Our Baguio Trip with a Toddler! (Philippines)

It was our first ever half-week long trip with Luke and one of our best trips to date! It took us almost two years to bring him on a vacation (sorry, babe haha!) but now that we’ve started, there’s no turning back!

Baguio was wonderful and it was the perfect place to visit with our almost two year old! Here’s a rundown of our trip and all the things we did.

Getting There: Road trip!

Mor’s not really fond of long drives, which is why we don’t do a lot of road trips. But this little bunny was surprisingly such a trooper and did not mind the 4-hour drive at all!

He just sat patiently on his car seat, read books, ate cookies, slept, woke up peacefully (a big surprise for us haha) and asked for songs and stories! Definitely more road trips to come for you, Luke!

Where we stayed: Baguio Country Club

We stayed at The Baguio Country Club for three nights. Had to stuff ourselves full because of all the consumables we had to finish. But not complaining. Haha! Luke had his fill of nachos (his favorite!)

Food was good, rooms were spacious and I particularly loved the view every morning. I woke up one morning to a bright pinkish glow and the sound of flutes. Not kidding.

Mor said I must have been hallucinating but I swear by my story!

The next day, I discovered that there was a guy doing Tai Chi and playing ancient chinese instrumental songs. So that’s where the flute sounds came from. Haha!!

Activity #1: Strawberry Picking

Because it was Luke’s first time to go to Baguio (and the last time Mor and I visited was when we were both still kids,) we resolved to do all the tourist-y stuff. Strawberry picking was our first stop. Boy, did he enjoy!

Before this trip, he couldn’t pronounce the word “strawberry” well. After this trip, he kept saying “staw-be-wee!” over and over again! This is why as I’ve mentioned before, I’m a firm believer of world schooling, or simply education by experiencing the world! Strawberries became real and memorable to him after he experienced picking them himself! 

Wrote more about our strawberry picking experience over here. 

Activity #2: Horseback Riding

Up next on our Baguio itinerary for kids (haha), horseback riding at Wright Park!

It was Luke’s first time to ride a pony too. After this experience, he would ask me to draw a horse and “kuya” (our guide who pulled our horse) and he would say “Easy!” which was the name of our pony!

Paid 200 pesos for a 30-minute pony ride. That was the shortest time possible and I thought it was too long (I was scared that Luke might get scared) but it was just right.

Actually, next time, I will go for a longer ride with Luke and I will tell kuya to make the horse gallop a bit faster (although Mor might get mad at me haha!) I looove riding horses. Makes me feel like I’m part of Middle Earth or Narnia. Hehe.

Activity #3: Time for Costumes!

Didn’t really read good reviews about this place online, but I wanted to go just for the costumes and I was so pleasantly surprised!

Only 20 pesos (that’s less than half a dollar! What?!) to rent a costume and there’s no time limit. Of course, we had a LOT of fun! This was my kind of thing!

Will be writing and sharing more photos about our visit to Mines View Park soon!

Activity #4: Travel Photo Session

First family trip plus a beautiful forest for a backdrop and we just had to have a family photo session!

We got WanderZoom, which is a company that hooks you up with a local photographer during your travels, and I highly recommend them. I am so in love with all our photos! Just look at Luke! Hehe. I might get addicted to hiring travel photographers on all our trips. Uh oh.

I cannot wait to share our photos from our photoshoot session with WanderZoom! Coming soon! But if you’re already interested and would like to book them, use my referral link and get an automatic $25 USD off!

Activity #5: Boating at Burnham Park

On our last day, we packed all our things and got ready to drive back home to Manila. But Mor said we should take one last stop. Luke loves cars, planes and boats and Mor said he wanted to take Luke boating.

Luke was already sooo sleepy and almost fell asleep in the car but when we told him we were going down to ride a boat, he was instantly awake! Haha!

It was only 100 pesos for a boat ride (had to haggle and canvas because some boats were charging 200 pesos) and it was a nice bonding experience for the three of us. We sang “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and up to this day, which is 2 weeks after the trip, Luke still says “Row Row! Boat! Baguio!”

After the boat ride, we went around the park. Luke had fun running around the grass and trying out the swings and slides. But at one point, he was no longer talking or reacting and we knew that it was really time for his nap. Haha. So we went home and that concludes our Baguio trip.

Looks like we will be coming back again soon because Luke enjoyed so much! What are your other suggestions for places to visit and things to do in Baguio? Let me know!

(NOTE: THIS POST IS ABOUT OUR EXPERIENCE LAST DECEMBER 2016.)