3 Week Philippines Itinerary

Stop 1: Manila (1 night)

Manila is one of the main airports and will often work out the cheapest to fly in to, so a good place to start your Philippines trip. As a loud, bustling busy city, Manila is a stark contrast to the idyllic beaches and peaceful islands you’ll come across later on in your trip and would only recommend spending one night here. However, whilst you’re in the country’s capital there are some good options of stuff to do…

• Go Shopping – Check out some of the massive shopping malls in Manila including Mall of Asia, Greenbelt, Glorietta and SM Premier Aura. These are great places to find high end brand outlets, and explore in the day in Manila. You could also check out Little Venice mall for something a bit different!
• Get a massage – relax after your long journey with a nice day at a spa!
• Visit Intramuros – If you want to embrace yourself in the history of Manila visit the oldest district in Manila, Intramuros, also known as the ‘walled city’.
• Visit Chinatown, Binondo
• Go out for food and check out the nightlife – I stayed around the Makati region of Manila as it’s known for being a hub of restaurants, nightlife and business. Go checkout a rooftop bar for views of the city such as Buddha bar

Where to stay?

Budget Option: LubD Hostel (great views, chilled atmosphere and clean room)

Higher End: Hotel Savoy (near aiport)

Stop 2: Port Barton (2 nights)

From Manila you can hop on a quick 1 hour flight to Puerto Princesca (~£40). This is a domestic airport on the amazing island called Palawan. This island has lots of places to offer but the first stop, and one of my favourite places in Palawan, was Port Barton. Port Barton is a small fishing village, beautiful and untouched and a great place to do some island hopping. When you arrive at the airport there will be cars waiting you can take to Port Barton, about 5 hours, or you can pre book a van.

Spend your first day taking in the beautiful scenery, recovering from the journey and enjoying the beach. On your second day you can book an island hopping tour for the day with lunch included, snorkelling and various stops at beautiful sand islands. Island hopping is famous In El Nido too but I personally really loved the day in Port Barton – although El Nido is also great! You can book an online island hopping tour or ask at where you’re staying! They should provide some snorkel equipment and lunch on the boat and take you round some beautiful spots and islands – look out for turtles!

Where to stay?

Budget Option – Coco Rico Hostel 

Higher End – Beso Hilltop Resort 

Stop 3: El Nido (4 Nights)

Next up on your 3 Weeks Philippines Itinerary – get a 4.5 hour van ride up to El Nido. When most people first hear of the Philippines a lot of people will hear about El Nido will be top of their list to visit for the incredible natural beauty you see here – and it lives up to its expectations. I would definitely put aside a few days to spend exploring this stop. It is more touristy here than other areas but there is lots of stuff to do in El Nido!

• Island Hopping – El Nido was made famous by it’s incredible island hopping experiences and it doesn’t disappoint. There are four tours offered (Tour A, B, C or D), with all operators offering the same trips. Some of my highlights are Big Lagoon (very crowded but worth it for the insane views), snorkelling with turtles and Snake Island. I would pay a bit extra for a private tour so you have the boat to yourself. Also make sure that water is provided as there is no plastic bottles allowed in El Nido!
• Explore the town – El Nido has some cute shops to check out and markets so spend an afternoon wandering and exploring.
• Ziplining between islands – at Nacpan Beach you can take a 750m long zipline across the ocean to another island, if you feel like an adrenaline rush and beautiful views!
• Sunset at Nacpan Beach – after your ziplining be sure to hang around Nacpan beach for some great beach bars, food and sunsets.

Where to stay? 

• Outpost hostel – on the beach, amazing sunset spot, great atmosphere
• Frendz Hostel

Stop 4: Coron (4 nights)

Get the ferry across to Coron – warning if you get sea sick make sure to bring tablets. I took enough to knock me out for the very bumpy journey but my friends and everyone around had a very uncomfortable, sick journey. I took the fast ferry which was more expensive but quicker! The last stop on Palawan does not disappoint…

• Go diving in a shipwreck at Coron bay – Coron is known to have the best wreck diving in SE Asia so a must for any divers whilst you are here.
• Do a castaway island experience – One of my favourite experiences of travelling the Philippines was spending time on a private island with no electricity or running water, eating with a local tribe, sleeping in straw huts and enjoying paradise with no one else around! Red Carabao organise trips out off the island to see the local sights such as twin lagoons and the lakes during the day or you could just enjoy switching off in paradise!
• Barracuda Lake – This lake is a must to swim, and if you’re lucky dive in. The water in barracuda lake is freshwater at the top but salt water underneath creating a halocline and thermocline where the water will actually get warmer the deeper you go. Crystal clear waters mean you can see the amazing limestone cliffs under you of the mountains surrounding the lake. It’s about a 5-10 minute walk and climb up some steps to get to the lake off the boat.
• Twin lagoons – Swim a short distance off your boat in to these lagoons and you’ll see the stunning light blue waters of the lagoons, there is two here and you might want to get on a kayak or paddleboard to explore if you don’t fancy the long swim!
• Check out the nightlife – I loved this little reggae bar (Tribu Kuridas Bar and Tattoos), and there is some proper nightclubs in Coron town too!

Stop 5: Cebu City (2 nights)

Time to move to the next island! You can get a cheap and quick flight from the airport in Coron, Busuanga, to Cebu City. Cebu City is another big city similar to Manila but the island has a lot of stuff to do.

• Chill out at Mad Monkey Cebu City and enjoy the party – Mad Monkey Hostel in Cebu City has a rooftop pool and bar with different party themes every night, this is definitely a party hostel so only if that’s what you’re after!
• If you don’t have as much time you can do day trips to Bohol and Kawasan falls from Cebu City

 Stop 6: Bohol (1 night)

You can get a fast ferry from Cebu City to Bohol, a small island off the south coast of Cebu Island, in about 2 hours. Bohol is a beautiful island with less tourists and lush green scenery. It is definitely worth a trip if you have a couple of days to spare in your plans. There are a number of companies offering Bohol day tours, which are all very similar in terms of where they take you. They will offer to take you to different places and you can choose if you want to spend more time at each to do less, my favourite things we did (all in one day):

• Tarsier Monkey Sanctuary – Bohol has a sanctuary for these tiny monkeys, Tarsiers. They are about the size of your hand, are endangered and very cute. You can walk around the sanctuary and see them in the trees up close, however you have to be careful to be totally silent and no flash photos!
• Ride quad bikes around the Chocolate Hills – The chocolate hills are a beautiful area in Bohol and a must see, and what better way than driving through on ATVs! The ATV tour was more expensive but worth it as we had so much fun.
• Loboc River boat cruise – most of the tour operators include the Loboc River Cruise, the boat trip is really nice and you get food on the boat.
• Where we stayed – Marqis Sunrise Sunset Hotel and Spa. This was one of the best finds of hotels in my trip – really reasonable prices, beautiful huts, a restaurant, infinity pool with a bar and a slide! Would recommend. Is up a big hill but you can get a taxi.

Stop 8: Siargao (3 nights)

Heading to Siargao Island Is definitely out of the way for the rest of the stops as you have to fly far south, however I really loved it here and most of the people we met there had ended up staying for months because it’s such a great island. If you have time in your trip I would make sure you fit in Siargao.

• Cloud 9 surfing and boardwalk – One of the most popular things to do on Siargao is head to Cloud 9 boardwalk for some of the best surfing in the Philippines. Even if you are not a surfer it’s a must see when on the island to go check out the boardwalk.
• Nightlife – I loved the nights out in Siargao – the island has a great system where each night of the week the party is at a different bar, so you end up going to different places and it’s always busy and a great atmosphere as everyone is there!
• Boat trips – there are some great trips organised with stops such as Naked Island (a sand island with beautiful white sand and no vegetation), rock pools, Sugba Lagooon and Sohoton Cove (where you can swim with groups of stingless jellyfish!)
• Yoga – We did some sunset yoga on the roof of the hostel here overlooking the beach, would recommend for a chilled afternoon.

Where to stay?

We stayed in a really nice and chilled hostel called Kawili Resort. The owners were really lovely and the vibes in the hostel were very chilled, with a lot of the residents staying for months there.

Stop 9: Boracay (3 nights)

Head back to Siargao airport to catch a flight to the last stop on your trip. If you are not a partier and prefer quiet, chilled, not as touristy destinations I would recommend staying in Siargao for longer or another destination – possibly Coron to dive for longer. However, if you are like me and love to enjoy a night out this is a great way to end your trip.

We stayed in Mad Monkey Boracay which is the place to be for backpacker nights out on Boracay, it is absolutely wild and even if you don’t stay in their rooms you should still head there for pre-drinks before heading out to one of the great beach clubs on Boracay. Mad monkey also organise a boat party which involves a day with a lot of drinking but also snorkelling, cliff jumping and food. I was wary before going but had an amazing time!

Beaches to check out in Boracay are white beach (although beware it gets very busy) and if you want something a bit more peaceful head out on a trike to the other side of the island to Puka Shell Beach for stunning waters and white sand and less tourists.

Hopefully you enjoyed my 3 Week Philippines Itinerary – let me know what you think in the comments below!