Baguio City, the exotic city in the Philippines

Ever been to the Philippines? or have you ever been to Baguio City? hmm, if you visit the Philippines, try visiting the city of Baguio.

General Information about Baguio City
Baguio City occupies about 57 square kilometers of hilly land about 1,524 meters high in the southwestern portion of the Cordillera Central mountain range in northern Luzon in the Philippines. It is completely surrounded by the province of Benguet, which Baguio used to be a town of before being made into an independent city. It is bordered by the municility of Tuba to the south and west, by Itogon to the east and to the north by Benguet's capital, La Trinidad.

The average temperature is from 15-26˚C, and it can drop down to 8˚C from December to early February. The weather follows the typical Philippines' seasons: Dry Season from  October to May and the Wet Season from June to September.

In general, Baguio is 8˚ cooler any month compared to any place in the Philippine lowlands. When Manila heats up at at 35˚C, Baguio seldom exceeds 26˚C at its warmest. The lowest temperature reading made was 6.27˚C, recorded in January 18, 1961. Recently, on January 29, 2007, the temperature dropped to a chilly 7˚C.

Baguio can get pretty foggy and damp during the Philippines' rainy season, with the largest amount of rainfall in the country, due to the high altitude and the heavily forested areas of the Cordillera mountain range. The record for the heaviest volume of rainfall occurred in July 1927 when it measured 4.77 meters.

In November, wild sunflowers appear on the hillsides signaling the end of the rainy season, and Baguio becomes a tropical paradise until May. Christmas season is when it glows with the nippy wintry air, and coats, hats and scarves are the outfits of choice.

Transportation
you can visit Baguio by planes or by bus


Travel Tips
Traveling to Baguio City is not much different from visiting other cities in the Philippines in that all the conveniences of modern life are available.

However, City of Pines  not your typical Philippine destination as it is located about 1,524 meters (about 5,000 feet) above sea level and the temperatures here can go from pleasantly cool to really, really chilly!


In a country like the Philippines that boasts of 7,107 islands, one would not normally expect temperatures that reach as low as 7˚C in December and January!

Although beaches are just an hour away, bikinis and tank tops are not necessarily the first items on your "What to Pack" list.

On second thought, you may want to make a mental note to bring them along anyway since we do have several swimming pools in the city, not to mention spas and saunas. There are also wonderfully rejuvenating hot springs present at the base of Asin and Kennon roads, by the way.