The Philippines: A Journey to Be Continued
The Philippines, an archipelago of 7,107 islands and islets in the Pacific Ocean, amazes with the beauty of its rainforests, karst cliffs and volcanoes, sandy beaches, rushing waterfalls and rivers. You can discover it from one of its many hotels or by travelling around the country, on a cruise or on a round-the-world private jet journey.
Some islands, such as Palawan, Cebu and Boracay, are well known to travellers; others, like Mindanao, are visited far less often, though they too have flights from Manila. Bridges link neighbouring islands and ferries make getting around easy. The diversity of the Philippine islands offers a virtually endless number of itineraries. Here is one of them: Manila – Banaue – Manila – Palawan – Cebu – Bohol.
Manila
We arrive in Manila, capital of the Philippines, on Luzon, the country’s largest island. After a rest we explore Intramuros on foot or by horse-drawn carriage – the UNESCO-listed walled city from the Spanish colonial era, which lasted more than 300 years. We will see Fort Santiago, the Cathedral, San Agustin Church – the oldest surviving church in the Philippines – and Casa Manila, which recreates aristocratic life under Spanish rule. The walled city preserves memories of pirate raids, Second World War battles and earthquakes. We will visit the Coconut Palace, residence of the Vice President, and the Metropolitan Theater, explore Chinatown and the modern Bonifacio Global City district, and trace the country’s history at the Ayala Museum in the Makati business district.
The next day we travel by car or helicopter to Tagaytay, 60 km from Manila, to see Taal Lake, with the Taal Volcano at its centre and another small lake with a volcanic islet inside its crater. The dormant Taal is one of the smallest volcanoes in the world and can be explored on foot or on horseback, with boat trips on the lake. The town stands on high ground and is cooler than the capital, so many Manila residents come here to escape the heat and enjoy the scenery.
Banaue – Manila
The Banaue rice terraces, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, lie in the north of Luzon. Shaped like an amphitheatre, they were carved into the Philippine Cordilleras more than 2,000 years ago by the Ifugao people and are still farmed by local communities today. Their scale becomes clear from the Batad and Banaue viewpoints. Nearby is Tappiya Waterfall, perfect for a swim after a walk through the terraces, followed by a soak in hot springs and local coffee or rice wine in a village overlooking the terraces.
The landscape changes with the seasons: the terraces are green in April-May and October-November and turn golden at harvest time in June and December, while photographers’ favourite “mirror” season runs from January to March. We return to Manila for the flight to Palawan.
Palawan
Palawan is famous for its beaches and sights, rightly considered the calling card of the Philippines. We land at Puerto Princesa airport in the centre of the island and visit Puerto Princesa National Park, home to the world’s second-longest underground river (8.2 km). It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature. Half of the river is navigable, so you can take a boat trip, explore caves, relax on white beaches, discover mangrove forests and see 165 species of birds. You can stay at Amorita Resort & Spa to add visits to idyllic islets and whale shark watching.
Divers are drawn to the UNESCO-listed Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park south-east of Puerto Princesa. A single dive can reveal 800 species of fish, including megafauna such as hammerheads, tiger sharks and mantas. Vivid coral gardens, tens of thousands of seabirds, shipwrecks, sheer walls and night dives make it one of the best dive sites on the planet.
Next we drive to northern Palawan – El Nido, with its photogenic karst islets in Bacuit Bay, a stunning place for boat trips. We will stay at the new Lagen Island Resort El Nido or Pangulasian Resort El Nido, both luxurious beach boutique hotels.
Cebu
A direct flight from El Nido takes us to Mactan Island, linked by bridge to Cebu. Cebu City is the oldest city in the country, seven years older than Manila. Its sights include the Yap-San Diego Ancestral House with its collection of antiques and period furniture, the 16th-century Basilica of the Santo Niño, the cross planted on the shore by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 and Fort San Pedro, built in 1565.
In the south of the island, in Sibonga, stands the Simala Shrine, or Monastery of the Holy Eucharist – a stunning castle-like Catholic church. Founded in 1997, it combines Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance elements, which is unusual in itself for the tropics. The church is beautiful inside and out, and pilgrims come here to pray before a miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary. The trip can be combined with other treasures of the region: swimming with whale sharks in Oslob, watching the sardine run underwater at Moalboal and bathing in the natural pools of the Inambakan and Kawasan waterfalls.
Bohol
A ferry takes us to Bohol, famous for its Chocolate Hills, named after the colour of the grass in the dry season (November to May). There are around 1,500 hills, all perfectly conical though ranging in height from 30 to 120 metres. They are made of karst limestone, and scientists still debate how this natural wonder came to be.
The Chocolate Hills are a national geological monument, and all of Bohol is a UNESCO Global Geopark – a status awarded to unique landscapes of the planet. Some hills, such as Carmen and Sagbayan, have viewing platforms with 360-degree panoramas, and there is a zipline and other activities. The area is home to the tiny Philippine tarsier, up to 10 cm long. In the rainy season the hills are covered in lush green grass and the landscape is transformed, but no less beautiful.
To be continued: the treasures of Mindanao
The Mindanao island group in the south of the archipelago will surprise even those who have seen much of the Philippines. Here is Siargao, the “surfing capital”, with the famous Cloud 9 break, which hosts an international surfing championship. Close by is the luxurious Kawayan Villa, with surfing and wakeboarding lessons and an 18-hole golf course, and nearby is the Michelin Key-awarded Nay Palad Hideaway. Just over an hour by plane from Siargao lies Sohoton National Park, where you can kayak through watery labyrinths among green limestone cliffs and caves.
Mindanao’s natural wonders include Tinuy-an Falls, whose cascades form a 95-metre-wide curtain, and Asik-Asik Falls, which bursts through dense greenery; the Enchanted River, with water in every shade of turquoise; and the Cagayan River, the widest and longest in the archipelago, popular for rafting. The Dinagat Islands deserve top place among the most beautiful places on Earth for their untouched beaches, crystal-clear lagoons, chains of islets, cave pools, extraordinary sea cliffs and forest lakes.
No tiring transfers
If you simply want to enjoy the Philippines – the sea, nature, cuisine, traditions and the islands’ role in modern luxury – welcome to Amanpulo on the private island of Pamalican. The resort has its own 7 sq km house reef and many dive sites nearby. You can stargaze through a Dobsonian telescope, watch films at an open-air cinema and, on a trip to the Jewelmer pearl farm on Palawan, see the birth of golden South Sea pearls, a national treasure of the Philippines.
Would you like to travel to the Philippines? Our travel consultants will create an itinerary through the archipelago’s exotic islands to suit your dates and interests.
