It was 10 years ago when I visited Baguio City with my family. This time, we have additional members to join us at the City of Pines. We have a 1 year old and a 4 year old whom are very much adorable and quirky. Plus, my mother aged thus visiting attractions in Baguio City specially the steep or curvy places are not recommendable.

Thank God with our rented car and drivers, going to Baguio City was a breeze! We started our trips every 9:00 AM and always finished before 6:00 PM. As my mother easily gets cold, we need to return home before dark. But knowing Baguio City or the Northern Luzon in general, it is really cold from morning to evening, and from December to February.

Due to Covid-19 pandemic, we also opted to visit less attractions sites to minimize the people we meet. And since there were attractions that we visited before, we can then skip the old ones or just revisit it and spend more time to the new ones.

Where are the places we visited?

The Mansion

Admission – FREE

Home of the President when he is staying at the North. People normally take pictures at the gates here to have a glimpse of the President’s residence. Whomever you voted on the last election, The Mansion is Filipino tax-payer site so nothing to be guilty or worry if you want to view it. 😀

Wright Park

Admission – FREE

Across of The Mansion, Wright Park is available to visit for free. Take note to follow the signages when you enter as security guards are strict here. They will shout at you on the microphone if you are violating some rules. However, Wright Park is a nice place to stay with your family for a stroll in the morning.

There are some stores inside the park too and attractions like taking photographs with ponies or St. Bernard’s dogs. You just need to pay Php 100 for taking some of your photos.

Botanical Garden

Admission – Php 15 for adults and Php 10 for kids

I can’t remember if we visited the Botanical Garden before but with the numerous attractions inside, we opted to stroll here for about an hour after our lunch. From the name Botanical Garden, there are multiple gardens inside from orchids to Japanese plants and others.

There were Chinese calendar years figures too that my nephew enjoyed and some other statues to take photos with. Botanical Garden for me is a place for family and good thing there are many tables and chairs where my mother can relaxed while waiting for us.

The Bell Church

Admission – Php 20

One of the Taoist temples in the Philippines, The Bell Church is at the boarder of Baguio City and La Trinidad. From the street to The Bell Church where we dropped off by our driver, we walked for about 5 minutes to enter it. There were too many stairs at this site so our family opted just to stay at the front of the main temple.

Stobosa Rainbow Houses

Admission – FREE

About 5 minutes walk from the La Trinidad welcome signage, you will see these colorful houses. It is famous because of the Instagrammble view of it. There were too many people taking photos at the bridge going to Stobosa Houses so what I did is just to take photos at the side where there are some vendors.

This is one of the places that you might not enjoy when you see it actually but on your photos, it will reflect vivid colors making it enjoyable to visit.

La Trinidad Strawberry Farm

Admission – FREE

When we were here 10 years ago during Panagbenga Festival, there were no strawberries to pick. Now, there were too many making this place too crowded! At first, we want to pick strawberries for ourselves but when we saw the numbers of people at the farm, we stepped down and just enjoy the souvenir shops. However, it is a must to buy their strawberries here!

Tam-Awan Village

Admission – Php 50 with discount for seniors and kids

We actually do not get inside this village. HAHA. We just take photos outside. From the outside, we saw steep stairs making us not to get inside. So, we just ate at the Farmer’s Daughter Restaurant near the village. What will be better than climbing or eating? 😛

Lourdes Grotto

Admission – FREE

We do not actually want to see the grotto as we visited it before and my mother and the kids may find it difficult to be with at the stairs, but Mama Mary has her way! He let our driver asked a security guard if we can go up with our car and as we senior and kids, the guard said yes! Making our way to the grotto very much easier!

There were parking lots just about 20 stairs up to the grotto. This time, a church has been built and a small area to lit your candles is available.

Thank you to Mama Mary for letting us visit again plus with a decent family picture! 🙂 ❤

Mirador Eco Park

Admission – Php 200 with discount for seniors and kids

Just beneath the grotto is the entrance of the Mirador Eco Park. This is a new attraction at Baguio City with letting you see the entire city from above. It was my sister’s wish to be here but as the same as others, the place is crowded. There was a long queue of people who wants to take photos of the famous Japanese pagoda.

We cannot afford to complete the queue as it gets darker, the wind is blowing colder and my brother-in-law needs to sleep too. Thus, we see the other attractions inside the Mirador Eco Park.

It may be still unfinished as it will be better o have rails to use for seniors and kids specially at the steep areas. However, this place is one of the few attractions that we may visit again next time.

Our Lady of the Atonement Cathedral or Baguio Cathedral

Admission – FREE

It was Christmas Day when we attended the mass thus crowds flock in. The Cathedral is beautiful as ever making it more suited for Christmas. There are several stores beside at the Cathedral too for souvenirs and other merchandises.

Lion’s Head

Admission – FREE

This 40 feet sculpture was curved out at the 1970s making it one of the icon of Baguio City. It is restored over time and painted now vividly. The Lion’s Head is more than 30 minutes drive from City to Kennon Road. It was our first time to see it too and my nephew was too excited to see the lion! He just don’t know that is not a real lion! 😀

We stayed here for about 15 minutes. Be mindful that this place may be crowded and the parking may be unavailable for some minutes due to the flock of people. Heavy traffic is anticipated too.

Burnham Park

Admission – FREE

What is Baguio without Burnham Park? Just like the Luneta Park in Manila, Burnham Park was crowded on Christmas Day making it a free place to enjoy with families and friends.

You can lay a picnic cloth or just sit at the park’s grasses to relax. Attractions like renting bikes or swan boats are available too! You can also rent Igorot costumes and take some photos. For us, we just enjoy sitting beside the man-made lake.

Camp John Hay

Admission – FREE but there are certain areas you need to pay

Last of all the places we’ve been is another place we visited for the first time. Camp John Hay has lesser crowd than Burnham Park maybe because of its location afar from the city and you need to have your own vehicle to be inside the Camp, making it more inaccessible to public.

However, the trees, colder winds here is a plus if you want to relax more. For us, we stayed here for less than 30 minutes as the kids get grumpy – need to sleep and my mother cannot tolerate the cold temperature at all.

Overall, the new and old attractions we visited in Baguio City are all worth-it! The kids enjoyed it and the us adults too! Making this vacation a memorable one! ❤

But what is Baguio without the food? Read my next blog for the restaurants we enjoyed! ❤