Skip to content
LarkTours

Routes · Asia

Rome to the Philippines' far north: Batanes

Rome → Batanes

Batanes Batan island hills
"Batanes Hills.png" by bingbing, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons· licence

Stone houses, rolling hills & sea cliffs Best season (general guide): Mar–Jun

Batanes, the northernmost province of the Philippines, is a group of small islands between Luzon and Taiwan. This route spends six nights on the islands. From Rome you'll connect via Manila, then fly north to Basco. Batanes feels unlike the rest of the country, with rolling green hills, cliffs and few people. The Ivatan people build houses of stone and lime with thick thatched roofs to withstand typhoons.

How to pace it: Spend days one to six on Batanes: day one, Basco; day two, north Batan hills; day three, south Batan; day four, boat to Sabtang; day five, Sabtang villages; day six, rest day.

Basco, the capital, is on Batan island, with lighthouses and hillside pastures nearby. A boat crosses to Sabtang, where villages of stone houses line quiet lanes. Women wear the vakul, a headgear woven from palm fibre, against sun and rain. Itbayat, further north, is remote and reached by small boat or plane. March to June is the best time, before the typhoon season.

Good to know: Flights depend on weather, so allow spare days. Tricycles and bikes are the main transport.

The islands are small and slow-paced, with few shops and limited options for cash, so bring enough pesos for the stay. Accommodation is mostly in small inns and homestays, which book up in the peak months. Walking is a pleasure here, with quiet roads and views of the sea from every hill. A local tour on Batan island covers the main sights in a day. The weather is changeable, so carry a rain jacket. Leave space in the plan for flight delays and avoid tight onward connections in Manila.

Batanes sits at the opposite end of the country from the Mindanao provinces that Canada tells travellers to avoid; overall, its Philippines advisory (updated 7 Jul 2026) asks for a high degree of caution. The US has the Philippines at Level 2, issued 1 Sep 2026. Bring a camera with spare batteries: the light over the hills at sunrise and sunset is a highlight of a stay.

Suggested outline

  1. Rome

    Start

  2. Batanes

    By air · 6 nights suggested

    Windswept islands of stone houses and green hills.

Day by day

  1. Day 1 · Batanes — Arrive; Basco· Rome → Batanes (by air) — long-haul; may arrive the next calendar day
  2. Day 2 · Batanes — North Batan hills
  3. Day 3 · Batanes — South Batan
  4. Day 4 · Batanes — Boat to Sabtang
  5. Day 5 · Batanes — Sabtang villages
  6. Day 6 · Batanes — Rest day
  7. Day 7 · Batanes — Travel home from Batanes· Batanes → Rome (by air)

A suggested pace only; expedition days are set by the operator.

Flights, leg by leg

Each button opens a live, dated search. We don't show stored fares here: check today's price on the booking site.

Showing dates about a month ahead — change them when you search.

Batanes

Nearest airport: Basco Search fares · Basco ↗

Partner links may earn LarkTours a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices, availability and terms are set by each partner.