Yes, the Philippines is one of the easiest countries in Southeast Asia to backpack on your own, largely because English is an official language and spoken almost everywhere tourists go.
Hostel dorms in
El Nido,
Siargao and
Cebu cost around PHP 500 to 900 (US$9 to 16) a night, and island-hopping tours and vans can usually be booked the day before. The harder parts are logistics: carry cash on small islands like
Port Barton or
Malapascua, where ATMs run dry, and expect typhoon-season ferry cancellations between July and October. Leave one spare day before your international flight.
Two weeks is the realistic minimum for the Philippines if you want more than one island group, while one week covers a single region such as Palawan properly.
With 7 days, stick to
Puerto Princesa,
Port Barton and
El Nido. Fourteen days fits Manila plus the Visayas loop of
Moalboal,
Dumaguete,
Bohol and
Malapascua. Three weeks lets you add the northern rice terraces (Manila to Banaue is 9 hours by bus) and finish on
Siargao. Budget roughly half a day for every inter-island hop, since flights, ferries and transfers rarely connect neatly.
Yes, you can travel the whole of the Philippines without a car, using buses, vans, ferries and cheap domestic flights.
Typical legs: Manila to
Banaue is 9 hours by overnight bus for PHP 700 to 900 (US$12 to 16),
Puerto Princesa to
El Nido is 5 to 6 hours by shared van for PHP 500 to 700, and the
Cebu to
Bohol fast ferry takes about 2 hours. Domestic flights between island groups run US$30 to 80 if booked a few weeks ahead. For short distances, tricycles and jeepneys cost PHP 15 to 150, and scooters rent for PHP 350 to 500 a day.
The Philippines’ unmissable places are
El Nido and
Coron in Palawan, the Ifugao rice terraces around
Banaue, and the reefs of the central Visayas.
In Palawan, give El Nido 3 nights for the
Bacuit Bay lagoon tours and Coron 3 nights for Kayangan Lake and the WWII wrecks; the fast ferry between them takes 4 to 5 hours. Up north, 2 nights each in Banaue and
Sagada covers Batad and the caves. In the Visayas,
Moalboal’s sardine run and
Apo Island’s turtles are worth 2 to 3 days. Add
Siargao if you surf, and half a day in
Intramuros.
If time is short in the Philippines, cut Manila down to one day and skip the far north unless you have at least two weeks.
Manila’s traffic can turn a 10-kilometer ride into 90 minutes, so see
Intramuros and the National Museums in a day and move on. The Banaue and Sagada loop needs 5 to 6 days including bus time, which overwhelms a one-week trip.
Tagaytay and the Taal viewpoints are mainly day-tripper country for Manila residents.
Boracay’s White Beach is lovely but crowded and pricier than Palawan or Siargao. On Bohol, the
Chocolate Hills need half a day, not a full one.
Yes, our itinerary-planner does exactly that. Set your trip length in days, give your interests and travel style, optionally give start- and end location and/or some mandatory stops you would like to include and the itinerary planner creates your personalized routes for Philippines in seconds. Try it out!
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