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Day Trip in Cebu: A Quick Guide

Do you want to spend a single day in Cebu but don’t know how and where to go? This post is for you. I first got this idea from a conversation I overheard while waiting for a flight from Cagayan de Oro to Cebu. This balikbayan guy, after a night of partying in Manila, decided to proceed to the airport and booked a round trip flight from Manila to Cagayan de Oro. In Cagayan, he simply hired a taxi for 4 hours before proceeding back to the airport for the flight back in Manila.

Since there are more flights between Manila and Cebu, one can really cover more places when visiting Cebu. For those wanting to go on a day trip in Cebu, this is a very quick guide.

Mactan Shrine

From Manila to Cebu, take the 6am flight of either one of the two domestic airlines. When you arrive, take a Fast Transit rent-a-car for 10 hour Cebu City tour, the cost is P3,000 ($65) for the first 10 hours. If you are with a group, arrange for a Van at P4,000 ($90) for the first 10 hours. They can be contacted at 340-0982 or 340-2983. An alternative is to take a taxi and negotiate for a lower price. But I highly recommend the former.

Here’s a sample itinerary, although you can actually make your own:

8AM – Arrival at Cebu Airport
9AM – Breakfast at Sutukil, Mactan or the nearby Shangrila Mactan Hotel. A few meters away are the Hilton and the Microtel Inn and Suites, both with very scenic views of the sea and the nearby islands.
10AM – 12NN – Roam around Mactan Island. Visit the Lapulapu Shrine. See for yourself the famous Mactan beaches like Maribago Bluewaters and Plantation Bay Resort. You may also want to take a dip. Visit the popular guitar makers. Have lunch at Plantation Bay or some seafood restaurants along the way to Cebu City.
1PM – 3PM – Visit Historical places in Cebu City. Here are some of those: 1) Magellan’s Cross, 2) Basilica del Sto. Niño, 3) Fort San Pedro, 4) Fuente Osmeña, 5) University of San Carlos Main (oldest school in the Philippines) and its Museum, 6) Colon Street (Oldest Street in the Philippines. You may also take a peek at Taboan Fish Market, famous for “danggit” (dried fish). But you’ll never like your own smell if you take more time in the place.
3PM – 5PM – Mall shopping. There is Ayala and SM. You can cover both in a two-hour span. If you’d like to skip the shopping, and continue the city tour, go visit the Taoist Temple at Beverly Hills, Lahug.
5PM to 6:30PM – Go to Tops, a popular scenic place in Busay Hills. You can view the entire city at twilight.
7PM – Dinner at Casa Verde in The Walk, IT Park or in any other restaurants near it. You may also want to take your dessert at La Marea, just beside Casa Verde.

After the dinner, you can either proceed to the airport and take the 9pm last flight back to Manila, or experience the night life in Cebu just around the IT Park in Lahug. To catch up with the last flight, leave Cebu City and head to the airport by 7:30pm. The first trip back to Manila is 430 am. You can be sleepless in Cebu. Then you can arrange with the driver to pick you up at some place or you can just ride any taxi going to the airport. The latter is much cheaper at P150-P180.

Total cost for this day trip if you travel alone is estimated to be around P10,000 ($220), broken down as follows:

Airfare, P3,500 (Cebu Pacific – even cheaper using Go! Lite, but can even go as high as P6k for a round trip)
Car Rental, P3,600 for 12 hours
Food, P1,500 (or less)
Pasalubong, souvenirs and entrance fee for some sites, P1,400.

If you bring along a friend, some costs can be shared. So, why wait for summer when you can come to Cebu any time, any day and all season.

Beach Front of Microtel Inn and Suites

p.s. The establishments mentioned here are personally chosen by this bloggger, and he is not compensated in anyway.

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Related posts which you would also like to read:

1. Budget Travel: Manila-Cebu and Vice Versa
2. Vacation Destination – Cebu
3. The Cebu Pacific Experience
4. Cebu Sinulog 2009: Travel to Cebu
5. Free Cebu Pacific Airlines Tickets and Travel Vouchers

Tags: Cebu, Cebu Hotels, Cebu Tourist Destination, Cebu Travel, Cebu Vacation, Travel   Posted in Cebu, Tourist Destination, Travel