Ever since we secured positions at a NGO in Tacloban, we have been dreaming about traveling through the Philippines. I’ve made countless Pinterest boards filled with gorgeous photos of the many islands and Jules has been scouting out the best surf spots. For some unknown reason, the Philippines seems to be off the normal tourist trail for backpackers traveling through Southeast Asia. The extra cost to fly over may deter people, but we think it’s a shame that this gorgeous country isn’t on most backpacker’s radar. Hopefully during our 6 months here we can show the world what the Philippines has to offer. Here’s our bucket list for the 10 best places to visit in the Philippines in 2015. We look forward to checking all of these off our list and adding many more!
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Boracay
This small island just a short plane ride from Manila is exactly what you’d imagine in a Filipino island: white beaches, turquoise water and in 2012 it was voted best island in the world by Travel + Leisure magazine. What more could you ask for?!
Chocolate Hills
Unfortunately, the hills aren’t actually made of chocolate, nor do they produce any. They are a beautiful sight however, over a thousand hills that spread over 50 kilometers. They turn from a lush green to dry brown and that’s where they get their name from!
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Ifugao Rice Terraces
These gorgeous layered hills are not only stunning but use an intricate irrigation system which helps produce their organic rice. This site is considered by many Filipinos as the Eighth Wonder of the World.
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El Nido, Palawan
El Nido is a municipality in Palawan and one of the Philippines top tourist destinations. Full of gorgeous islands, bays and caves, there’s enough here to last you your whole trip. Not to mention some jaw dropping resorts for those that have a little extra jingle in their pocket.
Apo Island
How many times have you seen an advertisement for a snorkel trip that is filled with photos of sea turtles and promises that you’ll see the most diverse and abundant sea life? And then you go and see…. some guppies and whole lot of seaweed. Well get excited because Apo Island is such a well preserved marine park that spotting sea turtles is actually very likely!
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5 Best Places to Visit in the PhilippinesÂ
I love Boracay! but I heard some parts of it is getting dirty.. we must not let that happen. Boracay is one of the loveliest place on earth I’ve been and I’d love to come back and see its beauty from the first time I saw it. I haven’t seen the Chocolate Hills, I missed it in my last trip.. but I’ll make sure that I put on top of my list!
Great photos!
Thanks for the heads up on Boracay, that’d be a real shame if it’s happening. It’s very frustrating to see such beautiful places around the world fall away because people overrun them and don’t look after them. We’ll keep you posted!
This is whole post makes my mouth water! My husband is there for work right now and I was supposed to meet him over there but things came up and I couldn’t. Now I am adding it to my list of places we can’t leave Japan before visiting. Thanks for such a perfect post!
Thanks Mindy! If you make it over here in the next 5 months we’ll still be here đŸ™‚ It was hard to choose just 10!
Beautiful photos ! Greetings đŸ™‚
Thanks Kate, glad you enjoyed them đŸ™‚
Great article! I’m heading to Philippines in December so just working through where we want to go when we’re there! El Nido looks pretty phenomenal!
Thanks Courtney! There are so many places to see, i hope you’re booked in some serious time here đŸ™‚
Great article! I’m heading to Philippines in December, so working out where we want to go while we’re there! El Nido looks pretty phenomenal!
Thanks for supporting Philippines đŸ˜„
Thank you for making this article and for featuring our country.The reason why we Filipinos love to share about our beautiful country to the world it is because people who inspires us like you. I hope you will no get tired of posting about Philippines.
Thanks so much RoseAnn. We are loving the Philippines and can’t wait to post more đŸ™‚
I have to admit, The Philippines is somewhere that’s never really been on my radar but everything on this list makes me want to go RIGHT NOW. Especially El Nido, gosh that place looks beautiful!
Thanks Emma, El Nido is definitely on the top of our list. We’ve heard it’s incredible!
Great Blog! I really appreciate that you took time to visit this places and share it with us. What an amazing journey you have here in Philippines. You must also visit the beautiful island of Camiguin, it is also considered one of the most beautiful tourist spot in the Philippines.
Thanks Josh, we had a great time! đŸ™‚
Perfect list, would love to follow every inch of it. I´m a wanderer myself and I could put quite a few check marks to some from these list and still willing t see more and more. So happy travelling to all of us!
Really Thanks alot for this informative Post. Actually I have no any idea about these places but after reading this post I feel wow it’s amazing place. These all are amazing and attractive places to visit in Philippines and really I will go there in these places