While I am writing about Philippines, the country whose nature sprinkles unforgettable blues on my mind and heart among the countries I have visited so far, I am almost reliving my entire trip.. It is never easy to navigate and especially to plan. On the one hand, there is untouched nature, it’s amazing! However, on the other hand, as a result of this virginity, we are often hungry due to lack of options.. It’s like Thailand 20 years ago. I will explain all of them in detail in my Philippines Travel Guide article, but I would like to say the result in advance.. I’d go again though!
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My aim in this article is to find out your travel route, you have to plan. I will also describe the stops we visited and our experiences one by one.
How Many Days to Travel to the Philippines
I put my travel book in front of me and wrote and drew pages. It is not easy to travel this country properly.. Not from “Buy a ticket, go, travel, return countries”. Besides, it takes time.. 3-5 days, not even a 1 week route in my opinion.
To travel the Philippines properly; During our 15-day trip, we made 4 domestic flights within the country, apart from the 2 main flights covering inbound and outbound. There were days when we had 3 ferry journeys and hours of car rides. I will tell you the route below, you can remove some points if you wish, reduce the time. But even though it was very tiring, I am very happy that we completed a full 2-week Philippines itinerary.. I’ve seen everything I wanted to see. I even swam with whale sharks!
When to Visit the Philippines?
December, January, February so it’s a great idea to go to the Philippines during our winter months! The idea of escaping the cold weather of winter and having a tropical vacation always sounds perfect to me.. That’s why I always plan such trips for the winter months.. As a matter of fact, we went to the Philippines in December 2019.
While the entire trip was free of monsoons, we saw one of the biggest typhoons in history at our last stop, Boracay! Life has officially stopped on the island! So the weather conditions in this country are purely coincidental.. Even if you go in the right season, such a natural event can happen to you.. Still low risk. If I were you, I would travel to the Philippines until April, and stay away from this route, especially in summer.. But I think you choose winter, wouldn’t it even be a great option to celebrate the new year here?
Philippines Transportation
Philippines itinerary Manila or Cebu. We preferred Manila.. We bought a one-way ticket from Istanbul to Manila with Turkish Airlines using our miles.. The duration of this flight is 12 hours. On our return, we flew with Philippine Airlines from Manila to the city we live in Dubai. If you don’t, you will pay more for luggage at check-in.. So if you are going with a suitcase see the packages when buying the ticket. All of our tickets had luggage allowance.
- Istanbul – Manila: Turkish Airlines – 2 persons 90 thousand miles one way + $210 tax
- Manila – El Nido: Air Swift – $288 for 2
- Coron (Busuanga) – Cebu: Philippine Airlines – $96 for 2
- Cebu – Boracay (Caticlan): Air Asia – 2 persons 106$
- Boracay (Caticlan) – Manila: Air Asia – 2 persons $225
- Manila – Dubai: Philippine Airlines – 2 persons $1084
Philippines Itinerary – Itinerary
Stop 1: Arrival in Manila. 1 night airport hotel accommodation
Manila, the capital of the Philippines , and this trip will not be worth your time; a chaotic city famous for its traffic. So your first job is to head towards the paradise islands of the Philippines such as Palawan . However, as of the arrival time of the planes, you may need to stay at the airport for 1 night as the domestic flights to the islands are the next day.
Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport consists of many terminals.. Moreover, these terminals are not close to each other, there is officially city life between them.. So, the first thing you do at the terminal where your plane lands, you can change a little and get Philippine Peso from the dollars you bring with you.. Then buy from the lines called Globe or Smart to solve your internet problem. Internet is all kinds of bad but at least Smart was a click better.. For tourists, internet packages are sold to meet your needs for how many days you will stay..
Afterwards, exit this terminal and take the shuttles in front of it and go to the terminal where your flight is the next day.. And here is the most important point; Let your hotel stay that night at this terminal, so you can easily take your morning flight.
Two Stop: Flight from Manila to El Nido – 4 nights accommodation
The cheapest way to fly from Manila to Palawan Island is to fly to Puerto Princesa. However, when you make this flight, you need to allocate 1 day there, which makes the long trip even longer, and then you have to drive to El Nido for 5 hours on bad roads.. For this reason, we went directly to El Nido, even though it was higher priced..
We stayed 4 nights in El Nido, I think you should stay no less than 3 nights. In El Nido and Coron, you don’t do anything in the center anyway, the event is completely based on participating in tours that start at 8-9 in the morning.. You return from these tours around 4-5 in the evening and they are all beautiful.. Eating and drinking options are very limited both in the center and in the tours.. The price of that virgin nature is undeveloped life. It’s really hard to eat the same food every day on every tour.. On top of that, we upset our stomach, it was terrible.
Of El Nido’s rounds A, B, C and D, Tour A and Tour C are the most beautiful ones.. We couldn’t do lap C because of the weather, we got B instead. A and B were very enjoyable tours. We were very lucky in terms of tour, we always agreed with our hotel.. These tours are normally 10-12 people, but the hotel was making boutique tours for 6 people.. It was as if we had officially purchased private tours with a huge price difference.
We spent a day at Nacpan Beach beaches.. We agreed with a tuktuk to Nacpan, the road was very tiring.. You are planned and book the minibuses.. Already everywhere is swarming with agencies.. An alternative to a beach day can be in Las Cabanas, but always prioritize tours.
Stop 3: Ferry from El Nido to Coron – 3 nights stay
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There are 2 ferry companies that reach Coron from El Nido. The company named Montenegro is of better quality, but we preferred the other’s watch because it suits us better.. We have purchased the tickets online in advance so we won’t be left out.
The Super Ultimate Tour, Island Escapade Tour and Firefly Tour’
in Coron strong>we bought. I recommend them all. At 1.de you complete all the stops you need to make in Coron, you see the Twin Lagoon and Kayagan Lake.
On the 2nd you go to three distant islands and enjoy the Malcapuya, Banana and Bulog islands.
It is already evening at the 3rd. After eating at the floating restaurant, you sail out to see fireflies and plankton. Unique experiences.
Stop 4: Flight from Coron to Cebu – 3 nights stay
Cebu is a big city like Manila and its air, chaos damn it’s a disgrace. However, our aim is to tour 1 day Bohol and 1 day Oslob from here.. Before the trip, we took a guided tour of Bohol and Bohol from a company called ilink , 1 day round trip by ferry. Make sure your Bohol tour includes the Tarsier monkeys and the Chocolate Hills.
I went to Oslob by car in 1 day and bought a tour to swim with whale sharks and visit Kawasan waterfalls.. Agree directly with this place for both of them, we were very pleased.
The experience of swimming with whale sharks was one of the most unique moments in my life.. You see these fish in their natural habitat and do not harm them.. They are harmless creatures anyway.. they are very curious. Someone came and touched my leg!
Stop 5: Flight from Cebu to Boracay – 3 nights’ stay
Now you can relax and enjoy the beach idly by. You are on one of the most famous islands in the world.. It’s vacation time, no plans. My advice is to stay at least 3 days.. The area known as Station 2 is the center of all nightlife and parties.. Knowing this, make your hotel choice.
Let me remind you that Boracay is also a great center for people who do Kite
Stop 6: Boracay to Manila return – 1 night stay
If you can arrange the flight ticket to match your return ticket, there is no need for it.. However, we could not catch it as it was on arrival and we stayed at the airport hotel for 1 night.
Stop 7: Arrival at home!
Where to Stay in the Philippines? Philippines Hotel Recommendations
I am forwarding you the hotels we have stayed at below.. Hotel standards in the Philippines are quite low. For this reason, even if you choose a good hotel, you cannot get the performance you expect.. Also, due to the humidity, the air conditioner in the room can be a problem.. That’s why I advise you not to get into the cheap meat stew thing.. Airport hotels are not very good anyway, but I can say that we were satisfied with our choices for others.
- Manila 1 night Achievers Airport Hotel 57$ (air conditioning was very bad )
- El Nido 4 nights Cadlao Resort and Restaurant 730$ (one click away, but transportation is not a problem, we would stay again)
- Coron 3 nights Hop Hostel $266 (don’t miss it if you find a spot)
- Cebu 3 nights Hamersons Hotel 137$ (price performance is very good)
- Boracay 3 nights Henann Garden Resort 630$ (we stayed at station 2, I think you should choose this region as the location, the hotel was also good)
- Manila 1 night Savoy Hotel Manila 96$ (better than the first airport hotel, but still it doesn’t do it justice)
Prepare for the Philippines – What You Need to Know
- Go to the Philippines You don’t need to have vaccination etc. but during the travel, we were both affected by the bacteria specific to that place and upset our stomach.. Take medicine with you.
- You will need a waterproof bag and sea shoes. You can find both out there, everywhere.
- If you have an underwater camera, you can take great shots, remember.
- Sunscreen, a hat Come with all your sea vacation precautions like:
- Most places accept credit cards but bring USD. If you use a card, don’t forget to convert your statement to TL, USD, EUR so that you don’t suffer any loss due to the exchange rate.
Philippines Travel Cost – Travel Budget
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- Transportation: $2165 (2 main 4 intermediate flights, and ferries)
- Accommodation: 1721$ (15 nights 2 persons)
- Tours: $745
- Everything like Food & Drink and shopping: $430
We spent a total of $5000. I think the price is good, even though we choose quality hotels, buy packages that include luggage on flight tickets, and prefer boutique tours during travel.
Is Philippines Cheap?
When we think of Asia, we always thought that it was very cheap, but let’s face it, such a thing is no longer possible with these dollar rates.. It’s a touristy where, you have to bargain everywhere and most importantly, you have to go with good planning beforehand. Still, it was worth the trip we had.
I will publish our experiences at the stops on our travel route city by city in my Places to Visit in Philippines article that will come later on my blog.. Details coming soon
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All Philippines with you I tried my best to make your trip perfect by sharing my travel experiences! I would be very happy if you leave all your questions and comments about my writing in the comments section below.
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