By air
Ninoy Aquino, Manila (MNL), ~9 h by overnight bus
Southeast Asia · Philippines
Banaue, Philippines
Two-thousand-year-old rice terraces
Getting there
Best time to visit
February to May — dry, the terraces greening in spring
Don't miss
The Banaue Rice Terraces
Batad
Tappiya Falls
The Hapao terraces
Things to do
Trekking to Batad and Tappiya Falls
A homestay in the terraces
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Ori~ · CC BY-SA 3.0
What to pack
Layers, trekking shoes, a rain jacket
A quieter corner
Batad's amphitheatre of terraces, a hike in from the road
Questions travellers ask
When do Banaue's rice terraces look their best?
February to May, when it's dry and the terraces are greening in spring. Pack layers, trekking shoes and a rain jacket.
How do I get to Banaue from Manila?
Fly into Ninoy Aquino, Manila (MNL), then it's about 9 hours by overnight bus.
Where should I trek around Banaue?
Trek to Batad, whose amphitheatre of terraces is a hike in from the road, and to Tappiya Falls. A homestay in the terraces lets you linger.
What local food should I try in Banaue?
Pinikpikan, a Cordillera chicken soup, with local rice wine.
About Banaue
- Mountains
Where it is
Banaue is a mountain town in the province of Ifugao in the Cordillera Central of northern Luzon, in the Philippines, surrounded by rice terraces carved into the steep valley slopes.
History
The Ifugao people built the terraces by hand over many generations, shaping walls of stone and earth and channelling water from the forests above, and they stayed largely outside Spanish control. The terrace clusters of Batad and Bangaan in Banaue are part of the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995.
People
Banaue's people are Ifugao, who speak Tuwali and other Ifugao languages alongside Ilocano and Filipino, and whose farming follows a ritual calendar tied to the rice. Chanted epics called hudhud and carved bulul figures that guard the rice granaries are among their best-known traditions.
Known for
- The Banaue Rice Terraces
- Batad's amphitheatre of terraces
- Tappiya Falls
- Ifugao woodcarving
- Homestays in terrace villages
Did you know?
The Hudhud chants of the Ifugao were among the first traditions proclaimed by UNESCO as Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, in 2001.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.