Aside from visiting the beach during summer, there are other options to cool off by visiting mountain provinces like Baguio. Located approximately 250km (4-5hrs drive) away from Manila, Baguio is a popular destination for the locals because of all the activities you could do in the area.
1. Take a Nature Escape.
Baguio is popular for its cool weather, so it’s pleasant to do outdoor activities all throughout the day. Baguio is filled with pine trees, parks, gardens and a lake, so you can do several outdoor activities such as strolling in the parks, picnics under the pine trees, horseback riding at Wright Park or boat-paddling at Burnham Park. Camp John Hay is one of my favorite places to go to get some fresh air.
Camp John Hay is a 246-hectare mountain resort with restaurants, shops, hotels, a golf course and other activities around the area.
2. Visit the Strawberry Farm.
One of the activities I would recommend is picking fresh strawberries and vegetables in the Strawberry Farm. The Strawberry Farm is open for fruit picking from November to May every year. The best part about visiting the Strawberry Farm is all the food and souvenir stalls in the area. You can get strawberry jam, local delicacies, fresh fruits and vegetables, and other locally produced items.
The Strawberry Farm can be located here.
3. Check out a Haunted House.
Baguio has gone through several horrifying natural disasters which make it a place rich with post-disaster stories. For us, we decided to take a peak of the Laperal White House in the evening. It was an eery sight, considering many of the stories were told to us before we even went close to the gate. Several deaths have happened in this house – from the owner to the child, to the household helper who committed suicide for not guarding the owner’s child closely. There are some instances of visitors still seeing a bloodied woman peaking out of the attic window, and some, hearing angry voices and noises from inside the house even when it is completely empty.
For thrill seekers, visit the list of haunted places here.
4. Eat in a Nice Restaurant with a View.
With many of the farms located in or close to Baguio, there’s no doubt that you would be getting good food because most of the ingredients is fresh. People actually come to Baguio for food tripping – there’s a wide variety of food choices in the city. There are also several restaurants which you can visit with a nice scenic view. My friends and I visited Lemon & Olives Greek Taverna located here. The good and decent priced food (especially when compared to Manila) and the view adds to the great meal.
Visit this link for the top 10 most loved restaurants for 2017.
5. Vintage Finds and Factory Outlet Shopping.
Baguio is almost a one-stop-shop with all the shopping you can do. Vintage finds, factory outlets, night markets, silver shopping, food shopping, artisan shopping and many more. There are so many shopping spots which we were not able to visit in the 3 days we were there, so if you do plan to do a shopping spree in Baguio, make sure you stay a little longer and bring a car with a larger trunk.
Any other suggestions on what to do when in Baguio? Feel free to drop it in the comments section.
Follow The Travelling Foxes here:
