Sagada Tourist Spots – Sagada Travel Guide 2024

Sagada is tucked in the mountain province of the Philippines very far from Manila. It’s the coffee capital of the Philippines. There’s beautiful hikes near the town and home to Indigenous people untouched by the likes of the Spanish and the Americans during colonialism. There are plenty of Sagada Tourist Spots to check out if you decide to make the trek to this town.

BUT … It’s a huge pain to get here. Most travelers do not make the trip. We did. Is Sagada worth it? Read on to find out…

If you want to skip to our list of top Sagada Tourist Spots, check the table of contents below or jump to the section by CLICKING HERE 👈

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Table of Contents

sagada tourist spots view of town

Is Sagada Worth It? Sagada Tourist Spots

To get to Sagada you need to take 11 hour night bus from Manila, or a 6 hour bus ride to Baguio, then a 6 hour bus ride to Sagada. For this reason, not many foreign tourists come up here. If you do come by bus, we recommend you book with Busbud in advance so you know the bus won’t sell out.

After a few days in Sagada, we would probably say this town is not worth the trek.

Why? The bus ride goes through through long and windy mountains and is really not enjoyable. It’s twisting and turning through mountains for 5 straight hours, not exaggerating.

Sagada is a very small, run down town with limited restaurant and accommodation options.

Sagada is home to the indigenous Igorot people, and the town decided to monetize basically every single attraction in the area. Meaning no matter what you want to do (hike, visit a cave, swim, etc.) you’re going to need to hire a guide. Depending on who you are and what kind of experience you are looking for, this requirement may disappoint those who like to go out and explore on their own. In addition to needing a guide, you often need to schedule your tours and visits based on when groups are going or when a guide is available.

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sagada tourist spots trees and building with sagada on the red roof
sagada tourist spots rice terraces and plants

Is There Anything Good About Sagada?

There are plenty of tourist spots and attractions for those who decide to give Sagada a shot. Here are our thoughts on the good sides about this village:

Sagada is a very safe town. It’s small. Everyone knows each other. There’s no crime here.

The weather is perfect. I didn’t think weather like this existed in the Philippines, but Sagada weather is like Northern California. Cool and breezy. 60s and 70s. (Fahrenheit)

There are beautiful hikes with great views. We did some beautiful hikes in the surrounding hills of Sagada. Since it’s not too hot here, this place is perfect for hiking.

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sagada tourist spots sunset among the trees

The sunsets here are beautiful. Sagada sunsets are famous. The way the sun sets behind the mountains turns the sky a beautiful red/orange.

The best coffee in the Philippines grows here. Since coffee is grown in this area, all the coffee served in the cafes here is very fresh. However, it is quite expensive. On average we paid 140 PHP for a brewed coffee (almost $3), which is quite expensive compared to the rest of the Philippines.

There aren’t many foreign tourists here. Since it’s so hard to get to, not many foreign tourists come here. It’s pretty much all Filipino tourists. Meaning there aren’t many Western Cafes or restaurants. You will get to know authentic Filipino/Indigenous culture here.

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Things You Should Know Before Coming

Sagada is a very weird town and things work differently here than they do in other places. Here are some things we think you should definitely know before coming.

1 – You have to register and pay 100 PHP per person at the Tourist Office before you can do anything here. Any time you want to go on a tour or see any of the attractions, they are going to ask you for your registration card, so there’s no way to get around this.

2 – The Sagada tourist spots and attractions can close at last-minute notice. On our first morning in Sagada, we wanted to do the Hanging Coffins + Echo Valley tour, but when we showed up to the tourism office we were told these were closed for the day. The Indigenous people decided they needed to perform a spontaneous ceremony and didn’t tell anyone until the morning of. There are also tons of planned days/weeks where the popular sites are closed for Indigenous rituals. This kind of thing can ruin your trip if you’re only here for two days.

3 – Almost everything needs to be done with a guide for a fee. The only thing we were able to visit on our own was Bokong Falls which was pretty nice. We highly recommend you check this out if you come to Sagada.

4 – There is a lot of construction in Sagada. Almost everywhere you go there are locals building hotels/resorts. This creates a very loud town in general with saws and machines constantly sounding. The town is very small.

5 – There is not good wifi here. Some hotels/homestays don’t have internet at all. However, Bana’s Coffee is a great cafe in town with Starlink Internet that we found works very well.

6 – There is not much Western Food here. Filipino food does not get a good rap amongst foreign tourists, and the majority of options in this town are unfortunately … Filipino. Be prepared.

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sagada tourist spots view of sagada town
sagada tourist spots misty lodge cafe

Sagada Tourist Spots and Attractions – Our Advice

For our time in Sagada, the things we enjoyed the most are definitely not the most popular for tourists. In short, we really liked the Nabas-Ang to Ampacao hike, as well as Bokong Falls.

The hike must be done with a guide, but Bokong Falls can be enjoyed for free. We came here multiple times during our stay in Sagada.

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Here are the top Sagada Tourist Spots ⬇️

1 – Hanging Coffins + Echo Valley Tour

This is probably the most popular thing to do in Sagada. The hanging coffins especially. We chose to couple it with the Echo Valley, Baw-eng coffee farm, Latang Underground River, and the Bokong Falls.

Total cost was 1000 PHP for 1 – 10 people.

The name of this in the brochure was Paytokan Walk.

We were very underwhelmed by this tour, and would say it was ok but nothing special. If you come to Sagada, do it. But don’t come for this. The Indigenous of Sagada put their “sacred” deceased in Hanging Coffins so they can more easily reach heaven. The coffins were a lot smaller than we were expecting, and weren’t that impressive.

The Baw-eng Coffee Farm is where you can get the famous Sagada coffee, or just a normal coffee. There are bathrooms here, and tables to enjoy the coffee.

The Underground River was cool, it’s a trek through and underground river (obviously). Just make sure you bring a flashlight so you can see.

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sagada tourist spots famous sagada hanging coffins

2 – Bokong Falls

This is the only decent free activity we were able to find in the area. The waterfall was pretty nice and the water was cool and very deep to swim in. There were some locals jumping off the top of the cliff into the waterfall here. This is also included at the end of the Paytokan Walk.

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sagada tourist spots rice terraces and agricultural fields
sagada tourist spots rice terraces

3 – Nabas-Ang to Ampacao Hike

This is a 3-4 hour hike up and around the surrounding mountains of Sagada. Best done in late afternoon so you can watch the sunset at the end. This was our favorite thing we did in Sagada. Doing it with a small group makes it even more enjoyable. We recommend going with just your group for a more peaceful and intimate experience.

sagada tourist spots old church
sagada tourist spots view from top of hike with white building

The cost of this hike is 1,200 PHP for the guide and 650 PHP for the shuttle. (total, regardless of how many people you have)

If you do this, you should know that at the end of the hike you will stop at a shop where you can buy fresh food/bread/coffee. The spot to watch the sunset is a 1 minute walk up the hill from here, and there are tons of tourists who come up here to watch the sunset every night. Make sure to try some of the sticky rice wrapped in bread if you come here!

Shout out to our guide Sir Phillip for guiding us through this one.

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sagada tourist spots view of farmland

4 – Samaging Cave

This is very popular for visitors of Sagada. 1-2 hours of cave exploration. After exploring the Latang Underground River, we decided we didn’t need any more cave exploration so we didn’t do this.

The cost is 800 PHP for the guide fee and 400 PHP for the shuttle. If you prefer to walk, the cave is 30-45 minutes from the town center.

5 – Bomod-Ok Falls

This is the most popular waterfall in the area, and must be done with a guide. Unfortunately this was closed during our time in Sagada. (2 weeks of closure for Indigenous Community Rituals)

Also, depending on the time of year you come here, the falls might not be in full force. Consider this before coming here.

The guide fee for this is 500 PHP and round-trip transportation is 900 PHP.

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6 – Blue Soil

A mountain with a lot of copper in the soil that makes it blue during certain times of the day year. You especially want to come here after it rains as the rocks glisten blue. We were here in dry season (April) and were told we wouldn’t get to see the blue, as it hadn’t rained here in a while.

This one is 800 PHP for the guide fee and 650 PHP for the shuttle.


Conclusion – Is Sagada Worth It?

In general, we would say Sagada is not worth the trek. The trek is tough as you are going to have to take a long and rough bus ride through the mountains, and then do the same thing going back to get to Manila. In our opinion (and compared to the rest of the Philippines) Sagada is not impressive enough to justify this kind of investment.

Even if Sagada was closer to Manila, we would probably say it’s still not worth the time. The town is pretty run down, and all of the outdoor activities worth doing must be done with a guide, which really dampens the adventure. There are limited hotel and food options, and you have to pay a fee to the town just to enter.

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All of these things together lead us to say that Sagada is not worth your time.

In general, we would say Northern Luzon is not worth the trek, and would recommend you fly into Manila, then fly out to the islands as quick as possible. There really isn’t much that Northern Luzon has to offer. Unless you really like getting off the beaten path.

Trying to fill out your itinerary with other destinations? Go to El Nido, Coron or Bohol (each of our guides are linked)

Thanks for reading.

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