If you’ve never been to Bukidnon, the first thing to know is where it is: right in the center of Mindanao, a landlocked highland province tucked between Cagayan de Oro to the north and Davao to the south. There’s no commercial airport in the province just yet, so nearly every visitor flies into a nearby city and finishes the journey by land. The good news is that the trip is straightforward, affordable, and genuinely scenic — you’ll feel the air cool and the landscape rise as you climb into highland country.
Here’s everything you need to plan your trip.
Where exactly is Bukidnon?
Bukidnon is one of the largest provinces in Northern Mindanao. Its capital is Malaybalay City, with Valencia City as its other major hub. Because it sits on a high plateau — much of the province is over 600 meters above sea level — Bukidnon enjoys a cool, spring-like climate year-round, which is exactly why people call it the summer capital of Mindanao. It shares borders with several provinces, making it reachable from almost every major city in the region.
Since it’s landlocked, you can’t fly or sail directly into Bukidnon. Instead, you’ll head to your nearest gateway city first.
Option 1: Via Cagayan de Oro (the most popular route)
For most travelers, Laguindingan Airport — which serves Cagayan de Oro — is the easiest gateway. It receives daily flights from Manila, Cebu, and other major hubs, so it’s usually the cheapest and most convenient to reach.
From Laguindingan Airport, take an airport van or taxi into Cagayan de Oro city proper, specifically to the Agora Bus Terminal in Lapasan. This is where your Bukidnon-bound buses wait. Look for the red buses of Rural Transit Mindanao (RTMI) heading toward Malaybalay, Valencia, or Davao — any of these passes through Bukidnon.
The ride from Cagayan de Oro to Malaybalay takes roughly two to two and a half hours along the well-paved Sayre Highway, with buses leaving regularly throughout the day. Fares are very affordable, in the low hundreds of pesos for an air-conditioned bus. If you’re in a group or prefer comfort, vans and hired taxis (the pakyaw, or whole-vehicle, system) are also available at Agora.
This route is the one most first-timers take, and it’s the most reliable.
Option 2: Via Davao City
If you’re coming from the southern side of Mindanao, Davao International Airport is your gateway. From the airport, head to the Ecoland Integrated Bus Terminal, where you’ll find buses bound for Cagayan de Oro that pass through Bukidnon.
The journey from Davao to Malaybalay is longer — about four to five hours by public transport, with air-conditioned bus fares typically around ₱800. It’s a longer haul than the CDO route, but if Davao is already part of your itinerary, it’s a sensible and scenic way in, winding through southern Bukidnon towns like Maramag and Valencia before reaching the capital.
Option 3: By sea, then by land
Travelers from the Visayas and Luzon on a budget sometimes prefer the sea route. Passenger ferries from Cebu, Bohol, Surigao, and Manila dock at the Port of Cagayan de Oro. From there, you simply follow the Cagayan de Oro route above — head to Agora terminal and catch a bus into Bukidnon. It’s slower than flying, but it can be cheaper and is an adventure in itself.
Getting around once you’re there
Bukidnon is well connected internally. Buses and large jeepneys link the major towns and cities, so moving between Malaybalay, Valencia, Maramag, and Manolo Fortich is easy. Within the cities, multicabs and motorelas are the everyday rides, while in smaller, more rural municipalities, the trusty habal-habal (motorcycle-for-hire) will take you just about anywhere — including up to trailheads and farm destinations the bigger vehicles can’t reach.
Coming soon: the new Bukidnon Airport
Here’s the development that will soon make all of this far simpler. A brand-new Bukidnon Airport is nearing completion in Don Carlos, in the southern part of the province — the first modern airport ever built in Bukidnon. In January 2026, the first aircraft successfully landed on its runway, a historic milestone for a province that has gone without an airport since the old Malaybalay airstrip closed in the late 1990s.
The project is targeting completion by late 2026, with commercial turboprop flights expected to begin around December 2026 and larger jet services to follow in early 2027. Once it opens, the airport is expected to serve around 1.5 million residents of Bukidnon and nearby areas — slashing travel time, opening direct air access, and putting the highlands firmly on the country’s tourism map.
For now, the CDO and Davao routes remain your best bets — but keep an eye out, because reaching Bukidnon is about to get a whole lot easier.
A few first-timer tips
- Bring a light jacket. Even when the lowlands are hot, Bukidnon’s highland evenings get genuinely cool.
- Travel by day if it’s your first time, so you can enjoy the mountain scenery and arrive with daylight to spare.
- Confirm fares and schedules at the terminal — these can change, and weekends or fiesta seasons (especially the Kaamulan Festival each March) get busy.
Whichever way you come, the climb into Bukidnon’s cool, green highlands is worth every kilometer.