Travel Advisory: How to Get to Baguio City
Baguio City is about 240 kilometers from Manila, the capital of the Philippines. The entry point to the natural and cultural wonders of the Cordillera Region, and situated in the midst of mountains, hills and valleys, it is accessible by land and by air.
This section will give you the most up-to-date ways of getting to the City of Pines, including recent changes in the usual routes folks have been accustomed to passing in the past decades.
Four major highways lead to Baguio City:
• Kennon Road from Rosario, La Union
• Marcos Highway, from Rosario and Agoo, La
Union
• Quirino Highway (more familiarly known as
Naguilian Road, from Bauang, La Union
• Halsema Road (passing through La Trinidad
Valley), connecting Benguet to Mountain
Province (Sagada) and Ifugao (Banaue)
Click here for more information on
Manila to Baguio City: Easy as 1-2-3
NLEX-SCTEX
From Manila take the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX). Enter at Balintawak, pay the the last tollgate (Dau), and exit at the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), which is right past the Dau Exit. Upon entering SCTEX, take the first right at the fork (going straight will lead you to Subic), and drive the length of the SCTEX, exiting at the Tarlac City exit.
+/- 120km total.
MacARTHUR HIGHWAY
Turn left from SCTEX to get to the Tarlac City exit (read about other SCTEX exits here) and proceed for about 10km using a country road, until you reach MacArthur Highway, where you will again turn right. Pass through the remaining four towns of Tarlac province, and the length of Pangasinan province, making no turns, till you reach Rosario, La Union.
+/- 90km
"ZIGZAG"
Turn right at the junction to Kennon Road or go a little further (about 500 meters) & turn right to the new entrance to Marcos Highway.
+/- 30km/40km
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2
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North Luzon Expressway - Total toll fees from Balintawak (pay at Bocaue gate) to SCTEX (pay at Dau gate) is Php186.00 total
Quick Links
Helpful tips for travelers to Baguio City who miss the turn to the SCTEX, who wish to pass through the northern towns of Pampanganga and southern Tarlac province to get to MacArthur Highway, plus detours and alternate routes to avoid Urdaneta City in Pangasinan province.
Here folks, finally, is the answer to that million dollar question, the one that all my friends always ask before coming up! Personally, I prefer to pass Kennon Road because it is shorter and my Nissan Patrol can take the rough patches but. . .
By private transport, the trip to Baguio from Manila usually takes just 4 - 5 hours during the day, and sometimes less at
night. After all, the Summer Capital of the Philippines is just 240-250 km away.
Night travel is much faster because there is less vehicular and pedestrian traffic, and fewer slow-moving public utility
tricycles in the lowland provinces of Central Luzon plying their routes at night. Plus it is easier to overtake when you can
see the headlights of oncoming vehicles.
(But that's just me. I prefer night travel.)
Copyright ©2003 - 2009. All Rights Reserved. GoBaguio! Your Complete Guide to Baguio City, Philippines
Arriving by Public Transportation? Please proceed to the Transportation Guide To & From Baguio City
WARNING!!!
Beware of Baguio Guide Books being sold in the city that copied information from this page without my permission. The travel advisory info they copied has been rendered irrelevant by the new SCTEX route (karma!).
The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway is one of the best things to have happened for travelers to the City of Pines. It has cut travel time considerably because this new highway bypasses the heavily congested towns of nothern Pampanga and southern Tarlac provinces in Central Luzon, Philippines...
