Map of Luzon

The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) is named here as Luzon Cordilleras, but can be simply referred to as the "Cordilleras".

A common and simplistic method of dividing mainland Luzon creates three geographical regions, Northern Luzon (Norte), Southern Luzon (Timog) and Metro Manila. This guide, however, follows the boundaries of administrative regions, which themselves have distinctive cultures and geography, with the exception of Batanes, which is its own region due to its distinct culture and relative geographical isolation.

Luzon also includes smaller islands that are grouped with the province they are associated with, but there are small outlying islands and archipelagic provinces considered as smaller regions for Wikivoyage purposes:

• 20.583333121.91 Batanes − Group of islands off the northern coast of Luzon, and home to the Ivatan people. While administratively part of Cagayan Valley, it is treated separately here.

• 13.4121.9666672 Marinduque − Heart-shaped island south of Quezon.
• 12.93121.093 Mindoro – Large and sparsely populated island south of Batangas. Popular as a diving destination.
• 12.55122.2833334 Romblon − Archipelago province with a culture and language closer to those in the Visayas.

MIMAROPA (Mindoro, Marindique, Romblon and Palawan) is an administrative region under Luzon, but its islands are treated as separate regions and destinations in this guide.

In the Philippine administrative system, Palawan is treated as part of Mimaropa and therefore of Luzon. Wikivoyage treats it as a separate fourth region of the country, where the other three are Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Masbate and Catanduanes lie off the coast of Luzon, and are grouped with Bicol geographically. Catanduanes has a Bicolano culture, but Masbate has a culture and language that is significantly closer to the Visayas than to Bicol.

Luzon is served by four international airports.

• Ninoy Aquino International Airport or NAIA (MNL ^IATA) in Metro Manila is the Philippine's premier gateway, the busiest airport in the country and the 44th busiest in the world. It is operating beyond its designed capacity. There are four terminals and transport between them is not convenient.

NAIA is a major hub for Philippine Airlines, the country's flag carrier, and for Cebu Pacific, the country's main low-cost airline. Both of those plus Air Asia have many flights, both international and domestic. Many other international airlines also fly to Manila.

• Clark Airport (CRK ^IATA) is the other main international airport serving central and northern Luzon; it is in the Clark Freeport Zone of Angeles City, about 80 km from Manila. Many budget airlines fly here, partly because landing fees are lower than Manila; there are good connections to many destinations in Southeast Asia and East Asia, plus some to the Middle East.

There are good roads and good bus services between the two airports; see the Clark article for details. Both airports also have good land connections to more-or-less anywhere on Luzon.

The remaining two are minor international airports, which only have domestic flights:

• Bicol International Airport (DRP ^IATA). This airport serves Legazpi City in Bicol Region, southern Luzon.  
• Laoag International Airport (LAO ^IATA). This airport serves Laoag in Ilocos Norte, northern Luzon.  

Luzon is connected to the other island groups and Palawan by RORO ferries. Key ports are Batangas, Manila and Matnog.

Some notable routes:

• Allen (Samar) - Matnog (Sorsogon). Part of Asian Highway 26
• Caticlan (Aklan) - Batangas City (Batangas)
• Caticlan (Aklan) - Bulalacao (Mindoro)
• Caticlan (Aklan) - Roxas (Mindoro). Part of the Western Nautical Highway
• Coron (Palawan) - San Jose (Mindoro)
• Daanbantayan (Cebu) - Cataingan (Masbate). Part of the Central Nautical Highway.
• Roxas City (Antique) - Batangas City (Batangas)

There are also long-distance ferry services to Batangas and Manila from major cities in Visayas and Mindanao such as Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu City, Iloilo City and Zamboanga City.

Luzon and most outlying islands are served by an extensive network of provincial buses, which are a cheap and popular mode of transportation. Services are most frequent for routes between Manila and nearby regions.

The bus network in Manila is centered around Manila, and traveling across Luzon by bus will require a transfer there. There are three central bus terminals, but some companies continue running their own terminals.

Only Metro Manila has a city bus network, which also runs to suburban areas on adjacent provinces; other cities would have jeepneys instead for local transportation due to the roads being too narrow.

There is also a network of luxury express buses around Manila, with some routes to the provinces and major cities.

The Philippine National Railways^{[dead link]} (PNR) fell into disrepair in the 1980s. This has resulted in all intercity and overnight services being suspended.

Luzon has two commuter services remaining. The Inter-Provincial Commuter runs between Calamba, San Pablo and Lucena, while the Bicol Commuter runs between Sipocot, Naga and Legazpi.

Metro Manila has one metro service and two light rail services available. Newer lines are under construction, including the first subway line in the Philippines.

Luzon has tolled expressways, grade-separated highways with at least two lanes per direction separated by a median barrier, and interchanges. There are about 12 expressways in operation as of 2019, with more under construction. A crosstown elevated highway through Manila has opened in 2021; previously, crossing Manila by car north to south (and vice versa) would take hours with the metro's infamous traffic. Tolls are fairly cheap, for example, driving at the North Luzon Expressway from Manila to Angeles (and vice versa) costs about ₱170-191 (roughly US$3.60-3.95). The roads are well signed and marked, but driving habits are sometimes unnerving even with stricter traffic law enforcement, and night driving can still be challenging even with guideposts and reflectors.

All the other major roads in Luzon are national roads, generally two-lane highways, though many have been expanded to four lanes, and some urban sections may have six or more, and may have a median. Lower level roads maintained by the local governments may be better or worse depending on economic conditions; in general, roads around Manila and surrounding provinces are maintained well, while conditions are worse elsewhere in Luzon.

Streets in most cities and town centers date back to Spanish times, so expect narrow streets and blind corners. Houses and buildings tend to encroach the road due to the high population density, especially on residential streets.

Roads in the Cordillera region are curvy and winding to negotiate the rugged terrain, and landslides can cause road closures during rainy season. Driving between Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley also involves mountain driving.

Flying within Luzon is expensive and less common, as long-distance buses have good coverage of most cities and large towns, but they beat buses in speed. In addition, a flight across the region requires transiting at Manila.

Some places within Luzon that have commercial flights from Manila are:

• Basco (BSO ^IATA) - Cebgo, PAL Express, SkyJet Airlines
• Cauayan (CYZ ^IATA) - Cebgo
• Laoag (LAO ^IATA) - PAL Express
• Legazpi (DRP ^IATA) - Cebgo, PAL Express
• Marinduque (MRQ ^IATA) - Cebu Pacific
• Masbate (MBT ^IATA) - Cebgo
• Naga (WNP ^IATA) - PAL Express and Cebgo
• San Jose (SJI ^IATA) - Cebu Pacific
• Tablas Island (TBH ^IATA) - Cebgo
• Tuguegarao (TUG ^IATA) - Cebu Pacific
• Virac (VRC ^IATA) - Cebu Pacific

Most flights to those mentioned airports are on a medium-size jet like the Airbus A320 family, with the remainder on turboprops like the ATR 72 (by Cebgo) or a Bombardier Dash 8 (by PAL Express).

Ferries connect the outlying islands with mainland Luzon, and also between other islands. The ports of Batangas and Manila have boats and ferries connecting with other islands off Luzon and elsewhere in the Philippines.

Roll-on/roll-off (RO/RO) ferries connect mainland Luzon with Mindoro (from Batangas), Masbate (from Pio Duran in Albay and Pilar in Sorsogon), and Catanduanes (from Tabaco).

Around Metro Manila, anywhere along the Pasig River can be reached by a ₱40 ferry ride, and Cavite City can be reached by boat from Pasay.