Why You Should Visit Baguio City
Baguio City is known as the City of Pines because it’s surrounded by pine trees all around. If you want to cool off, relax and escape the hustle and bustle of the big city of Manila, then you should definitely give Baguio a shot. There’s no city like it in the Philippines, it has beautiful mountain scenery with lots of places and fun activities to experience. It’s a great place to spend fun time with your family and its even great for couples. So head on over to this wonderful city and try something new!
For How Long Should You Stay In Baguio City
I would say it depends on you, I’ve stayed there for 4 days and still haven’t managed to see and experience everything. But in general I would recommend to be here for 3-5 days to get the feel of the city and understand it’s charm.
How To Get To Baguio City From Manila
Head on over to PITX in Parañaque get the Deluxe Bus because it has better seats than a regular bus and has a working CR. You’ll probably need it as the bus ride from Manila to Baguio usually takes around 5-6hours. It’s around 270km but the roads are what makes it take so long to get here. They are too steep with lots of twists and turns because Baguio is a mountain town meaning its much higher in elevation than Manila.
Oh and don’t forget to pack a hoodie or a blanket, the bus get quite cold, they crank it up down to 16 degrees for some reason. And trust me you will feel the cold.
List of Top Must See Attractions in Baguio City
- Baguio Botanical Garden – lovely garden with lots of flowers and some Igorot culture, don’t forget to check out the souvenir shop here, its worth it and buy some strawberry jam, its very tasty, so sweet it tastes like honey
- Wright Park – horse riding, strawberry ice cream, souvenir shops
- Mines View Observation Deck – great view and bunch of souvenir shops
- Baguio Museum – great museum about Baguio history and culture, contains ww2 photos and mummies found in the Baguio area
- Bell Church – a Buddhist temple
- Colors of Stobosa – colorful houses of Baguio, but stricken by poverty
- Strawberry Farm – Home of Giant Strawberry Cake – you can get the best strawberries here, actually came here again at the end of the trip just to get another batch of pure juiciness
- Igorot Stone Kingdom – sadly its newly built so its not very historic, but apparently that’s how Igorot fortresses looke
- Tam-awan Village – culturally rich village of how their houses looked like, there’s this little statue of a person holding a cock 😅
- Mirador Heritage and Eco Park – everyone takes photo here of the Japanese red arch for some reason, nevertheless cool view of the city here when its not misty
- Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto – awesome place full of Catholic statues of saints and even Jesus and St Mary
- Our Lady of the Atonement Cathedral – beautiful church that survived ww2
Deluxe Bus
Attractions For When You Have Extra Time
They are in the center of Baguio so it’s super crowded, lots of school kids around so I skipped these, but if you want you can go visit them too:
- Burnham Park – bunch of activities here, skating rink, biking, swan boat pedaling
- Baguio City Market
- Baguio Night Market
- Baguio Cathedral Stairs – cool looking church
- SM City Baguio – here is the bus terminal
- Mt. Yangbew – great sunset spot. It’s an easy hike and you can see beauty of Baguio from the top
If You Have a Car Or a Driver
Go to the nearby Mt Olis in Atok. From there you can see Mt Pulag Luzon’s highest peak. The road to the top of Mt Olis is quite dangerous and has lots of twists and turns. I recommend going there at 4am so you can reach the top and see a beautiful sunrise. Here’s a list of what to see along the way to the top of Mt Olis:
- Northern Blossom Flower Farm – lots of beautiful plants
- Sakura(Cherry Blossoms) Park – in my opinion not really worth it, the Sakura there is tiny
- Second Highest Point: Philippine Highway System
- Mt. Olis View Point – the peak itself
- Beacon Hill Eco-Park – UK inspired small park
Why I Fell In Love With Baguio City
The temperate is much lower than in Manila, around 23-25 degrees and there’s much more nature here, trees, insects, birds. And the air is a lot better here, it must be the smog that’s in Manila that sometimes makes it hard to breathe. Here none of that, really. The pine trees make me feel much more at home just like in my country Slovakia.
And honestly there is not that many tourists, at least when I visited in the end of January. So you don’t have to worry to be in a huge line or anything it’s not yet ruined by tourism, which is why I enjoyed my stay. It was very peaceful and much less expensive then Makati in Manila. The people are very friendly here, that usually goes for when I travel to the north, people are just much more nicer there. But always keep your guard out for bad actors and pick-pocketers, ALWAYS! You can never be too safe.
Overall I loved Baguio City and I would like to return and spend a longer period of time, maybe even rent out a condo or a house there. I recommend it to anyone who wants to see more than just the beaches in the Philippines and experience a bit of history and culture.
Check out mine 2 Instagram posts about Baguio City:
#LoveThePhilippines #ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines #Baguio #CordilleraRegion
