PH
Philippines
7,000 islands and the warmest welcome
7,000 islands and the warmest welcome
Towering limestone karst islands enclosing hidden lagoons. Island-hopping tours A-D each reveal different lagoons and secret beaches. The Big Lagoon at sunrise, before the boats arrive, is extraordinary.
World-class WWII Japanese wreck diving combined with Kayangan Lake, one of Asia’s clearest freshwater lakes, accessible by a 15-minute walk from the boat landing.
1,268 conical hills of the same height turn chocolate-brown in summer. Bohol also has the Philippine tarsier, the world’s smallest primate, in sanctuaries near Loboc.
The surfing capital of the Philippines with Cloud 9, a world-class right-hand reef break. The lagoons, rock pools and island-hopping make it one of the country’s most well-rounded island destinations.
The world’s most perfect volcanic cone (2,462m), best photographed from the Cagsawa Ruins with the cone rising above the buried church.
2,000-year-old UNESCO rice terraces carved into amphitheatre-like hillsides. Batad is the most beautiful individual terrace, accessible by a 45-minute hike.
A UNESCO-listed Spanish colonial city with cobblestone streets, ancestral houses and calesa horse-drawn carriage transport. The best-preserved Hispanic urban ensemble in Asia.
A 8.2km navigable underground river through cathedral-scale cave chambers. UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.
Chicken or pork slow-cooked in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and bay leaves. The national dish of the Philippines. Every family has a different recipe.
A sour tamarind broth soup with pork, shrimp or fish and vegetables. Intensely sour, clean-tasting and restorative.
Whole pig slow-roasted over charcoal for several hours. The centrepiece of every Filipino celebration. Cebu lechon needs no sauce.
Shaved ice with condensed milk, ube ice cream, sweetened beans, coconut strips, plantain and leche flan. Mix everything before eating.
Oxtail in a rich peanut sauce served with fermented shrimp paste. One of the finest traditional Filipino dishes.
Stir-fried noodles with vegetables and meat. Noodles symbolise long life and appear at every birthday.
The Philippines’ national lager since 1890. Cold, light and inseparable from any beach sunset.
A wild Liberica coffee from Batangas with a strong, woody flavour unlike Arabica. Roasted and ground daily at source.
Manila Ninoy Aquino (MNL) is the main hub; Mactan-Cebu (CEB) has direct international flights. Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and AirAsia Philippines serve domestic routes extensively. For trip planning, see the official Philippines tourism portal.
💡 Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong and Singapore Airlines via Singapore are consistently the best-reviewed routings for Manila from Europe — both offer excellent transit airports.
💡 Hong Kong is the most convenient connection point from East Asia — Cathay Pacific’s Manila service is frequent, fast and well-priced.
💡 Cebu Pacific is the Philippines’ budget carrier — cheap when booked ahead, covers virtually every island. AirSWIFT’s direct Manila–El Nido route is the best option for reaching Palawan without a 5-hour bus.
💡 The El Nido–Coron ferry route through the Calamian Islands (4h) is one of the most beautiful boat journeys in the Philippines — limestone islands, turquoise water, often dolphins.
November to May is the dry season for most of the Philippines — the best time to visit Palawan, Cebu and the Visayas. June to October brings typhoon season, primarily in the north and east. Palawan and parts of Mindanao are sheltered and can be visited year-round.
The Philippines is excellent value — accommodation, food and local transport are all very affordable, with world-class diving and island experiences at budget prices.
Tapsilog — cured beef, garlic fried rice and a fried egg — costs PHP 80–150 and is the most common Filipino breakfast. Available at any carinderia (local canteen) or tapsilugan (tapsilog specialist).
Fresh grilled fish at an El Nido beachfront restaurant costs PHP 400–700 for a full meal with rice and vegetables — the quality of the seafood (snapper, barracuda, squid grilled on coals) is exceptional.
El Nido Resorts (Miniloc Island, Lagen Island) are the finest addresses in Palawan — from PHP 30,000/night, set directly in the limestone karst lagoon with over-water bungalows and exclusive reef access.
Manila for one day, Palawan (El Nido) for three days, the Chocolate Hills of Bohol for one, Cebu diving for two. This plan covers the Philippines’ most celebrated landscapes.
Intramuros — the 16th-century Spanish walled city within Manila, with Fort Santiago (where José Rizal, the Philippine national hero, was imprisoned before his execution) and the baroque San Agustin Church. The street food around Binondo (the world’s oldest Chinatown, 1594) for the evening.
💡 Manila is chaotic and compelling in equal measure. The traffic can be extreme — allow 2–3 hours for airport transfers to the city in rush hour. Grab (the rideshare app) is essential.
1h flight from Manila. The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the longest navigable underground rivers in the world (8.2km) through Cathedral-scale caverns. Mangrove paddle tour in the afternoon.
💡 Book the Underground River permit well in advance at epalawan.com. Day permits sell out and cannot be purchased on arrival during high season.
5h shuttle from Puerto Princesa or 1h flight to El Nido. The El Nido limestone karst — vertical cliffs rising from a turquoise lagoon — is the signature Philippine landscape. Island-hopping Tour A covers Big Lagoon, Small Lagoon and seven Hidden Beach.
💡 El Nido’s island-hopping tours (Tour A, B, C, D) cost PHP 1,200–1,500pp and cover different combinations of lagoons, beaches and snorkelling spots. Tour A is the most popular but Tour C (Shimizu Island, Secret Beach) is excellent.
Kayak independently into the Big Lagoon at 6am before the tour boats arrive — the karst walls reflected in still water, completely silent. Nacpan Beach (45 min from town) for the afternoon — a 4km white sand beach with almost no development.
💡 Rent a motorbike in El Nido (PHP 400–600/day) to reach Nacpan Beach — the road is unpaved but manageable. The beach has no entrance fee and is far less crowded than the island-hopping routes.
1h flight from El Nido (or via Cebu) to Bohol. The Chocolate Hills — 1,268 symmetrical cone-shaped hills turning brown (chocolate) in the dry season — spread across 50km of central Bohol. The tarsier sanctuary for the world’s smallest primates. The Loboc River cruise.
💡 Tarsiers are critically endangered primates the size of a fist, with eyes larger than their brains. The Philippine Tarsier Foundation sanctuary (Corella, near Tagbilaran) is the responsible choice — avoid the roadside vendors.
2h fast ferry from Bohol to Cebu. Malapascua Island (1h north of Cebu by boat) is famous for thresher sharks — the only place in the world where they reliably come to cleaning stations at dawn. Moalboal on the southwest coast has the sardine run: millions of sardines in a tight ball, 3m from shore.
💡 The Malapascua thresher shark dive at Monad Shoal (40m depth, 5am departure) requires a PADI open-water certification minimum. The sharks circle the cleaning station at dawn with extraordinary regularity.
Kawasan Falls in Badian (2h south of Cebu City) — a three-tiered waterfall of turquoise glacial-blue water, accessible by canyoneering. Return to Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB) for international connections or onward flights to Manila.
💡 Kawasan Falls canyoneering (PHP 1,000–1,500pp, 4h) involves swimming through gorges and cliff-jumping into pools. It’s the most popular adventure activity near Cebu and genuinely excellent.
Grab is safer and more transparent than street taxis in Manila, Cebu and Davao.
Typhoon season varies by island. The Visayas and Mindanao are drier than Luzon in the northern typhoon months.
ATMs are absent or unreliable on most islands outside the main cities.
Philippine budget airlines offer very low fares booked 1-3 months ahead.
Being invited to share food or join a celebration is entirely sincere.
Same Type A/B sockets as North America.
Almost every Filipino can communicate in English, including in rural areas.
ATMs are absent or unreliable on most islands outside the main cities. Withdraw in Puerto Princesa, Cebu or Manila before island-hopping.
Dominant ride-hailing and food delivery app across the Philippines — GrabCar, GrabBike and GrabFood.
FreePhilippines’ leading motorcycle taxi app — fastest way to navigate Manila traffic.
FreeBook Palawan island hopping, Chocolate Hills tours, rice terrace visits and Philippine activities.
FreeBook inter-island ferry tickets — essential for island hopping to Cebu, Palawan and the Visayas.
FreePhilippines’ primary communication app — widely used for business, bookings and local services.
FreeExplore Philippines’s top city destinations — from Palawan to Manila, each with its own distinct character.
Philippines sits within easy reach of several other destinations — each with a completely different character.
