If you're planning a trip to the Philippines and want to know where to go and how long to stay, you have found your guide. As someone who has visited the Philippines over seven times, I'm pretty confident about recommending the perfect Philippines itinerary!
No need for exhausting and time-consuming travel planning - this blog post contains three different itineraries depending on days spent in the Philippines.
Table of Contents:
Places to Visit in the Philippines
The Philippines is an archipelago with over 7641 islands (and 7107 islands during high tide), and the options seem to be endless. However, some places are a must-see for a reason.
In the map below, you find all the places popular among travelers around the world.
First of all, we have Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. It's the only place that can be skipped.
In the very north of the Philippines, you find the rice terrace of Banaue, a UNESCO World Heritage. It's an exhausting and long journey to get there but you'll be rewarded.
White sand beach plus turquoise water equals Boracay. This is the place for wild parties, relaxing resort holidays, and lots of fun activities.
Dumaguete is the place where you can swim with whale sharks. I bet this experience is incredible but for the sake of the animals, I don't recommend doing that.
The second biggest city after Manila and a must-visit for those interested in the history of the Philippines, architecture, and arts.
Another popular island known for its beautiful landscape is Bohol.
A remote place but famous for its surfing waves. Siargao has a unique vibe and the influencer and YouTube star 'LostLeBlanc' compared Siargao to Bali (before it became famous).
Puerto Princesa is the starting point for every visitor who wants to see the most beautiful tropical landscape in the world, which is...
El Nido! Located in the north of the huge island of Palawan. It's touristy but for a very good reason.
Coron shares the same landscape as El Nido, with hidden lagoons, the clearest water you've ever seen, and many remote places to visit.
The Perfect 10-Day Philippines Itinerary
If your time is limited here in the Philippines because your duties can't survive without you for too long then the 10-day Philippines itinerary is the one for you.
Honestly, it's impossible to visit all the places I mentioned above, but if there are places you can't miss then it's the places on the island of Palawan.
Your starting point will probably be Manila (1) and if you have the energy try to skip the capital city and head directly to the next destination (because we don't want to waste our precious time). After arrival get on the next flight to Puerto Princesa (2) the capital city of the island of Palawan. Rest here, explore the life of the Filipinos, and most importantly visit the Underground River - the longest river under the surface in the world. On the next day, make time for your first island-hopping tour around Honda Bay. I recommend spending two to three nights in Puerto Princesa before heading to your next destination.
El Nido (3) can be reached by a long van ride that takes around 5-6 hours. It's a bumpy road and the driving skills aren't very motion-sickness friendly. In El Nido, I recommend spending around four nights here to explore the different sights, explore the beaches, discover restaurants, and most importantly, relax. Read more here about what you can do in El Nido.
After your stay in El Nido, you can hop on a speed boat that brings you to the next island Coron (4). Although the sea seems calm it might get rough out there. If you get seasick easily you might want to take something against it (or take the plane from El Nido to Coron).
In Coron, I recommend staying for two nights. Similar to El Nido, there's the island hopping tour you can't miss. Would like to know more about the things you can do in Coron? Read more here in this comprehensive guide of mine (cough, self-promotion 🤭).
From Coron take a flight directly back to Manila where you need to catch your flight back home.
The Perfect 14-Day Philippines Itinerary
If you're able to stretch out your vacation to four days longer you have two different options: do the same thing mentioned above but take it slowly, or do it the fast way.
Starting point will probably be Manila (1) where you just land and catch the next flight to Cebu (2) the second biggest city. In Cebu, you can either spend one night to relax after your journey. But, if you're in the travel mood hop on the ferry that transports you to your first tropical heaven: Bohol (3).
Spend around three nights in Bohol to relax, enjoy a coconut on the beach, visit the Chocolate Hills, and even more (🤫 I also wrote a blog post about Bohol, read it here).
From Bohol, you travel back to Cebu or look up for a direct flight from Bohol to Siargao (4). If you're lucky there's one available. Once you've made your way to Siargao, you can dip into your first surfing experience, enjoy the laid-back vibe here, and for more tips read this blog post about Siargao here.
Spend roughly three nights in Siargao before heading to Puerto Princesa. Although Puerto Princesa is a nice city, I recommend to skip it for more time in El Nido and Coron (it's already a tight travel plan). Head directly to El Nido (5) and relax and enjoy the island hopping tour. After you've spent three nights in El Nido, take the ferry (or a flight) to Coron (6) where you spent more days surrounded by palm trees, friendly people, and the most beautiful water you'll ever see.
After two nights head back to Manila. In Manila, you can add another night for relaxation and shopping before heading back home.
The Perfect 30-Day Philippines Itinerary
If the circumstances allows you to take off for a whole month - lucky you and make the best out of it. 30 days give you enough time to explore all the popular places in the Philippines deeply without the hassle of taking one transportation after another.
There are million ways of planning one-month in the Philippines, but I recommend you the one I roughly followed by myself with a few adjustments.
Like before, you probably will arrive in Manila (1). Spend a night in Manila to recharge your battery because traveling to Siargao (2) will be a long journey. Once you've managed to get to Siargao you better stay a few days here - to be precise, I recommend staying around six nights in Siargao before heading to the next destination.
From Siargao take a flight (or two flights) and get to Bohol (3). I recommend staying in Bohol for four nights. From Bohol, you can either add Moalboal (4), Siguijor (4), or Dumaguete (4) to your list. Choose between one of them (🤫 choose Siguijor) and spend two nights here before heading back to Cebu.
In Cebu, get on another plane to Boracay (5). Boracay is a fun island to spend time on with many fun activities (similar to Bohol but more crowdy). Stay on Boracay for around four nights.
After Boracay get on the next plan that brings you to Puerto Princesa (6), spend two nights here before driving the way up to El Nido (7). Since you have more time available, I would spend around five nights in El Nido before getting on that boat (or take another plane to avoid getting sea sick). Once in Coron (8), do the island hopping tour, explore the island for around three nights before heading back to Manila.
Instead of going home, you have the time to explore the north of the Philippines. Take a bus to Baguio (9) which is the city closest to the rice terrace in Banaue. Spend two nights in Baguio and do the day trip to the rice terrace while in Baguio. From there, drive back to the capitol city before catching your flight back home.
You might have an extra day to either hang around in Manila or extend your stay at one of the destinations mentioned.
👉🏽 This itinerary should serves as an overview of what can be done in a month. Feel free to adjust it to your needs.
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