1. Learn more about the province at Cagayan Museum and Historical Research Center

Editor's Note: Photo taken from the establishment's official social account

Cagayan Museum and Historical Research Center is the provincial museum of Cagayan that aims to preserve and provide accurate information about Cagayan’s history, culture, and arts. Learn more about Cagayan through these exhibits, which are composed of artifacts, fossils, ethnographic items, antiques, and artworks. Other than that, this museum also houses an archive and a research center to further study these ancient artifacts and better understand what Cagayan was in the days of yore.

If you wish to get to know the province, we highly suggest coming here!

Cagayan Museum and Historical Research Center

Address: Corner Otis &, Aguinaldo St, Tuguegarao, Cagayan

Website: Cagayan Museum and Historical Research Center

Opening hours: Mon - Fri: 9am - 4pm (closed on Sat & Sun)

2. Relax in Rizal Park

Editor's Note: There's no photo available at the time of writing

Not to be mistaken for Rizal Park in Metro Manila, this Rizal Park is a bit smaller and less grand but it doesn’t make this park any less worthy of a visit. Combining the fresh provincial air and the park’s open space, visitors can jog, play outdoor games, do Zumba, or simply sit back and relax.

The park’s charm truly shines once the sun sets as the lights illuminate the magnificent statue of the Philippine National Hero, Jose Rizal. For those travelers who are considering what to do in Tuguegarao, this park offers them a place to sit down, relax, and ponder their next move.

Rizal Park

Address: JP6J+P42, Tuguegarao, 3500 Cagayan

3. Go shopping at Robinsons Place Tuguegarao

Editor's Note: Photo taken from the establishment's official social account

If you’re a mallgoer and looking for a place to do some shopping, consider going to Robinsons Place Tuguegarao. This mixed-use complex shopping mall is one of the more well-known malls around the country, the others being SM and Ayala Malls.

This mall has a plethora of different shops and restaurants that are sure to satiate your shopping needs as well as give you a great time checking out the shops’ inventories or having a nice meal in one of the mall’s many restaurants. It also holds events from time to time.

Robinsons Place Tuguegarao

Address: Pan-Philippine Hwy, Tuguegarao, Cagayan

Website: Robinsons Place Tuguegarao

Opening hours: 10am - 9pm (daily)

4. Try some pancit at Cherry's Panciteria

Editor's Note: Photo taken from the establishment's official social account

For those who are on a food trip or love food, Cherry’s Panciteria is definitely one of the places to visit in Tuguegarao. From the name itself, this ‘panciteria’ serves the classic Filipino dish, pancit, in different variations.

Some of the pancit variations you can find here are pancit ala dagul, special pancit, pansit batil patung, and mega special pancit. You can also order these pancit dishes in large portions, more than enough for a whole family. In terms of food quality, you’re in good hands as the restaurant is lauded by many to be a great place to eat.

Cherry's Panciteria

Address: 33 D Zamora St. Bagumbayan Centro 5 3500 Tuguegarao City, Philippines

Website: Cherry’s Panciteria

Opening hours: 7:30am - 5pm (daily)

5. Achieve your 10,000 daily steps and more on Buntun Bridge!

Buntun Bridge is said to be the longest river bridge in the Philippines. It extends out from the City of Tuguegarao to Solano then to Cagayan and spans the tremendous width of the Cagayan River, which is said to be the largest river basin in the Philippines. The concrete and asphalted infrastructure, which is 1369 m (0.89 mi) long and 37 m (121 ft) high, is a two lane vehicular traffic bridge that also has pedestrian sidewalks. One can just take their feet on a walk on the strong and sturdy walkway, take a look at the immense and majestic view of the valley from this vantage point, and capture a moment in such a magnificent view.

Buntun Bridge

Address: Buntun Bridge, Tuguegarao, Cagayan

6. A stairway to Heaven in Iguig

How many of the sights of crosses have lured you into places? This Tuguegarao tourist spot seduces one to paint a picture of his or her belief in a place that was once walked on not only by friars but by Spanish officials and merchants who traveled from one town to another by river to transport goods to and from their galleons. Quite an attractive nib for the practice of faith alongside government office undertakings and business ventures. Calvary Hills in Iguig is about 16 kms (9.94 mi) from Tuguegarao City. This part of Tuguegarao consists of 11 hectares (27 acres) of rolling hills from which are the mounted larger than life colored statues rendering a fresco of the Passion of Christ in Calvary. The sight of these big statues is heightened by the mighty view of the Cagayan River which is accessible from the hills via a stairway at the back of the Church of San Antonio de Galicia. To complete the awe-inspiring atmosphere is a little chapel that draws believers that are believed to suffice spiritual hunger with the presence of an authentic relic of the true cross, the Jubilee Cross Chapel.

Igug Calvary Hills

Address: Department of Tourism, R2 #29 Rizal Street, Tuguegarao

Website: Iguig Calvary Hills

7. Whimsical hornos in Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral

The Philippines, being colonized for more than three centuries, have painted details of the past on the different parts of its islands. The silhouettes of long ago are not only carved on the walls on several houses of worship but also have defined angles in structural properties that even its nature has taken its roots in the Filipino persona and culture. One such church is the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral. Nonetheless, the Philippines has designed its own identity through time and space overcoming that force by adapting to the contemporary details of the present.

When World War II happened, the structure of Saints Peter and Paul’s Cathedral was extremely devastated. When this was rebuilt by Monsignor Jurgens, architectural details on its facade had been found to possess its most distinctive features that have showcased the most twisted designs that are seen on the façade and bell tower. Semicircular arch windows framed with finials and a triangular pediment are found in the majority of windows. Molded bricks containing various symbols such as roosters, papal tiaras, keys, gods, sun, moon, Marian symbols, and symbols of the Dominican order are seen to have embellished the interior and exterior outlines of the windows and columns. Such an exuberant and unexpected way of reviving a rustic theme in a house of worship.

The Saint Peter Metropolitan Cathedral

Address: Rizal Street, Barangay Centro 10, Tuguegarao, Cagayan, Philippines

Website: Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral

8. Cagayan Valley's focal point for faith: Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Piat

The Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Piat is a common characteristic of the 17th-century structures, which is considered the largest Catholic church in Cagayan Valley. Located in the town of Piat, 41 km (25 mi) northwest of Tuguegarao City or about 30 minutes by car, this church is home to the black image of the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus on her left arm which was brought to the Philippines from Macau by the Dominican friars in 1604. The building has undergone several renovations and restorations to keep abreast of the number of devotees who come to the place and pay homage to the Lady.

Retablos in the interior (small shelves that enclose images) have been improved to accommodate several other images of saints and most of which have been restored. Its roofs had been strengthened with the use of stronger trusses and a dome ceiling design is actualized after a blueprint approved by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, which is the standard, uniform design for all colonial church ceilings in the country. Brilliant stained glass windows adorned the church, adding to the dramatic aura from within the edifice. Just as its structures have been enlivened after having undergone so many forms of wreckage that may have brought certain areas beyond renovation, the basilica is a witness to impossibilities made attainable. The waters that calmed, with the prayers offered to the Lady, when a ship was said to be swept out to the sea due to a sudden rage of the wind. The ended 1624 drought that struck Cagayan after the exhortations of the priests for people to receive the sacrament of reconciliation and prayers offered in honor of the Lady. The man who was freed from the razor-edged jaws of a crocodile in the river after invoking the name of the Lady. These are but just a few of those unthinkable situations overcome. A visit to this place might just bring you in awe of all things visible and invisible.

Basilica of Our Lady of Piat

Address: St. Dominic Parish, Cagayan Apayao Road, Centro, Piat, 3527 Cagayan

Website: Our Lady of Piat

9. Bedazzling light from under Callao Cave

Callao Cave is a spellbinding sight of darkened and lightened chambers underneath the lands of Cagayan. Generally, the site has an unreserved nine chambers within it, two of which have been closed due to an earthquake in 1980. The magnificence of such a place is attributed to the fact that most caves have few sources of light, but roof crevices up above evinced the lights that seem to take into focus the most beautifully stones, which have been carved by nature. Wooden benches have been placed facing the area of a stone, which appears to be a niche in a church wall. And in some areas, vegetation adorns the entrances leading you to this solemn spot. Visitors must consider the season in which they visit the cave because it tends to get wet and slippery when it rains.

This wonderful site is accessible by van, tricycle, and long boat. Vans are quite expensive. One may take the tricycle instead if one has the luxury of time to wait for some other passengers to fully fill in the space before it leaves. Or you can just actually make a bargain with the tricycle drivers to get a normal fare of 600 to 700 PHP (about 31 to 37USD) to a fair price of about 400 PHP (21.20 USD). The boat ride is about five minutes for only 20 PHP (0.02 USD) round trip through the Pinacanauan River, which is one of the major tributaries of the Cagayan River in the town of Peñablanca. As you dock, it will be a rising battle of a hundred and eighty steps to Callao Cave’s main entrance. You can count on student guides to assist you in the walkways for 20 PHP(0.02USD). This rising tunnel stretches out to at least two barangays within the town, which is home to the oldest fossilized Homo sapiens in the Philippines, is a place worthy of your time.

Callao Cave

Address: Peñablanca, Cagayan

Website: Callao Cave

10. Secret Treasures in the Sierra Cave

Tuguegarao, Cagayan is not only famous for its historical and cultural destinations but it also is an exciting scope of study and investigation. The place possesses more than 300 subterranean caves where only 75 of which are documented and 30 have been mapped together with the efforts of the Sierra Madre Outdoor Club (SMOC) and a British group of explorers. The Sierra Cave, unlike its equally famous neighboring Callao Caves, has an environment where the living co-exists with the seemingly dark path of life that is constantly giving birth to nature’s most beautiful rock formations. In contrast to the easy paths in Callao, Sierra is accessed with difficulty to tread the very long and narrow openings where you might be forced to crawl on the floor of the cave. It is not the only domicile to stalactites and stalagmites, but also helictites and straws, which are interesting speleothems (a structure formed in a cave by the deposition of minerals from water).

A glimpse of the unique formations of the dogtooth curtains, and dripstone cave curtains as well as amazing fossil imprints or marine life on its walls including the most famous “Celica’s Passage,” which was named after the child of Mr. Guzman who formerly headed SMOC, is a must see. Before visiting, you must contact the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to gain access to the place for guidance and assurance that nature’s masterpieces are fully protected. An exhibit of nature’s skillful hands unseen by most is a must-try.

Sierra Cave

Address: Penablanca, Tuguegarao City

Never have a dull moment in Tuguergarao

Tuguergarao features beautiful nature, both underground and above, as well as several stunning places of worship and magnificent landmarks. Experience the hottest spots in Tuguegarao and book your trip now!