All Roads Lead to Baguio

During the months of October to late March, the chilly breeze of Hanging Amihan lets us experience what it’s like to have Autumn as a season. We like the cooler weather, as it provides a respite for the heat we experience the rest of the year. However, during warmer months it becomes an even easier choice as all roads lead to the Summer Capital of the Philippines – Baguio City.

With new roads, tourist sites, and accommodations, a weekend trip to Baguio is now a breeze.

Baguio, a highly-urbanized city in the North, is a crowd-favorite. Nothing beats fresh air, and Baguio provides a stark contrast to Metro Manila’s air-conditioned malls and establishments.

The PH’s Summer Capital

Baguio survived a lot. It was bombed by the Japanese in 1941, and a huge earthquake in 1990 left some parts of the city in ruins. However, the city stands strong, with a lot of its heritage sites restored. Because of this, Baguio is still one of the most visited destinations in Northern Luzon.

Aside from its cold weather, Baguio is known for the Panagbenga Festival every February. However, 2020’s festivities will instead be moved to March. This is a precautionary measure for the 2019 novel coronavirus.

Panagbenga comes from the Kankanaey term meaning “season of blooming”. Local and foreign tourists alike love this annual celebration, and it always boosts the local economy of Baguio City.

Tourist spots like Burnham Park, Camp John Hay, Mines View Park, and the popular Session Road are the go-to attractions in Baguio. Throughout the years, however, the city has developed more offerings for the wandering tourist.

Baguio’s new destinations

The local film That Thing Called Tadhana really helped boost local tourism in the city. It is a rom-com that revolved around a trip to and in Baguio, and eventually Sagada. The influx of budget travelers has opened numerous opportunities for Baguio locals.

This social media-driven generation definitely helped boost tourism in the city. The gorgeous photos of these tourist attractions brought them a lot of new visitors. Attractions such as the Northern Blossom Flower Farm in Atok, Benguet, and the Valley of Colors in La Trinidad, Benguet have become viral in recent years.

The summer capital of the country is also known to have a very progressive art and cultural scene. The BenCab Museum, Museo Kordilyera, and Tam-Awan Village are one of the many spaces contributing to this success.

Accessibility, mobility, connectivity

Now, it’s easier to go to the City of Pines to get that well-deserved break. The newly-opened Anduyan Bridge connects Tubao, La Union and Tuba, Benguet. Together with the newly-opened Kennon Road, this greatly eases traffic in Marcos Highway.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will be giving the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) a PHP20.612-billion budget for infrastructure this 2020.

According to DPWH, the BLISTT (Baguio-La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba, and Tublay) is one of their priorities for the ‘Build, Build, Build’. DPWH has lined up a lot of big-ticket projects for the region, including the construction of around 332 bridges.

With all these new developments, the local government has also accommodated more bus services. If you’re traveling from Manila, you can now travel to Sagada via certain bus lines. It’s faster now than ever before, taking you only about 4-5 hours of travel.

In partnership with Smart Wi-Fi, the local government of Baguio will also be rolling out fiber-powered Wi-Fi coverage in the City of Pines, improving connectivity and boosting the tourism industry.

All these improvements mean one thing – a boost of the city’s tourism. This, in turn, provides increased livelihood to communities. With these new connections in place, it is so much easier to achieve the personal fulfillment of traveling to different places.

For your next trip, why not check out what else Baguio City has in offer?

RELATED: Learning from Boracay: Should we clean up Baguio next?

Header image from www.phbus.com