Inside
Give Manila a day or two and it explains the rest of the country.
Add Manila to my journeyMost people try to avoid Manila, and we understand why: the traffic is heavy, the heat is real and the city sprawls across sixteen cities and one municipality with no obvious centre. But spend a day or two here with a plan, and Manila becomes the key to everything else. This is where the country's Spanish, Chinese, American and Malay layers sit side by side, often on the same street.
The historic heart is Intramuros, the walled city founded by the Spanish in the 16th century. Across the river is Binondo, established in 1594 and widely considered the oldest Chinatown in the world. To the south, Makati and Bonifacio Global City (BGC) are where the modern city lives, eats and goes out. Our advice: pick one or two neighbourhoods per day, travel outside rush hour, and eat as much as you can.
Manila is where the Philippines makes sense. Walk Intramuros and you understand three centuries of Spanish rule; eat your way through Binondo and you see the Chinese influence on Filipino cooking; spend an evening in Poblacion and you meet the young, confident, creative country that's often missing from beach itineraries.
It also has the country's best museums, most varied restaurants and the most interesting contemporary art scene. None of that is visible from the airport road.
Choose your neighbourhood by what you want to do, and remember that crossing the city can take an hour.
Manila rewards a plan. A good first day starts early in Intramuros, moves to the National Museum through the heat of midday, then crosses to Binondo for a late lunch and an afternoon walk.
Manila is the best place in the country to eat your way through Filipino cooking, from carinderias to modern Filipino kitchens. Many dishes are regional, but they all end up here.
Start with the classics. Adobo, the national dish, is meat braised in vinegar, soy, garlic and bay leaf; every family has its own. Sinigang is a sour, tamarind-based soup. Kare-kare is oxtail in peanut sauce with bagoong (fermented shrimp paste). Sisig, from Pampanga, is chopped pork on a sizzling plate. Finish with halo-halo, a towering mix of shaved ice, milk, sweet beans, jellies and ube.
Binondo is best explored on foot and on an empty stomach. Start at Binondo Church, walk along Ongpin Street and the narrow alleys around it, and stop for dumplings, fried siopao, lumpia and hopia, then finish with tea or coffee in an old shop.
It's crowded, noisy and best done with someone who knows where to go. A guided walk with a local food writer or historian adds a lot.
Poblacion, in Makati, is the city's most fun neighbourhood after dark: small bars, rooftop terraces, craft-beer spots and cheap street food in a few walkable blocks. BGC is more polished, with cocktail bars and late restaurants. Manila also has a serious live-music and cocktail culture; ask us for what's open and good when you travel.
Tagaytay, roughly 2 hours south, overlooks Taal Volcano and its lake and is cooler than the city. Pampanga, around 2 hours north, is the country's food capital. Both make good stops at the start or end of a trip.
Insider notes
14 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium / Signature
Manila • El Nido • Bohol • Siargao
El Nido's lagoons, Bohol's rivers and hills, Siargao's palm-lined roads. The three islands most people mean when they say the Philippines, in an order that actually works.
From €2,300per person ·
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12 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium
Manila • Coron • El Nido • Port Barton • Puerto Princesa
One island, three speeds: Coron's wrecks and lakes, El Nido's lagoons, then Port Barton, where Palawan still feels like a fishing coast. Joined by sea and road, not airports.
From €2,000per person ·
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16 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium
Manila • Dumaguete • Siquijor • Bohol • Siargao
Fewer stops, longer stays. Siquijor's waterfalls and healers, Bohol's countryside, then four unhurried days in Siargao. For people who would rather know one place well than see six.
From €2,400per person ·
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12 days · Boutique / Premium / Signature
Manila • El Nido • Private island • Siargao
El Nido from a private boat, three nights on an island where yours is one of very few villas, then Siargao's easy evenings. Two people, one plan, nobody else's schedule.
From €3,900per person ·
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15 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium
Manila • Siargao • Bohol • El Nido
Six days on Siargao with proper surf coaching, then Bohol to rest your shoulders and El Nido's lagoons to finish. Built for beginners and improvers, with something for non-surfers too.
From €2,300per person ·
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21 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium / Signature
Manila • Banaue • Sagada • El Nido • Bohol • Siargao
Three weeks from Manila's old city to the rice terraces of the Cordillera, then Palawan, Bohol and Siargao. The whole country in one trip, without pretending it is a small one.
From €3,300per person ·
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10 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium / Signature
Manila • El Nido • Siargao
Ten days is enough for two islands done well, not four done badly. El Nido's lagoons and Siargao's palms, with one transfer day in the middle and nothing rushed.
From €1,700per person ·
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6 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium / Signature
Manila • Bohol
Six easy days on one island: Panglao's white beaches, the Chocolate Hills and tarsiers, turtles off Balicasag. A short trip with no rushing and one flight each way.
From €1,100per person ·
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9 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium / Signature
Manila • Puerto Princesa • El Nido
The Underground River near Puerto Princesa, a road trip north through Palawan's countryside, then El Nido's lagoons by boat. Palawan's best in nine days.
From €1,400per person ·
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9 days · Premium / Signature
Manila • El Nido • Private island
Private boats in El Nido, then a private-island resort where yours is one of very few villas. Nine days of Palawan at its most beautiful and its most quiet.
From €4,800per person ·
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13 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium
Manila • Banaue • Sagada • Coron
The mountains of the north first: the rice terraces of Batad and the caves and pine forests of Sagada. Then Coron's lakes, reefs and limestone islands.
From €2,000per person ·
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10 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium
Manila • Banaue • Sagada • Vigan
Manila's old town and food, the rice terraces of Banaue and Batad, Sagada's caves, then the Spanish colonial streets of Vigan. The Philippines' history and mountains in ten days.
From €1,700per person ·
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11 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium
Manila • Bohol • Camiguin
Bohol's hills and beaches, then a ferry to Camiguin, a small volcanic island of waterfalls, hot springs and a white sandbar. Local life and very few tourists.
From €1,600per person ·
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12 days · Boutique / Premium / Signature
Manila • Bohol • El Nido
For travellers who want comfort and fewer early starts: a private car and guide, good hotels that are easy to reach, short boat days and time to rest.
From €3,200per person ·
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13 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium / Signature
Manila • Bohol • Boracay
Two bases, one transfer day and calm beaches: Bohol's tarsiers, turtles and river, then Boracay's shallow water and sunset sailing. Built for children of all ages.
From €1,700per person ·
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15 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium / Signature
Manila • Puerto Princesa • El Nido • Bohol • Boracay
The classic first trip: the Underground River and El Nido in Palawan, Bohol's hills and turtles, then Boracay's White Beach. Four islands in fifteen days, with sensible connections.
From €2,100per person ·
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17 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium
Manila • Donsol • Bohol • El Nido
Swim with whale sharks in the wild at Donsol, under the Mayon volcano, then Bohol's hills and El Nido's lagoons. Seventeen days of wildlife, volcanoes and islands.
From €2,400per person ·
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20 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium
Manila • Coron • Malapascua • Moalboal • Dumaguete
Four of the best dive areas in the country: the wrecks of Coron, thresher sharks at Malapascua, the sardine run at Moalboal, and Apo Island and macro diving at Dauin.
From €2,600per person ·
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19 days · Essential / Boutique / Premium
Manila • Coron • Linapacan • El Nido • Siargao
Five days by traditional boat from Coron to El Nido through the remote Linapacan islands, sleeping in simple island camps. Then El Nido and Siargao to finish.
From €2,600per person ·
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16 days · Premium / Signature
Manila • Batanes • El Nido • Private island • Siargao
The far north of Batanes, private boats in El Nido, a private-island resort and Siargao in private. Sixteen days of places few travellers reach, with everything private.
From €6,800per person ·
View journey →Use this journey as inspiration. Change the islands, hotels, pace, activities or number of nights.
Add Manila to my journeyOne or two nights is usually right: enough for Intramuros, Binondo and a good dinner. Food lovers can happily stay three.
Most areas visitors go to are fine with normal city precautions. Keep valuables out of sight in crowded places and use registered taxis or ride-hailing apps.
Makati is the easiest all-round base. BGC suits families. Stay near the airport for a single night between flights.
Ride-hailing apps and private drivers are easiest. Trains help for some routes but are crowded at rush hour.
Yes, if you fly into Cebu or connect directly to an island. But even one day here adds context to the whole trip.
Inside
The Ifugao rice terraces, carved into the Cordillera mountains by hand over many generations and still farmed by the same communities today.
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A cool mountain town of pine forests, limestone caves and hanging coffins in the Cordillera, where mornings start above a sea of clouds.
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A long, thin island of karst lagoons, empty beaches and slow coastal towns, stretching 450 km between the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea.
Tell us when you're coming. We'll help design the rest.