Top 10 Places to Visit in Baguio City

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Top 10 Places to Visit in Baguio City
I lived in Baguio as a Peace Corps volunteer for three years and absolutely enjoyed my time there. I loved the creative vibe, the abundance of live music, and the unique restaurants and cafes that produced delicious local dishes.

While the city has plenty to see and do, these are the top places to visit in Baguio that I recommend to get a flavor of the best that Baguio has to offer. Get a bit of fresh air by visiting the beautiful parks and hikes. Experience the creative culture of art and live music, and get ready for some delicious food!

1. Session Road
One of the best places to visit in Baguio is the main street in city central, offering easy access to restaurants and shopping. Session road starts from the Baguio Market at the lower end and goes up towards the giant SM Mall at the top of the hill. You’ll get a taste of the heart of Baguio city life along this street from cafes and street food vendors to karaoke spots and country bars.

2. Baguio Market
A gorgeous open air market with fresh fruit, vegetables, souvenirs and everything you ever wanted to buy. A must see attraction. Check out A Visitor’s Guide to the Baguio City Market for more details.

3. Burnham Park
Located just a few blocks from Session Road, Burnham park is a beautiful place for a stroll through gardens, fountains, and a large lake where you can also rent boats. The strands of lights connected in the trees around the lake makes it look like it’s raining sparkling lights. It’s a very romantic spot at night.

4. Night Market
The Night Market happens every single night from 9pm-midnight. It’s located along Harrison Rd alongside Burnham park. Vendors set up on the road and sell a variety of used clothing, knock off brand name clothing, souvenirs, cheap shoes, and jewelry.

If you’re not into the gear, it’s worth it to go for the street food. You can find tons of interesting treats like fried quail eggs, lumpia, Filipino BBQ, and Balut (partially fertilized duck egg).

5. Minesview Park
One of the best lookouts in the city to see a view of the mountains in the Cordillera region. Surrounding the lookout area are tons of souvenir shops and food vendors. Go in the morning as the weather tends to be a bit more clear than in the afternoon when the fog comes in. Take a short five minute walk down the street to visit Good Shepherd, another well known tourist destination.

6. Good Shepherd
Good Shepherd is a covent that hosts a livelihood training center. They produce quality products that are well known throughout the Philippines as a desired and distinctly Baguio pasalubong (souvenir). My favorite is the Ube Jam.

This is also a unique spot because they sell Civet Coffee at their cafe. What is Civet Coffee, you might be asking? It is a very special coffee that comes from coffee berries that have been consumed by wild Civet cats, popped out on large rocks, collected, cleaned, then roasted to produce Civet coffee. Yes, it is cat poop coffee.

It’s very exotic, expensive, but quite delicious actually. Be courageous and try it just to say you did. At Good Shepherd, a cup of brewed Civet Coffee is only 75php (under $2). Now that’s pretty amazing.

7. Camp John Hay
One of my absolute favorite places to visit in Baguio. If you’re not a city person, you’ll love the park areas at Camp John Hay. It’s like an escape from the crowded streets and stuffy polluted air. Pine trees, cool fresh air and large fields of grass will await you at Camp John Hay. Families love to go there for picnics (there are plenty of picnic tables) or just stroll through the park and visit some of the cute cafes and shops. If you wanna splurge, I highly recommend staying at the The Manor, a beautiful log-cabin themed lodge right in the middle of the park.

Also, if you’re a hiker, there are two easy hikes you can take that start from Camp John Hay. The first is located behind the butterfly gardens and is about a 20 min hike one-way that leads to Panagbenga Park (a short distance from SM Mall and Session Road).

The other hike is located near the horseback riding rental area. It’s called the White Trail and is about an hour or so one-way. You’ll come out at another camp area where you can either turn back to Camp John Hay or you can walk to the main road and catch a jeepney heading back into town.

8. Easter Weaving
If you’re not able to make the five hour trip north to Sagada (home of the famous Sagada Weaving Shop), take an afternoon to visit the Easter Weaving Room instead. Downstairs in the weaving room you can watch in person how the fabric is woven by hand on a large weaving loom.

It’s so amazing how skilled the weavers are, you’ll gain a deeper appreciation for the traditional weavings you see all over the Cordillera mountain region. Upstairs in the store area you can find every type of product imaginable made from different types of woven materials. You’ll find clothes, blankets, linens, purses and even shoes made from the weavings.

9. Kaffee Klatch
My absolute favorite place to visit in Baguio for live music. They feature live acoustic sets each night starting at about 9pm onward. The music is always good and the musicians are super friendly and fun to talk with.

The cafe is a creative cozy space with carved wooden benches, bean bags, couches and other unique seating arrangements. The coffee is stellar and the cozy atmosphere a selling point. Go there.

10. Baguio Brewery
If you’ve spent any time in the Philippines, you will know that San Miguel and Red Horse are the main two types of beer that are sold. The Philippines is not necessarily known for it’s beer as they don’t have much variety to choose from.

But there has been a small craft beer movement in Manila with a few bars that sell craft beer. Then recently in Baguio, this Brewery opened. The beer is brewed locally by the owner – a Filipino who grew up in Canada and then came back to Baguio to start a brewery and share his love of craft beer.

It’s a small tasting room and it gets crowded so get there early. The beer is amazing and the staff were super helpful in describing their beer selection of the month. The menu is always changing but it’s all good. One of my favorites was a coconut stout. The Baguio Brewery is located on the San Marcos Highway on the east side of Baguio.