Travel: Baguio City, Philippines

 

Baguio  is a city on the Cordillera Administrative Region in the middle of the island of Luzon, in thePhilippines. Due to its cool mountain weather, Baguio is considered the summer capital of the Philippines. Because of its many pine trees it is also called the City of Pines.

Get in

To get to Baguio from outside of Luzon, one would still need to pass through Manila or Clark airport and from there get to Baguio by either of the following ways:

By bus

From Manila

This is the most common and economical way to get to Baguio from Metro Manila. Several bus lines ply the Metro Manila to Baguio route with terminals scattered across the metro. It generally takes about 5-7 hr to get to Baguio by bus. An hour longer than it would by car due to stopovers along the way.

• Victory Liner, ☎ +63 2 727 4534, +63 2 833 5019 to 20, . has hourly bus service to Baguio from its Monumento Main terminal in Caloocan City, Cubao and Pasay terminals. Buses are generally modern and air-conditioned but seats are sized generally for Filipinos and tall people would need to take advantage of the various stopovers to stretch their legs. Cost is just 450 Pesos per person one way (Most expensive among Aircon buses going to Baguio). A non-stop deluxe bus service is also available for 715 Pesos per person one way, water and snack are served during the trip. Semi-Deluxe buses are now included with one stop at Tarlac Shell station , costs around 650 pesos, no toilet inside the Bus.  
  

• Dagupan Bus, New York St., Cubao, Quezon City, ☎ +63 2 929 6123. Also serves the Manila to Baguio route via its Cubao Terminal. Buses leave on an hourly basis.  
  

From Clark airport

• Partas Bus operates a bus service that stops at Clark airport and heads north from there, departing the airport at 5PM. Get off at Sison (arrival there around 8PM) and cross the road to the restaurant stop opposite and get on a Victory Liner bus that does a dinner stop there. The fare from Clark airport to Sison on Partas Bus is 193 pesos, then from there by Victory Liner to Baguio is an additional 90 pesos. Travel time is 3 hours Clark to Sison, then 1 1/2 hours Sison to Baguio, plus some waiting time at Sison.

From Angeles City

• Philippine Rabbit operates from Dau Terminal. 250 pesos. Journey takes about 4-5 hr.

By plane

Sky Pasada no longer lists Baguio as a destination. It seems that only private planes land at Baguio now. Sky Pasada stopped the flights on November 2011, but have not yet updated their website which states that they do fly to Baguio.

By car

From Manila to Baguio by car, take the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) from Quezon City until Clark and then hop on to the new Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) all the way north to Tarlac City, Tarlac. From there, it’s back to the old McArthur Highway until Rosario Junction, La Union. Motorists drive through the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac and Pangasinan and La Union (if via Marcos Highway) or Benguet (if via Kennon Road). Of the three main routes leading up to Baguio, scenic Kennon Road is the shortest taking only three-quarters to one hour from the foot of the mountains in Rosario, Pangasinan. Marcos Highway starts in Pugo, La Union (a little further to the northwest from Rosario) and takes about one hour but is a wider, less winding road with a more gradual uphill incline and is safer in the rainy season. It has spectacular vistas of the South China Sea on a clear day. Naguillan Road is usually taken by travellers from the north and will take longer. All three roads can get blocked by landslides and Kennon Road with its long winding stretches is both scenic and dangerous. If you are intent on driving to Baguio, it would be best to hire a Filipino driver for this purpose. Most rental car companies in the Philippines offer chauffeur driven rentals in addition to the usual self-driven rentals. Visitors need to keep in mind that while it takes at average 6-7 hr to get to Baguio by car, it takes much longer during holiday weekends like Holy Week.

See

• Camp John Hay – the former R&R facility for American military personnel during the American occupation. Was turned over to the Philippine Government in 1991. Now under the auspices of the Bases Conversion & Development Authority (BCDA), Camp John Hay is now a sort of country club complete with an 18-hole golf course, horseback riding, camping and many more. A condotel has also been in operation since 2001.

• Session Road – the main thoroughfare of Baguio, where most of the city activity is centered.

• Mines View Park – enjoy the view of the beautiful mountain scenery and get photographed with DOGLAS(yeah, that’s the right spelling) the St.Bernard.

• Philippine Military Academy

• Burnham Park – go for a walk or go rowing on the small lake (100 pesos per hour).

• Strawberry Fields – go strawberry picking which is a jeepney ride out of the main city.

• Riverside Hotel – Enjoy Hot Spring Swimming Pools in a Valley surrounded by Lush Green Vegetation and stay the night (just 19 km from City Center), near the two Asin Tunnels drilled into the mountain facade by the Spanish colonizers using prisoners of war during the second part of the 19th century, one 158 feet and the other 95 feet long (starting at 1,300 pesos per night).