Calamba is a city in Laguna, Philippines, a major economic, transportation, and tourist hub in the Calabarzon region. It is the birthplace and ancestral location of the Philippines' National Hero, Jose Rizal, and one barangay, Pansol, is home to various hot spring resorts near Mount Makiling.
Calamba City is a regional center for Laguna and the Calabarzon region; it lies 50 km from Manila and houses many businesses, tourist attractions, colleges and universities, transport stations, and industries. The city houses the Philippine national hero Jose Rizal's mansion, and Pansol, a barangay with many private hot spring resorts at the foot of Mount Makiling.
The city's history is traced back to the Spanish era. Calamba is formed from the barrio of Sucol of Tabuko (present-day Cabuyao), and in the 1800s, the Dominican friars divided up their hacienda and gave it to locals, including Jose Rizal's family. Calamba was also a scene of a Japanese war crimes during World War II: 2,000 civilians were murdered and raped by Japanese soldiers in the barrio of Real and St. John the Baptist Parish church was burned down. The city gained cityhood in 2001 after president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed the Calamba City Charter Act (Republic Act 9024) and locals won a majority in the following plebiscite.
The city is divided into 54 barangay, including 7 forming the Poblacion. Calamba's Poblacion is the commercial heart of the city; the congested Calamba Crossing between Maharlika Hwy (Rte 1, also Real Rd up to SLEx) and Rte 66 (or National Hwy locally) lies there. Barangay Pansol, near the boundary of Los Baños is home to many private resorts, both big and small. Canlubang, a large residential barangay, has, the majority of the Nuvali mixed-use development (the remainder lies in Cabuyao and Santa Rosa), Camp Vicente Lim, and two industrial parks.
Calamba is a major stopover for buses headed for South Luzon
In addition to the JAM/Philtranco bus station, there are also other bus companies with stops at Turbina, all not far away from each other. The terminals themselves are only used for southbound buses, and northbound, buses stop at the Flying V gas station across the highway from the JAM bus terminal
If getting down directly at the city proper, around the Crossing:
From Manila, you can take either the traditional T420 or the 414 jeepney routes, both starting from Alabang. Both routes terminate at Alabang, and take the expressway.
There are also jeepneys from Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and San Pablo
Philippine National Railways (dead link: January 2023) has a station in Calamba, on the South main line from Manila. Unfortunately, service are limited to evening and morning commuter trains, and travel by train is not practical until the existing railway line is modernized.
Calamba is a major crossroads; it serves as an important junction for South Luzon Expy (SLEX, E2), Maharlika Hwy (Rte 1), and Rte 66 (officially Calamba-Santa Cruz-Famy Rd, locally National Hwy). SLEx has four exits: Silangan (exit 45), Canlubang/Mayapa (exit 47), Batino (exit 49), and Calamba (exit 50); the section between the Calamba toll plaza and Ayala Greenfield toll plaza has no exit toll gates. Rte 66 runs from Pagsanjan at Calamba, while Maharlika Hwy (Rte 1), the older toll-free highway paralleling SLEx, runs through the centers of the cities in northwestern Laguna (as the National Hwy) and enters Batangas at Santo Tomas. SLEx and Maharlika Hwy from Turbina forms Asian Highway 26.
Jeepneys serve most areas along the Maharlika Hwy and National Hwy, including Crossing and Pansol. There are also jeepneys to Canlubang, but are impractical for travel to Nuvali.
There are plenty of tricycles around downtown and the Crossing area. Trips generally cost per kilometer, but it can cost if you catch one alone (or a "special" trip), for example, on a trip from Crossing to the Rizal mansion.
Anywhere in Pansol can be reached by tricycle, with stands near the subdivision entrances.
Traveling by car within the city proper is inadvisable. Traffic jams are common at the Crossing, Pansol and Real, and parking is hard to find at the poblacion. That said, most malls, the City Hall, and the City Park have free parking. The resorts at Pansol are more conveniently accessed by car.
The city serves as a tourist hub to other destinations in Laguna like:
2nd-order administrative division
Primary administrative division