Baguio City

Baguio City is one of my family’s favorite destinations. This city is 1,500 meters above sea level. Its cool climate apart from its beautiful places makes it very attractive to tourists during summer when the lowland is experiencing terrible heat. But my family prefers to go to Baguio City during  last week of February which is in time for the parade of flowers which is part of the  famous flower festival or Panagbenga.  Baguio City has abundant flowers to boast about so that my I really feel ecstatic every time we go to Baguio to experience the Flower Festival.

I find it not so enjoyable to go to Baguio during summertime because place is definitely filled with tourists on this day so that booking a hotel room would be quite hard. Besides, the prices of commodities turn higher due to high demands.

What do I love about Baguio City? The way to Baguio alone could awe the eyes with the spectacular sight of the mountain sides, greeneries, rivers and even waterfalls. Well, as one reaches the place there are so many tourist attractions to enjoy. I’ve been very familiar with the famous spots in this place but they never fail to delight me each time we visit them.

We always enjoy the picnic ground at the Camp John Hay. There are some tables there where we always bring food to feast on. It is a nice feeling to savor the foods while enjoying the chilly weather as well. This has always been a well manicured place with tall beautiful trees and flowers are blooming all over. We also discovered a wishing well as we further exploited the large ground of this place. The kids really enjoyed throwing coins while wishing. Well, they are kids and would believe just about anything.

Of course the Burnham Park is always one of the very first places we visit. Different flower could be seen here just as well and it is always  cool and enjoyable to sit on every nook of this big park. There is also big lake in its midst where one could enjoy boating for a fee. The place also offers bikes for hire to those who love this sport have areas for tennis and basketball areas as well. Many vendors loiter around this place. They will sell you lots of things, fresh vegetable, fresh fruits, potted plants, sweets and goodies, handicrafts and so many more.

Another fabulous attraction is a famous place where views of the Cordillera Mountains and valleys and the copper and gold mines of Benguet could be seen. This is the Mines View. A wishing well is found in this view deck where people are enticed to toss coins and wish. I wish their wishes really did come true but I doubt. I do enjoy the many stalls here selling native handicrafts and many more. There are also peddlers that will sell you knives, hats, honeybees, native delicacies and many more.  I also enjoy going to the The Mansion House which is the official summer residence of the President of the Philippines. It is so beautiful as well with its grand building and impressive landscaping.
As there are many place to visit, a one day stay won't be enough for you. You have to stay at least three days in this place to have a more enjoyable feel of the entire city.
Don’t you ever miss going to the Strawberry field where you can truly enjoy picking strawberries. There is nothing really exciting than eating fresh strawberries right after picking them.

Baguio is such an enjoyable place indeed. But if you want a more peaceful visit then don’t visit during summer for certainly you will not enjoy the busyness of the place and the large number of  tourists going here and there. For me February is the best time to go to this place. Aside from the 30 days Panagbenga, the Flower Festival celebration, the weather is wonderfully chilly as well unlike during summer when the place turns warmer.