A yr earlier than the newest eruption of Taal Volcano and the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns in 2020, we rode our bikes from Metro Manila circling Laguna Lake and Taal Lake. Again then, it was only for the fun of the joyride and so we might hike to the crater lake on Volcano Island afterwards.
Everyone knows what occurred up to now three years. Now that journey is again to regular once more, we’ve been attempting to expertise one thing new by revisiting acquainted locations by bicycles. We’re attempting to embark on a minimum of one lengthy bike trip monthly whereas we nonetheless have the vitality and time.
Life is brief, so we would as nicely benefit from the trip whereas we are able to. We’ve all bought our private bucket lists to tick off, and bike loops, which I all the time equate to traverse mountain climbing as much as a mountain summit, can really feel very satisfying.
Earlier than this trip, I wasn’t positive of the standing of the Taal Circumferential Street. Whereas going round, we discovered that there are extra scenic lakeside parts now accessible to bikes, although there are nonetheless freeway crossings and killer uphills to sort out. Mountain climbing journeys to the volcano are now not doable after the eruption, however the lakeside cities have their allure and there’s potential for the circumferential highway to be a serious biking route as soon as it’s accomplished.
In case you propose to bike across the totally different cities of Batangas surrounding Taal Lake, right here’s the up to date info I can share as of March 2023.
The place precisely is Taal Lake?
Taal Lake is the third-largest lake within the Philippines and the second largest on the island of Luzon after Laguna Lake. The lake and volcano are seen from the ridge of Tagaytay in Cavite. There’s an ongoing Taal Circumferential Street nonetheless within the works, however as of March 2023, not all lakeside cities are linked across the shoreline but.
From Metro Manila, the quickest option to get to a lot of the lakeside cities in Taal is about 1.5 to 2 hours by automobile utilizing SLEX.
Our bike itinerary
You can begin your trip in any of the lakeside cities relying on the place you’re coming from or the place you wish to base for the evening. I like to recommend staying 2 nights – 1 evening earlier than and 1 evening after so you can begin early and have time to sit back out afterwards. However in case you don’t wish to keep in a single day, you may as well drive early from Manila and again the identical day.
Coming from Tagaytay, Talisay (reachable by Ligaya Drive or the Tagaytay-Talisay Street) is the closest jump-off level. For this trip, the order of the cities we handed have been: Talisay, Tanauan, Balete, Mataas na Kahoy, Lipa, Cuenca, Alitagtag, Sta. Teresita, San Nicolas, Agoncillo, and Laurel.
For simpler navigation, I set the path to strolling on Googlemaps, as a result of the steered route for vehicles stored pointing to the freeway, which I needed to keep away from as a lot as doable. On the early a part of the route, some areas are solely satisfactory to bikes on account of highway development and slim bridges.
The place to park: After asking permission, we parked beside the Talisay Municipal Corridor close to the church. Usually, this can be a parking zone for workers, however they don’t have work on Saturday. There’s a church close by that additionally affords safe parking, however the gates are closed after a sure time. There’s additionally a Shell Fuel Station in Talisay with a number of eating places and a resort the place you possibly can most likely ask permission to park.
8:30 a.m.: We took off from Talisay, one of many cities located proper beside alongside the lakefront, which has typically flat and rolling terrain. There are a number of resorts right here together with Membership Balai Isabel and Taal Lake Park Wakim Resort and eating places like Leonidas and Sora Bulalo close to the city fuel station. The Talisay Baywalk close to the municipal fishport affords a scenic photograph op spot to start out your trip.
From there, we biked to Tanauan by the Banadero Baywalk. This portion of the Taal Circumferential highway is pretty new and there are a number of giant eating places right here together with Lakeview Grill and Restobar. We handed The Winery at Tanauan going to Wawa Baywalk.
9:30 a.m.: Heading to Balete, we turned left on the Tres Marias Cottages to cross to the opposite facet of the hill. This portion concerned a very difficult uphill portion (a section dubbed “Hwag mong akayin” on Strava) passing Looc to get to Balete.
10:30 a.m. There are extra scenic lake views and locations to eat in Balete together with Lomi Homes, the Lakeshore Resort Balete, and a mini Baywalk space close to the general public market. Another choice the place you possibly can eat is Kapusod, the in-house restaurant of a bike-friendly mattress & breakfast in Mataas na Kahoy.
11:00 a.m. We have been initially hoping to succeed in Taal city for lunch, but it surely was getting actually sizzling, so we stopped as a substitute at Tomato and Basil Cafe. Getting right here concerned one other actually steep ascent, so we determined to take a break. If you happen to’re biking, observe the longer zigzag highway the place vehicles cross to avoid wasting vitality, as a result of the straight highway going as much as the restaurant’s parking space is a killer.
Whereas the view right here is nice, the meals here’s a bit on the costly facet, so in case you’re a biker on a price range, I counsel ready till you get to the principle freeway to search out one other place to eat. Tomato & Basil Cafe is extra of a romantic restaurant with a view/household resto with aesthetic interiors.
Following the uphill highway, we finally made it to the freeway in Lipa. The nationwide freeway parts of Lipa, Cuenca, Alitagtag and Sta. Teresita weren’t as scenic because the lakeside cities, however a minimum of the roads had gradual downhills and plenty of buko juice stops to assist us calm down from the noontime warmth.
3:00 p.m. In Santa Teresita, you possibly can take a diversion highway to succeed in the lakeside cities faster, however we determined to take a detour to the Heritage City of Taal and cease by the Minor Basilica of Saint Martin of Excursions, also called the Taal Basilica, which is a serious pilgrimage website and landmark.
Different factors of curiosity right here embrace the welcome arch of Taal City, Balisong Drive and Galleria Taal (the primary Digicam Museum within the Philippines). Surprisingly, there weren’t loads of cafes within the Taal city correct close to the church, however there’s a 7-11 right here the place you should purchase drinks and chilly espresso.
4:30 p.m. From Taal city, we headed in the direction of the Outdated Taal Church Ruins in San Nicolas, the ruins of the unique St. Martin de Excursions Church alongside the lakeside. The baywalk space right here was good and peaceable. I want we might have spent longer right here, but it surely was beginning to get late and we nonetheless had greater than 30 kms to go.
6:30 p.m. So long as you persist with the lakeside roads, the route stays largely flat alongside the Laurel-Agoncillo highway till you attain the world close to Buso-Buso Landmark, the place one other punishing climb awaits.
It was darkish the remainder of our trip, so I wasn’t capable of take loads of good pictures, however the route was a lot flatter on the final stretch and the nighttime climate was cooler, so it was comparatively clean pedaling. We bought again to Talisay round 8 p.m. for a dinner of bulalo on the fuel station, earlier than heading again to the parking space.
Taal Lake Loop full! Primarily based on my Strava stats, I coated a distance of 100.56 km for this trip, with an 1,403 m elevation information, with a transferring time of 8 hours (although we have been on the highway for about 12 hours).
NOTE: If you wish to shorten the trip, however nonetheless full a loop, you possibly can skip the church in Taal city, for a complete of 88 kms. As a result of we took the detour, and needed to backtrack a number of instances, the odometer studying on Strava reached 98 km by the tip of our trip. I took a few spins across the Talisay baywalk space earlier than we ended to spherical it as much as 100. The trip might exceed or be lower than 100 kms relying on the roads you cross.
After the lengthy bike trip, it was a loopy uphill drive with two bikes strapped to the automobile at evening again to Tagaytay by Ligaya Drive. I truthfully don’t advocate doing this, as this is without doubt one of the most harmful roads in Tagaytay. This slim highway has a number of hairpin turns and steep areas which might be tough to navigate, particularly for inexperienced drivers.
Must you trip clockwise or counterclockwise?
Once we rode our bikes earlier than, we took a counterclockwise route. This time, we determined to do it clockwise to get the uphill components over with earlier on whereas we nonetheless had vitality. I used to be extra to see the lakeside areas in Tanauan, which we skipped final time as a result of we ended up on the freeway in Malvar.
Primarily based on the elevation and gradient, I’d advocate going clockwise from Talisay. The stretch after Cuenca and Alitagtag is extra downhill with lengthy flat stretches, moderately than a protracted sustained uphill.
The place to remain and eat round Taal Lake
If you wish to get pleasure from a easy and peaceable getaway, it’s greatest to remain in one of many lakeside cities earlier than or after your trip resembling Taal Lake Park, Wakim Lake Resort.
Alongside the freeway, there’s Oyo 120 Balai Sofia in Talisay proper beside a fuel station, with a Bulalo restaurant and Japanese restaurant. There are a number of different seafood grills alongside the freeway in Talisay.
For distinctive and eco-friendly lodging, an alternative choice is Kapusod Mattress & Breakfast in Mataas na Kahoy. This lakeside resort has a Treehouse room, Earth Dome, and open-air backyard cottages, with a safe parking space for automobiles together with bicycles.
Kapusod additionally has an in-house restaurant open to walk-in friends. The resto serves native specialties like tawilis, suman, and Kape Barako.
For extra resort and restaurant choices, you may as well use Tagaytay as your base and drive to Taal city and again on the identical day.
For this explicit bike journey, we stayed in View Park Resort, a boutique resort proper throughout Picnic Grove in Tagaytay. The resort has cozy rooms, a pleasant backyard space, roof deck, safe parking, and two swimming swimming pools.
The resort additionally has quick access to a contemporary Filipino restaurant and in-house cafe Siglo Brew that serves craft beer and native espresso, making it an incredible spot for post-ride drinks and chilling out after a protracted trip.
I’ll be sharing extra particulars on new (non-biking) issues to do in Tagaytay quickly.
For extra particulars, go to my different social media accounts.
