North Luzon Getting there & around

Getting there & around

Regular flights connect Manila with Basco (Batanes), Tuguegarao, Laoag and Baguio. Air-con buses link the major North Luzon cities, while ordinary buses and jeepneys ply the local routes.

Driving is a great way see Luzon's more remote regions, such as the Zambales coast and the Cordillera. Keep in mind that you'll need a pretty good 4WD for the latter.

Elsewhere in the region the provincial roads are packed with myriad obstacles: kalabaw (water buffalo), naked toddlers, homemade tractors, fornicating dogs, drying rice, funeral processions, maniacal bus drivers, rogue poker games, jeepneys belching blinding black smoke, litters of swine, gnawed fish bones hurtling out of car windows, burning brush, all manner of fowl, and constantly emptying schoolyards.

You can rent cars in Manila.