Anticipating and Celebrating New Year in Baguio City
by iano16 on Jan.02, 2011, under Baguio, Travel
Baguio City, the summer capital of the Philippines is our family’s choice to spend our new year. Why Baguio? Because weather is cooler than the usual Philippine climate. And since it’s a mountain city with an average elevation of 1400m ASL, temperature ranges from 14degC ~ 23degC during the month of December and it is projected to hit 9degC in February to March as per PAGASA(Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services).
We traveled 290kms from home(Bacoor, Cavite) for approximately 6.5 hours, including some stopover and traffic via NLEX, SCTEX and Kennon road.
I’m quite happy and satisfied that the kids enjoyed so much from the activities and places we visit.
The Lion’s head along Kennon Road
Our Accommodation:
For our accommodation, we checked-in at Bloomfield hotel along Leonard Wood road. A stone throw away from SM City-Baguio and the busy street of Session road. If you’re on a budget but wants the comfort and coziness of a hotel, I highly recommend this hotel. It will cost you a mere Php2200.00/night during holiday season and Php1980.00/night during ordinary days for their standard room. They have wi-fi and secured parking area too. Beside, this place is very near SM city, session road and Burnham park.
The Bloomfield hotel superior deluxe room
Food Choices:
For foods, you have so much choices, but I will only mention here the restaurant that we’ve been to and i won’t mention any Jollibee or chowking as it is too common, though, we ate there too… 
Cafe by the Ruins. If you want a restaurant with a little bit of historical touch, you may try this resto. It’s basically a WW2 ruins converted into a restaurant. The problem is, if it is a holiday season, the queue is too long. We waited for more than an hour before we were able to sit down and order our lunch. For the food taste, I forgot what I ordered but I’m not too impressed. I would rather choose Mario’s over this. Sorry….
Marios. Excellent fine dining and cheaper than Manila’s high-end resto. This is where we spend our New year dinner.
Jack’s Restaurant. Taste good and budget friendly. We paid a minimal Php240.00 for our food which is good for 3 persons. This restaurant is located at La Trinidad, Benguet on the way to strawberry farm. But, they have also a branch in Baguio called Jack’s kitchenette.
Places to Visit/What to Do:
Boating at Burnham Park. For a couple’s romantic moment or a family bonding, you may try boating at Burnham park for only Php60.00 for 30~45 minutes. But, on a holiday, it will peak to Php100.00.
Strawberry-Picking at La Trinidad, Benguet. Fun, and you can choose which strawberries to pick. It will cost you Php100.00 per half kilo for strawberry-picking. My kids enjoyed so much that they are all smiles after filling-up their basket.
Lourdes Grotto. If you would like the religious and physical challenge of climbing up the stairs leading to Lourdes Grotto, you may try to visit this place. I haven’t count the number of steps but it’s quite high, probably around 300 steps.
Camp John Hay. Great place. You can do trail walking, go inside butterfly sanctuary, try their own version of zip line, picnic, shopping and dining. It’s an all-in-one place.
Other places that may interest you are the Mines View park, The mansion, Botanical Garden, and wright park. These are all tourist spot.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
August 29th, 2011 on 4:12 PM
I am planning to visit Baguio City. As you rightly say it is one of the most popular and also most visited place. Thanks a lot for the helpful information. I would like to visit sometime during the later part of this year as you have suggested. There are of course many tour packages and tour operators offering some really economic packages for tourists.