How to visit Baguio City in 2022 – Insider’s Guide

So, you are visiting Baguio soon. You are either a returning visitor, a foreigner or this is your very first time. You want it stress free and be assured of a smooth visit. In this article, we will guide you on how to visit Baguio this Christmas Season 2022.

• Choose an accommodation
• Get a Tourist Pass
• Choose your transportation

Introduction

Baguio City, is the coolest city in the Philippines. Literally –  In November and December, the temperature dips to about 56 degrees at night. That is cool for Philippine standards. It is also famous for its mountain views, pine trees, strawberries and oddly, brooms.  Yup, brooms that you use to sweep the floor. It is a unique place rich in culture, great places to eat and the people are very friendly. 

Before we continue – the good news – is -Baguio is fully open to all travelers, no more caps or limits. As long as you are not currently sick with Covid, you should be able to enter. But you have to get a Tourist Pass.

Now, there are a lot of people that visit Baguio during the Christmas season. Today, September 24, 2022, we are still in the tail end of the rainy season, so we do not have a lot of visitors coming. Although this will soon pick up and we are already seeing signs of a vibrant tourist season. Remember, December is historically a high season for tourists.

Baguio is still recovering from effects of the pandemic. Recent reports say that we are now back to within 85 percent of the normal visitor numbers. And since most restrictions have been relaxed, the mayor is optimistic that the tourists are coming back. In fact, he just announced that despite a recent spike in tourists, there has been no rise in Covid cases, bringing good news to all who wish that all Covid restrictions like mask wearing will no longer be required. – hopefully soon so we can see each other’s smiles. 

Now let’s dive in to the top 3 questions people ask when coming to baguio.

Here is what we will be covering to help you in planning your visit to the City of Pines

1. How to Book your hotel and what area we recommend for you to stay.
2. How to Get your Tourist Pass
3. What transportation to use to get to  Baguio and what to use while in the city. 

Here we go…

1. Choosing your accomodation. 
   1. First tip – and do it as early as you can.  Hotels here get fully booked during this time. 
   2. Use Agoda, Booking.com, Kayak, Tripadvisor or Trivago airBnB to look for a place. I prefer Agoda, but any of these will suffice. 
   3. As far as location is concerned — Where is the best area to stay? Well, the decision depends –  Do you want Convenience or ambiance? 

Let me explain. 

1. If you want convenience, stay near the city center indicated in this map. For navigation purposes, the city center is Burnham Park. Which you can see as a man made lake on the map. I would consider hotels within half a mile of this lake to be in the city center. (Show map). The advantage here is that you have everything near you and you have ready access to transportation, if you need to go to the other tourist spots and night life. Examples of hotels near the center are City Center Hotel in Session Road and Hotel Veniz. There are numerous alternatives depending  on your budget.
2. If you want to experience the cool ambiance of baguio – you know pine trees, cool breeze, quiet mountain side —-, then look for hotels located farther away from the city. This is advisable only if you have your own vehicle. I would suggest staying in the Camp John Hay Area, with hotels like the Manor, Le Monet and the Forest Inn. Camp John Hay used to be a US Air Force R and R Base. R and R meaning Rest and Relaxation and it does live up to that purpose. A word of caution, these are more expensive hotels – as they range from 100 – 200 dollars depending on season or demand. 
3. Other Hotels and other types of accommodations like Airbnb’s and transient houses abound in various parts of the city that cater to all types of budgets. Remember, like anywhere else, you get what you pay for. I think the sweet spot in Baguio is around 2000 pesos per night or $40 per night for a decent hotel. 
4. If you are on a constrained budget, traveling with a group, or the more adventurous type, there are places listed on AirBnb or Facebook marketplace. You just have to invest time in doing good search. 
6. Ok, now that you have a place to stay. Lets go to the next step which is: 

NEXT STEP

1. Get a Tourist Pass – The Tourist Pass or QTP could either be Blue or Yellow. More on that later. 

First – lets talk about how to get your pass. 

1. To get your visitor pass. You must sign up to the VISITA website, ran by the City government. You sign in and then fill up a form to apply for a QTP. QTP is short for the QR coded Tourist Pass. This was instituted because of the pandemic and has been in effect since the city opened to Tourism this year. This is a pass required by the city to ensure that you comply with the current Covid requirements. 
   1. There are three types of travelers that have corresponding requirements. The three types are:
      1. Leisure Travelers. Tourists – you have to be fully vaccinated or have an RT-PCR test 72 hours prior to arrival.
      2. Essential Travelers. Other than leisure travelers – including travel for Business or emergencies = the only difference is that you can apply for a pass the same day of the visit, and you can do the Rapid Antigen test within 24 hours prior to arrival if unvaccinated.
      3. Permanent or long term residents – people who study, work or reside long term in the city. No need to register, just have with you at all times, proof of Baguio City residency.

2. You would need a picture of your vaccination card and an accepted form of identification to upload to the website.  A passport or drivers license will do. Just take pictures of the documents with your phone and upload to the website when prompted.  As mentioned if unvaccinated, you need to get tested.

3. After completing the form, call your hotel so they can approve your Pass. If you’re staying in someone’s residence, your approval will come a few days before your visit. Just be patient. It will come. 

3. Once you get your QTP, print it out and you just show it whenever check points ask for it. Upon arrival in Baguio, you have to go to the triage center Baguio Convention Center or CAP John Hay if you have a yellow QTP to get triaged. If you have a blue QTP card, your Hotel has a triage center that you can use.  Just go directly to your Hotel. 

The third and last question in your visit to Baguio is what transportation to use. No airplanes that fly to Baguio, but you can use the next best thing – A deluxe bus. 

1. Book your transportation. The best transportation to Baguio is the Airconditioned Bus.  There are a lot of buses that go to Baguio from all over the Philippines but if coming from Manila, the best two bus companies are Victory Liner Bus or Genesis Transportation. There is also the Solid North Bus if you are located near PITX. Their deluxe buses are non stop and could make the trip in about 5- 6 hours. They are equipped with bathrooms. Their luxury buses are about P576 to 999 pesos one way. The Joy bus even has your own entertainment screen for movies and games. Just like on an airplane. They have comfortable seats with wide enough leg room to make your journey as smooth as possible. 
   1. Quick tip: If you do not like riding buses or for the quickest trip, take the midnight or early morning trip and sleep during the ride. Because there is no traffic delay, It will sometimes only take 4 hours for the whole trip. But of course, you will miss the view on the way and the excitement of driving the mountain roads to Baguio. 

1. Book a few days ahead. You can visit the Victory Liner Terminal or the Genesis Terminal in Pasay or Cubao to purchase the tickets ahead of time. You can do it online using the links here but if booking online, you have to do it at least three days ahead.
2. victoryliner.com has tickets for 576 pesos for Regular Airconditioned bus. Their First class bus costs 999 but has it’s onboard bathroom, more space and non-stop.
3. To book Genesis Bus, they do no have their own website but go to IwantSeats.com.ph pinoytravel.com.ph. They are third party sites that for a mall fee, will book for you. Just be reminded that you have to do this about 3 days before your departure because they stop online bookings.  You can still book at the terminal all the way to the last minute as long as there are seats left.
4. That’s it! Make sure you print out your boarding pass or screen shot on your phone. 
5. Now – But some people ask, how do you go around Baguio? The answer is using Taxi. Unlike other places in the philippines where you can rent scooters or use tricycles, Baguio is a taxi haven. It is not expensive and it is easy. They have loading spots in all the tourist places. And you can flag them from the street. 
6. Upon arrival at the terminal, there are taxis that could take you to the triage location in the Convention Center or straight to your hotel. Yes, Baguio has regular taxis that use the flag down meters. They are honest and you don’t need to haggle. Taxis are the best means of transportation, they are cheap and everything is just a few minutes away. Unless of Course you get caught up in traffic. 
7. Most hotels will have check in at 2 or 3pm but you can leave your luggage with them if you come early. Just take a stroll downtown or maybe catch a bite to eat in the meantime. 

That’s it! Three simple steps and you are on your way to a happy vacation. Now for recommendation or tips on what places to visit. We have a video of that coming, so watch out for it, subscribe to our channel and press that notification bell.

Hope you enjoy your stay and comment below if you have any additional tips or how your trip went. 

Since you stayed all the way to the end of the video, here are some bonus tips: 

TIPS

1. Use comfortable hiking shoes, you will be doing a lot of walking, also take an extra pair just in case it rains and your shoes get wet. It is difficult to dry shoes in the humid cold. 

Bring a light jacket or sweater. It gets cold at night

Like any other big city, be careful of your belongings. The city center and the public market are notorious for pick pockets. But don’t let that discourage you from coming. It is rare but it is good to be cautious.

If you smoke, it is prohibited to do so in all of the parks. Make sure you are smoking in designated areas provided by hotels and restaurants. There is a fine for being caught. 

If you drive. There is number coding of vehicles. To reduce traffic, vehicles are prohibited to drive on certain days of the week depending on the last digit of your vehicle plate number. 

If you are driving, the best place to park while in the city is the SM Mall parking lot. It only costs around $2 for the whole day. 

If you don’t like big crowds, plan your trips during the week and avoid the weekends. Also the holidays, specially around Christmas and New Year are extremely crowded. There would be lines everywhere for taking a taxi or for restaurants. It is not terrible if you know what to expect. 

 Follow the rules and be a responsible tourist, so you can enjoy your stay.