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Cebu Travel Guide

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Cebu
A typical jeepney © Philippines Department of Tourism
The island-province of Cebu sits in the centre of the Philippine archipelago and is served by international and domestic charter flights to and from its airport; Cebu is also a shipping crossroads. It is therefore a good jumping-off point for island hopping to the tropical islets of the central Visayas region. Within easy reach are the caves and lagoons of Calanggaman and Gato; the beaches of Argao, Oslop and Carmen; and the favourite dive spots of Moalboal, Badian, Mactan and Olango.

The Cebu metropolitan area is the country's second biggest city, and, along with its adjacent Maktan Island, has become a bustling package tour destination, particularly for Japanese visitors. It abounds with shopping malls, fast food outlets, casinos, golf courses and all-inclusive resort hotels to cater for the holidaymakers who come to enjoy the sandy beaches and glorious balmy weather.

Cebu's main claim to fame is its colourful festival, held every third Sunday in January, known as the Sinulog. The festival is a religious celebration wherein various tribes in dazzling costumes hold aloft images of the infant Jesus. The revellers wend their way through the city streets from early morning to evening, singing and dancing.

Cebu is also the country's oldest Spanish colonial city and has several historic landmarks, including the original cross, planted by Magellan in 1521 when he baptised the first group of Filipino natives into the Catholic faith. The cross is now housed in a roofed kiosk in Magallanes Street. Downtown Cebu is dominated by Colon Street, the oldest street in the Philippines, dating from the 16th century and today lined with stores, shopping malls, office buildings and movie theatres.




Attractions

Santo Nino Basilica, Cebu © Philippines Department of Tourism

Basilica Minore de Santo Nino

The oldest religious relic in the Philippines, an icon of the infant Jesus, is housed in the basilica, having miraculously survived fire and other catastrophes through the years since the image of Christ was first presented by Magellan to Queen Juana in 1521. The...  see full details



Mactan Island © Philippines Department of Tourism

Beaches

Numerous islets and beaches are connected to, or easily accessed from, the Cebu metropolitan area as day trips. Mactan Island is linked to Cebu City by a bridge and is the site of hundreds of beach resorts, most of which offer full scuba...  see full details



Casa Gorordo Museum

The Casa Gorordo Museum was originally the home of the first Filipino Bishop of Cebu. It is now restored and serves as a re-creation of a typical Filipino home of the late 19th century, furnished with religious relics, paintings, antique furniture and household items. The...  see full details



Fort San Pedro

Fort San Pedro

Fort San Pedro, located at Cebu City’s wharf area, was the nucleus of the first Spanish settlement in the country. It began as a single triangular bastion, built in 1565, and was not completed for another 200 years. Over the centuries the fort...  see full details



Jumalon Museum

Located in the Basak district, this private museum created by late lepidopterist, Professor Julian Jumalon, houses his unusual collection of mosaics, made up of butterfly wings. The garden of Jumalon’s home continues to be a haven for thousands of butterflies, and the ‘lepido mosaics’...  see full details



Excursions


Bohol

The island province of Bohol is one of the loveliest in the Visayas group and lies southeast of Cebu. It has plenty to offer in the form of historical and natural attractions. The world's rarest seashells, like the Gloria Maris and the Golden...  see full details

Boracay

The tiny butterfly-shaped island of Boracay in the western Visayas has been 'discovered' by trendy international sun-lovers, and has become the Philippines' most popular beach destination. Thousands have sung the praises of the white, talcum-fine powder sand on a two-mile (4km) stretch of palm-studded...  see full details
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