• Pintados de Passi Festival, Passi City (March)
  
• Kahilwayahn Festival, Santa Barbara (November)
  
• IWAG Festival of Lights, Pototan (December)
  
• Tultugan Festival, Maasin (December)
  

Heritage Structures

Featured:

• Calle Real
  
• Muelle Loney (Iloilo River Wharf)
  
• UPV Main Building - Iloilo Campus (Old Iloilo City Hall)
  
• Bantayan Watchtowers
  
• Old Provincial Capitol
  
• Arroyo Fountain
  
• Jaro Belfry
  

Highlands

Featured:

• Passi and Igcabugao Caves, Igbaras
  
• Nadsadjan Falls, Igbaras
  
• Saven Cities, Alimodian
  
• Bucari, Leon
  
• Tinagong Dagat, Lambunao
  
• Mahangin Falls, Lambunao
  
• Bulabog Putian, Dingle
  
• Mt. Manaphag (Pan de Azucar), Concepcion
  

Islands

Featured:

• 
  

Manmade Attractions

Featured:

• University of the Philippines in the Visayas - Miagao Campus
  
• Pototan Astrodome
  
• Moroboro Suspension Bridge, Dingle
  
• Moroboro Irrigation Dam, Dingle
  
• South East Asian Fisheries Development Center
  

Museums

Featured:

• Museo Iloilo
  
• UPV Iloilo
  

Nightlife

Featured:

• Smallville
  
• Villa Beach
  

Old Houses

Featured:

• Nelly Garden
  
• Iloilo City Development Bank
  
• Montinola y Sanson House
  
• Lizares Mansion
  
• Rosales Residence, former Archibishop's Residence
  
• Avancena House
  

Plazas

Featured:

• Guimbal Plaza
  
• Pototan Plaza
  
• Plaza Libertad
  
• La Paz Plaza
  

Recreation

Featured:

• RACSOS Wildlife Resort and Mini-hotel, Guimbal
  
• Santa Barbara Golf Course and Country Club, Santa Barbara
  
• Casa Fiammetta, Barotac Nuevo
  

Gateway Destinations

Iloilo: Gateway to Western Visayas
Iloilo ranks as one of the country’s foremost centers of culture, industry and trade. Aside from being at the geographic center of the Western Visayas Region, Iloilo acts as its administrative, institutional, and economic center. Iloilo serves as a gateway to other places in the region namely Guimaras, Antique, Aklan, Capiz, and Negros Occidenal. A trip to Iloilo is never complete without a visit to these places, each endowed with myriads of attractions just waiting to be explored.

Featured:

• Guimaras
  
• Antique
  
• Aklan
  
• Capiz
  

Crafts

Featured:

• 
  

Muelle Loney (pronounced as Mool-ye) refers to Iloilo’s River Wharf and the street at the western side of the river. It is being used today as a port for inter-island vessels such as ferries and “Roll-on Roll-off” (RORO) boats plying the Iloilo to Bacolod route. Thousands of passengers, pedestrians, and motorists pass by Muelle Loney everyday. Unknown to most of them is the history of Muelle Loney and its central-role in the birth of the prosperous sugar industry of the Visayas during the 1800s to 1900s.

Iloilo’s River Wharf, a natural harbor for ships seeking protection from strong winds and tropical monsoons.
Continue Reading »

Sandbar Island Beach Resort, located in Bulubadiangan Island, Concepcion, is a 20 to 30 minute boat ride from the mainland. It is ideal for swimming, snorkeling, fishing, and just about any water recreation activity. A unique feature of the island is the shifting white sandbar, which would shift from left to right depending on the direction of the wind.
Continue Reading »

During Good Friday in the Municipality of Calinog, the “Paghukom” is held. Paghukom or “judgment,” commemorates the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Annually, it stages its sequences starting from the municipal plaza. Continue Reading »

On the occasion of the Iloilo Dinagyang Celebration on January 21 to 28, 2007, the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation, the Rotary Club of Jaro Centraline, and the Cultural Affairs Office of Central Philippine University are jointly organizing “International Night 2007”. Now in its 6th year as a special feature of the Iloilo Dinagyang Festival, International Night is a colorful showcase of cultural arts in Iloilo City. Local and foreign guests have enjoyed this exciting event which seeks to promote a more cohesive relationship between Ilonggos and other citizens of the world.
Continue Reading »