Day tours and hikes from Manila
The trips we run most, and the reason most people meet us. Door to door from Metro Manila by private van, a coordinator with the group all day, government permits handled, and a proper sit-down lunch. Prices are per person and all-in.
Short trips, run properly
Local Escapes are single-day trips out of Metro Manila. No flights, no hotels, no leave from work. You are collected before dawn and home the same evening, and everything in between is already arranged.
Two things separate these from the cheaper options on the same mountains. First, the lunch is a real sit-down meal rather than a sandwich in a bag, which sounds small until you notice it is where a van full of strangers turns into a group. Second, a Trouvaille Diaro coordinator travels with you all day alongside the local guide, walking at the back rather than the front, so nobody is rushed and nobody is left behind.
Every trip runs two ways. Privately, on your date, with door-to-door pickup. Or as a joiners departure on set dates from a shared assembly point, which brings the per-person price down.
What is always included
Package inclusions
- Round-trip transportation by private van
- Lunch, sitting down
- Registration and permits
- Local guide
- Trouvaille Diaro coordinator
- Safety briefing and first aid kit
Freebies
- Trail snack
- Bottled water
- Trouvaille drawstring bag
- Hiker certificate
- Group photo
Private bookings are door to door from any Metro Manila address on your own date. Joiners departures assemble at McDonald’s Quezon Avenue in Quezon City, with optional pickups at Shell Magallanes, PITX and Shell SLEX Mamplasan by prior arrangement. Minimum 10 joiners.
Talk to a person
Ages, fitness, dietary needs, or which trip suits you. Message us and a human answers.
Each trip, and who it is for
Day tours first, then the hikes from easiest to hardest. We add routes as we start running them, so this list keeps growing.
Tarlac
Mt Pinatubo Crater Lake
A 4×4 across the lahar plains then 5.5 kilometres up a rocky valley to the turquoise caldera lake. Booked through an LGU-accredited operator.
Pampanga
Tutulari Avatar Gorge
A 500-metre moss-walled gorge on the western slopes of Mt Pinatubo, reached by 4×4 with no hiking at all. Our pick for families and first-timers.
Rizal
Masungi Georeserve
Limestone karst crossed on rope bridges and hanging nets inside a working conservation reserve. Strictly by advance request, minimum age 13.
Batangas
Mt Gulugod Baboy
A sea of rolling green hills with 360-degree views to the Batangas coast. No scrambling, no exposure, pace set by the slowest person in the group.
Bulacan
Mt Manalmon
A cable bridge over the Madlum River, an hour to the top and caves afterwards. Where we send families and first-timers.
Rizal
Mt Tagapo
A boat ride across Laguna de Bay, then the only mountain on Talim Island. The gentlest climb we run, and the one that feels furthest from the city.
Rizal
Mt Balagbag
The closest real mountain to the capital. From the summit you look straight back at the Ortigas and Makati skylines, with the Sierra Madre behind you.
Batangas
Mt Talamitam
Up in under two hours, down in one. Grazing cattle, a sixty-degree finish through talahib grass, and no shade at all.
Batangas
Mt Maculot
The Rockies is the ledge in every Taal Lake photograph, an hour or two above Cuenca. Summit and grotto if the group wants them.
Cavite
Mt Pico de Loro
The Parrot’s Beak monolith, mostly shaded forest trail, and a park that admits ninety hikers a day. We hold the slots.
Rizal
Mt Sembrano
Laguna de Bay on one side, Banahaw and Arayat on the horizon. A proper climb above Pililla that rewards you with the widest view in Rizal.
Rizal
Mt Batolusong
Rolling grassland on the Mapatag Plateau, then the rock scramble to Rangyas Peak. Tanay enforces its rules here, and we book the coordination for you.
Batangas
Mt Batulao
Eight hundred and eleven metres of open ridge with numbered peaks and Taal Lake beyond. The mountain most Manila hikers climb first.
Rizal
Mt Daraitan and Tinipak River
A real Sierra Madre climb, then a river running over white marble boulders where the only sensible response is to get in.
Rizal
Mt Maynoba
Eight named waterfalls on one circuit, with the option to add Mt Cayabu. The longest Rizal day we run, and the wettest in the best way.
Pampanga
Mt Arayat
A thousand metres standing alone on the Central Luzon plain. The ten-kilometre traverse with a roped section is the hardest day in this collection.
Mt Kulis, Mt Makiling, Mt Mariveles, Mt Ulap and Mt Mariglem run on request rather than on a fixed calendar, and the overnight camping and glamping trips sit alongside them. Ask us about any of them and we will quote the date you want, page or no page.
These same trips run as educational field trips and as corporate days, with a coordinator per bus, learning objectives written in, and an itemised cost breakdown a school head can submit. We are an accredited travel partner of Masungi Georeserve, so a class can visit a conservation area that is otherwise closed to walk-ins. See Schools and Institutions for how field trips work, from nursery to university, or Team Building for how a company day is put together.
Four kinds of short trip
Everything here is a single day or a weekend out of Manila. Hikes are what we run most and what is bookable today. The rest are being built out through 2026, and we will take enquiries for them now.
Hike Events & Outdoor Adventures
Beginner-friendly mountains and gorges with a coordinator, permits and lunch handled. Every hike and day tour listed above sits here.
Running nowBeach, Island & Ocean Adventures
Island hopping, snorkelling and coastal days within reach of Manila.
ComingGlamping
Comfortable overnight stays under canvas, for people who want the outdoors without the discomfort.
ComingWeekend Getaways & Food or Culture
Two-day escapes built around a town, a market or a regional kitchen.
Coming