Weekend Trips from Baguio: A Guide for Adult Students

Three rules before you pack

None of these are hard, and all of them are easier to handle on Wednesday than on Saturday morning.

• Hand in the travel form by Thursday. If you plan to travel outside Baguio on a weekend or a holiday, fill out the travel waiver and give it to your manager by 1:30 PM on Thursday.
• Keep your manager updated. While you are away, your manager should know roughly where you are. A short message when plans change is enough.
• Know which nights have a curfew. There is no curfew on Friday and Saturday nights. From Sunday to Thursday it starts at 9:30 PM, so a weekend away has to end back on campus by Sunday evening.

One detail catches people out. La Trinidad, Itogon and Tuba are separate towns from Baguio, even though some of them feel like the next neighborhood over. If a day trip takes you there, ask your manager whether it needs the form. Asking takes a minute. The full wording of each rule is on the school regulation page.

If you would rather stay in town

A lot of good weekends never leave the city. Burnham Park is the easy one: a lake, rowboats and a long walk under the pines. Session Road and the streets around it are where the cafes are, and there are more of them than one student can work through in a term. The public market is worth a morning for the produce alone, much of it grown in the valleys around the city. Camp John Hay is quieter and greener, and good for a walk when you want trees instead of traffic.

Tam-awan Village is a small artists' village of traditional Cordillera houses on a hillside, and a better introduction to the region than any souvenir shop. For everything else about daily life in the city, from weather to getting around, see studying in Baguio.

Half a day, just outside the city

La Trinidad sits right next to Baguio and is known for its strawberry farms, where you can walk the rows and pick your own. It is a short jeepney ride and an easy morning, which makes it a good first trip for someone who has only just arrived.

The BenCab Museum on Asin Road is the other half-day favorite. It holds the collection of Benedicto Cabrera, a National Artist of the Philippines, alongside galleries of Cordillera art and a garden with a pond at the bottom of the valley. Even people who do not usually go to museums tend to stay longer than they planned.

Mt. Ulap: the best day hike near campus

If you only do one hike this term, make it this one. The trail starts in Ampucao, Itogon, roughly 40 minutes from the city by jeepney, and follows grassy ridges with long views across the Cordillera. Most groups take four to six hours from start to finish.

You register at the start of the trail and hike with a local guide, which is arranged there. Leave early: the views are clearest in the morning, and the jeepneys back to Baguio stop running in the late afternoon. The ridges are exposed, so bring water, sun protection and a layer for the wind, and expect a slippery trail after rain.

San Juan, La Union: the sea is two hours away

This surprises almost everyone. From a city in the mountains, the bus down to San Juan on the coast of La Union takes about two hours, depending on traffic and the road it takes. San Juan is the best-known beginner surf town in the Philippines, with surf schools right on the beach that rent boards and teach first lessons.

The main surf season runs from October to March, with smaller waves in the middle of the year. Outside the season it is still a good place for a swim, a long lunch and a sunset. It works as a Saturday day trip, or as one night on a Friday or Saturday, when there is no curfew to get back for.

Mt. Pulag: book it, do not wing it

Mt. Pulag is the highest mountain in Luzon, and the sunrise over its sea of clouds is the reason people come. It is also a protected area, so it cannot be done on a whim. Every climber attends an orientation at the visitor center before the hike and needs a permit and a medical certificate, and there is a daily limit on the number of climbers.

The simplest way is to join an organized group from Baguio that handles the permits and the transport. The drive to the ranger station takes two to three hours, and many groups leave the night before so they reach the summit for sunrise, which fits the nights without a curfew. It counts as travel outside Baguio, so the Thursday form applies.

Sagada: worth the long road

Sagada is a mountain town known for its caves, pine forests, cool nights and hanging coffins. It is also about six hours from Baguio by bus along the Halsema Highway, one of the most scenic roads in the country and one of the slowest. Buses to Sagada leave from terminals in the city, most of them early in the morning.

Six hours each way means it is not a Saturday trip. It works best on a long weekend or a holiday, or if you leave very early on Saturday and accept a long ride back on Sunday. When you arrive, register at the tourism office in town, which is also where local guides for the caves and trails are arranged. Pack warm clothes: nights in Sagada are colder than in Baguio.

The Banaue rice terraces are further still, a long day on the road each way. Save them for a holiday rather than trying to squeeze them into an ordinary weekend.

Plan around the weather

Baguio's rainy season runs broadly from June to October. It rarely rains all day, but it changes weekend plans more than it changes weekdays. Mountain roads like the Halsema Highway can see fog and landslides during heavy rain, so check the forecast before a long trip. The national weather service, PAGASA, posts weather advisories and typhoon warnings.

A few habits make every trip easier. Carry some cash, because card payments are less common outside the city. Tell a friend on campus where you are going, as well as your manager. And remember that weekend meals on campus are a brunch and a dinner, so a late start still gets you fed. A day in the life has the full weekend timetable, and the safety page covers what the school does when something goes wrong.