"Legaspi City, Our Base For The Albay Tour" Legaspi City by cyndymc

We came from our trips to Caramoan and Naga City so we chose Legaspi City as our base in Albay. We thought it would be a more comfortable and convenient jump-off point to the other towns/cities in Albay like Sto. Domingo, Daraga, Tabaco, and Ligao City.

Legaspi City is a first class city and the capital city of Albay, and as such is the political center of Bicol Region. It is located at the center of the peninsula, between the two island provinces of Catanduanes and Masbate, boasting of a beautiful seaport and spectacular skyline, made more breathtaking by the calm waters of Albay Gulf and the majestic Mayon Volcano towering over the buildings. I've been to the City of Legaspi before, so I was surprised to see it now as more modern-looking and progressive.

Trivia: The city's name "LEGAZPI" was patterned from the name of Adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the Spanish conquistador who conquered the Philippines in 1565. Actually, LEGAZPI with a "z" is the official name of the city but locals often refer to their place as LEGASPI with the "s". This is probably because older versions of the Filipino alphabet did not contain "z" and besides to most people, it's not a big issue since "z" and "s" produce similar sounds, with "s" as the easier to pronounce. As long as we understand that the Legaspi City we are referring to in this travel guide is Legazpi City, then there's no problem.