Cordillera (CAR)

About the Cordillera

The Cordillera Administrative Region is the mountain spine of northern Luzon. Baguio, its regional center and the country's summer capital, sits on the southern edge; north of it the roads climb to Sagada's caves and hanging coffins, the Ifugao rice terraces around Banaue — whose Batad and Bangaan clusters are UNESCO World Heritage — and Bontoc and Kabayan in the high interior. It is the coolest part of the Philippines: PAGASA's Baguio station averages a 23.8°C high and a 15.2°C low across the year, with January nights near 13°C.

Getting there

Most trips start on a bus from Manila: 5–7 hours to Baguio, or an overnight bus straight to Banaue (about 9 hours by the operators' listings, often longer) or on to Sagada (about 12 hours). The flying shortcut our guides use is Cauayan airport in Isabela, 3–4 hours by road from Banaue. Baguio's flower festival, Panagbenga, runs through February into early March, and central rooms get harder to find around its parade weekend — our Panagbenga guide has the expected 2027 dates.

When to go

December to April is the season for the mountain roads. Baguio's station logs 3–8 rainy days a month from December to April and 22–25 from July to September, and about nine-tenths of its 3,824 mm a year falls between May and October — so in the wet months, build slack into any trip beyond Baguio. Our month-by-month guide has the national picture.

Climate: PAGASA climatological normals 1991–2020, Baguio station. Travel times come from our destination guides, where each is dated.

City Guides in Cordillera (CAR)

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