#TripTips: How to commute from Manila to Baguio

With travel time ranging from 4-7 hours depending from your point of origin in Manila, you can easily reach the City of Pines by boarding buses like Victory Liner and Genesis Transport from Cubao, Pasay, or Sampaloc. 

Here are some of bus options you can choose from for a perfect weekend getaway.

Option 1 (Bus via Genesis Transport & Victory Liner, Cubao) 

• Ride the LRT 2 or MRT 3 train and choose ‘Araneta Center Cubao’ terminal station as your drop off point. 
• From there, you can choose from any of these modes of travel in heading to the bus terminal stations.  
• Ride a jeepney and state ‘Baliwag’ station as your drop-off point. From there, you can either take a 3-minute walk to Victory Liner station or a 5-minute walk to Genesis Transport station. 
• Take a 10-minute walk to Victory Liner station or a 15-minute walk to Genesis Transport station. 
• If you choose to travel via Genesis Transport, you can ride on their subsidiary bus line named JoyBus. And if you choose to be on Victory Liner’s bus, you can easily proceed right away. 
• Submit your purchased ticket, take a seat, and enjoy the ride on your way to Baguio. 

Option 2 (Bus via Genesis Transport & Victory Liner, Pasay)  

• Ride the LRT 1 train and choose ‘Baclaran’ terminal station as your drop off point. 
• From there, you can either: 
• Take a 13-minute walk and head towards Victory Liner Pasay terminal; or 
• Take a 3-minute walk and head towards Genesis Transport Pasay terminal. You can ride on their subsidiary bus line named JoyBus. 
• Submit your bus ticket to Baguio and you’re good to go. 

Option 3 (Bus via Genesis Transport & Victory Liner, Sampaloc)  

• From Araneta Center Cubao, ride the LRT 2 train and choose ‘Legarda’ as your drop off point. 
• Take a 7-minute walk to Victory Liner Sampaloc station once you have arrived. 
• Give your bus ticket and you’re now headed to Baguio. 

Victory Liner operates a 24-hour transportation schedule with hourly intervals per trip and offers two types of bus accommodations: the regular air conditioned bus and the first class bus. 

The first class bus includes free snacks, spacious legroom, on-board restroom, television, and even electric sockets. Be reminded that their terminal in Sampaloc only offers the regular ones. In order to book your tickets online, you can purchase them on their website. 

Bus fares vary on your chosen type of accommodation as well as the location of the terminal where you will board. This is also applicable to Genesis Transport’s JoyBus.  

Just like Victory Liner, JoyBus also offers two bus accommodations to their passengers. These are the deluxe bus class and the premier executive bus class.   

The premier executive bus really brings comfort with its chairs with spacious legroom, an individual entertainment system, warm blanket, on-board restroom, snacks, a bus attendant, and internet connection that comes on the bus ticket that you pay for. 

And although the price is a bit lower than the premier one, the deluxe bus is still certain to give you a comfortable ride to Baguio with its lazy chair, LCD TV, on-board restroom, a bus attendant, and internet connection that will keep you entertained and relaxed throughout the ride.  

To buy bus tickets online via Genesis Transport’s JoyBus, you can proceed by booking them on this website. 

Option 4 (Point-To-Point bus via Pangasinan Solid North Transit, PITX)  

• Ride the LRT 2 or MRT 3 train and choose ‘Araneta Center Cubao’ terminal station as your drop off point. 
• Take a 13-minute walk to Q. Mart. 
• From there, hop on to one of the EDSA Carousels headed to PITX. 
• Once you reach PITX, proceed to the second (2nd) floor, gate one (1) for Solid North Transit. 
• Walk-ins are entertained but you can also buy your tickets online via www.biyaheroes.com  

Pangasinan Solid North Transit Point-to-Point buses are one of the fastest and most convenient modes of transportation when going to Baguio. There will be no stops as the bus is solely bound from Manila to Baguio and vice versa only. 

Experience comfort and convenience as the P2P buses are equipped with an on-board comfort room, 2X2 seat recliner, entertainment system, internet connection, stackable tray table, air conditioner, CCTV and an overhead bin. They also offer the luxury bus which has lazy boy seats and the other inclusions aforementioned. 

Tme intervals for the deluxe bus scheduled trips are: 6 AM, 8 AM, 10 AM, 2 PM, 4 PM.

Meanwhile, the luxury bus scheduled trips are as follows: 2 AM, 4 AM, 7 AM, 12 NN, 9 PM and 11:30 PM.

How to get around in Baguio

Once you get to Baguio, it's easy enough to get around. Taxis are your most reliable partner when it comes to this trip, but if you want to save some cash, there are other options.

With Baguio’s Hop-on, hop-off (HoHo) buses, you can get to key tourist sites and help decongest traffic by ditching private vehicles.

The HoHo buses are back on track every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. This project started with the goal of easing the traffic around Baguio especially during the times where tourists have joined the crowd in the city.  

With this, private vehicles are minimized while passengers have a hassle-free ride to famous landmarks around Baguio. 

Passes to HoHo buses are only available for private vehicle owners, who have parked their cars at the Baguio Convention & Cultural Center’s designated parking areas, with a sanctioned fee which varies depending on the type of vehicle that you drove. A VISITA QTP or tourist pass will be given to guarantee their access. 

This project is in line with their tagline “Park and Ride” which entails them to the initiative of decongesting traffic jams along with the tourists in Baguio. 

Listed below are the destinations that the HoHo buses will follow for its route: 

• Botanical Garden (First stop) 
• Mansion House (Second stop) 
• Mines View Park (Third stop) 
• Wright Park (Fourth stop)  

The HoHo bus will exit at the Governor Pack Road where tourists may walk and roam around the central business district and even take a break at Burnham Park.