North Luzon Loop by Motorcycle: Itinerary and Fuel Cost by Leg
By Godfrey Zubiaga, founder Last verified
The North Luzon Loop is a long ride up the west side of Luzon and back down through the north-east. Riders search it as "NLL," as "north luzon loop itinerary" and, very often, as "magkano north luzon loop." This guide gives you one clear version of the route, a suggested way to split it by overnight stop, and fuel cost for each leg priced by the same engine as our RideCost pages. It does not include lodging or food budgets, because we do not have honest numbers for those.
Every fact about a road, town or season below comes from a source listed at the end of the page, and the last-verified date above shows when it was checked. Where we could not verify something, we left it out. The peso figures in the table come from the RideCost engine, not from us.
What the North Luzon Loop is
There is no single official North Luzon Loop. It is a rider tradition, and the version you meet depends on who wrote it. A 2013 account starts in Laguna and runs clockwise: up through Central Luzon to Rosario in La Union, north along the coast through Vigan and Laoag to Pagudpud, into Cagayan Valley, then across the Cordillera through Kalinga, Bontoc, Sagada and Baguio before heading home. Its author logged 1,770 km on a 125cc underbone. A tour operator's version starts in Angeles, goes through Baguio, Banaue and Sagada, then Vigan and Pagudpud, and returns via Hundred Islands in Pangasinan, at roughly 1,500 to 1,800 km.
Our version is the coastal one:
- Manila to Baguio
- Baguio to Vigan
- Vigan to Pagudpud
- Pagudpud to Tuguegarao
- Tuguegarao back to Manila
It leaves out the Halsema, Banaue and Sagada mountain section to keep the loop shorter. That is our choice of shape, not a rule. If you want the mountain version, plan more days and treat this guide's cost table as the coastal loop only.
Itinerary by overnight stop
We organise the loop by overnight stop, not by ride times. Those depend on traffic, weather, road works and how often you stop, so we do not publish them. The three overnights below are a suggested split. If your bike or your schedule needs another day, add one. Adding a day is not a failure.
Day 1: Manila to Baguio. The way up is Kennon Road or the Marcos Highway. Kennon Road is 33.5 km from Rosario, La Union to Baguio, and it is closed in heavy rain and typhoon conditions because of landslides, so confirm it is open, and open to motorcycles, before you commit. The Lion's Head at the top marks the Baguio boundary and is a rite of passage for Cordillera riders. For distance and cost, see Manila to Baguio on RideCost. Sleep in Baguio.
Day 2: Baguio to Vigan. Come down from the Cordillera to the Ilocos coast and follow the coastal road north to Vigan through La Union and Ilocos Sur. The 2013 route lists Rosario, La Union, Tagudin and Narvacan on the way. Vigan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1999 as the best-preserved example of a Spanish colonial town in Asia. Calle Crisologo is paved with setts and lined with ancestral houses, and horse-drawn kalesas still run in the historic district. Park the bike and walk. Sleep in Vigan.
Day 3: Vigan to Pagudpud, then into Cagayan Valley. Head north past Badoc, Batac, Paoay and Laoag to the north coast at Bangui and Pagudpud. The Patapat Viaduct in Pagudpud is a 1.3 km concrete viaduct on the coast that opened in 1986. After Pagudpud the road carries on into Cagayan Valley, where Tuguegarao, the capital of Cagayan, is the natural overnight stop. Start early, fill up whenever you pass a station and plan to arrive in daylight. Sleep in Tuguegarao.
Day 4: Tuguegarao to Manila. Head back south through Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon.
One route guide warns that in some remote stretches of the loop gas stations can be 100 km apart, and recommends carrying enough cash for several days in the Cordillera, where ATMs are rare. Our coastal version avoids most of the Cordillera, but the advice is worth keeping in your head.
North Luzon Loop cost: fuel by leg
Magkano ba ang North Luzon Loop? The fuel part is below. The table is not typed by hand. Each row is a RideCost estimate for that leg, with road distance and fuel cost from the same engine that powers our route pages.
These figures are priced for a Yamaha NMAX 155 on regular roads, at the pump prices dated in the table caption. The estimate picks its own road for each leg, so your route may differ. The last row is the sum of the legs. Litres appear under a leg only where the estimate provides them.
| Leg | Road km | Fuel (₱) |
|---|---|---|
| Manila to Baguioabout 7.1 LFull cost → | 251 | ₱594 |
| Baguio to Vigan | 196 | ₱426 |
| Vigan to Pagudpud | 157 | ₱340 |
| Pagudpud to Tuguegarao | 233 | ₱538 |
| Tuguegarao to Manila | 443 | ₱1,015 |
| Sum of legs | 1,280 | ₱2,913 |
Lodging, food, tolls and repairs are not in the table, because we do not have honest numbers for them and will not guess. For a straight run rather than the whole loop, see the RideCost pages for Manila to Baguio and Manila to Vigan.
Bike and fuel planning
Your fuel bill changes with the bike you ride and with what pump prices do that week. For current pump prices, see RideCost gas prices; we do not quote a price in this guide, because it would be out of date within days. A heavier or thirstier bike costs more per kilometre than the NMAX 155 used in the table above, so read the table as a floor for bigger bikes rather than a promise for every bike.
Before a loop this long:
- Check tyres, chain, brakes and lights, and carry rain gear.
- Carry your licence, OR and CR, and keep them dry.
- Carry cash. Not every stretch has a working ATM.
- Fill up early and often rather than pushing to the last station.
- Start each day in daylight and plan to end it in daylight.
Speed limits apply on this trip as everywhere. We are not interested in how fast you finish it, and neither should you be. A loop that ends with you at home is the only goal.
Weather and season
The Philippine weather service divides the year into a rainy season from June to November and a dry season from December to May, with December to February the cool period. A route guide says wet-season roads in northern Luzon can be damaged by landslides and flooding and that some routes become impassable. Kennon Road is closed during heavy rain and typhoon conditions. Our own Cordillera notes add that rainy months bring fog and slippery stretches, and that the cooler months can be cold enough to need a proper jacket. If a typhoon is in the forecast, postpone. The loop will still be there.
Where to stamp your Passport on the loop
In Waypoint you earn a region stamp the first time you complete a ride with at least 5 km of GPS track inside that region. On this version of the loop you pass through the Cordillera Administrative Region at Baguio, the Ilocos Region at Vigan and Pagudpud, and Cagayan Valley at Tuguegarao. Depending on your road, the start and end of the ride may also cross Central Luzon, but each stamp counts only if the completed ride has 5 km inside that region. That makes the loop a good way to add several stamps to your Waypoint Passport in one trip. Read more about motorcycle ride destinations in the Cordillera.
Each region on the loop is its own stamp, earned once per region.
Stamp your Passport across Luzon →