Creating a good itinerary for the Philippines can be quite a challenge. The Philippines consists of over 7,000 islands, so you’ll always have to make choices. Furthermore, the most popular islands are often far apart, which means you’ll need to puzzle with flight tickets and dates to create your ultimate itinerary. We’ve visited the Philippines multiple times and have seen many of the islands. Some were fantastic, others were less so. With all these experiences, we’ve put together the perfect itinerary for the Philippines. This is the route we find the most beautiful and recommend to everyone. However, since everyone is different, we’ve also written about other islands that you can add to this itinerary at the bottom of the article. Feel free to mix and match if one of the other islands catches your interest. Wherever you go, a trip through the Philippines is always a unique experience full of surprises!
Transportation for this Itinerary Through the Philippines
In the Philippines, you can use tricycles, tuk-tuks, buses, and traditional jeepneys on the islands. Between the islands that are close to each other, you can travel by ferry, but there’s a very high chance that you’ll also visit islands that are far apart. This means that it’s almost inevitable you’ll need to book some domestic flights. Book domestic flights as early as possible because they are cheapest then. The longer you wait, the more expensive they become, and the price differences are huge in the Philippines. If you book early, you can get flights for $44 to $66, which can cost $121 or more if booked last minute.
How Many Weeks Do You Need for This Itinerary?
If you want to follow our entire itinerary, we recommend you set aside 3 to 4 weeks. If you have more time, you’ll find more great destinations at the very bottom to extend your trip. If you have less time, you can easily skip some islands that don’t appeal to you as much or are logistically convenient to skip. A quick time-saver, for example, is skipping Port Barton and flying directly from El Nido to your next destination. For each destination on this itinerary, we’ve also written a separate article with tips so that you can get a good idea of what there is to do and decide for yourself how many days you want to spend at each place.
Manila
Your trip through the Philippines will almost always start in the capital, Manila. This huge metropolis isn’t particularly beautiful or charming, and we recommend you move on as soon as possible. Of course, it’s nice to rest after the long flight, and Makati is the safest neighborhood to stay in. Lub d Philippines Makati is a great place to stay in Makati. There are nice communal spaces where you can play pool or foosball, and the rooms and dorms are very good. It’s quite popular, so it’s smart to book your stay as soon as you book your flight tickets. For great food in Makati, head to Cosmic Poblacion.
