Joyrides for CHRISTMAS 2017

Hit the highways for the Holidays

If you’re looking to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city for the holidays or your Balikbayan relative wants a change of scenery – something provincial, with lots of trees and that breath of fresh air – an out of town trip is in order.

You may want to keep things on the ground as air traffic and airports in general will be highly congested this time of year. Besides, you don’t want your plans inadvertently messed up because of flight delays and cancellations.

What you need to do is drive and if you haven’t been out much, let me list down some familiar places that are now more accessible because of better highways leading out of the city.

Baguio

Because of the pine trees and the cool weather, Baguio is still #1 on the list.

In case you’ve been buried under a ton of paperwork, the Pozzorubio exit of TPLEX (Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway) was just opened last Dec. 6, making the drive to the City of Pines shorter than ever.

That cuts an extra 30 minutes to an hour from the trip, which allows you to make it all the way up to your hotel in a little under four hours, all while driving under the speed limit.

While traffic up in the city may be as bad as Metro Manila, there are plenty of destinations to make the whole thing worthwhile.

Check out the Christmas Village at The Manor (totally worth it), the amazing artistry down at the Ifugao woodcarver’s village along Asin Road, the Harrison Road night market, or just the numerous delicious new restos with majestic vistas of Baguio.