13 nights, 5 stops. This is one of the routes we actually run across Philippines. It is the spine of a trip, not the trip. Tell us how you travel and the plan reshapes it into yours.
Each stop earns its nights. The quiz decides how long you stay in each, and whether a stop drops off entirely because it is not you.
The arrival city and the plain behind it: four airport terminals, the walled Spanish streets of Intramuros, glass towers at Makati and BGC, and two hours north an ash plain leading to a turquoise crater lake on Mount Pinatubo.
A river canyon of turquoise pools and rock slides at Kawasan, a million sardines swirling twenty metres off Panagsama Beach, and 1,776 grass domes rising out of Bohol's green interior.
A river canyon of turquoise pools and rock slides at Kawasan, a million sardines swirling twenty metres off Panagsama Beach, and 1,776 grass domes rising out of Bohol's green interior.
From the Philippines file. Real places, filed by people who went, not scraped from a Top 10 list.
5.5 kilometres down a river canyon in southern Cebu: trekking, swimming, cliff jumps, natural rock slides and passages under stalactites, finishing at the base of Kawasan Falls. The price is regulated, which is unusual here and worth knowing before anyone quotes you higher.
A resident school of over a million sardines sits 20 to 30 metres off Panagsama Beach at about 10 metres depth. Unlike the South African version this is not seasonal: they are there most days, in roughly the same spot, and you can reach them snorkelling from the shore.
1,776 grass covered limestone domes spread across the Bohol towns of Carmen, Batuan and Sagbayan, brown in the dry months and green in the wet. 214 steps up to the observation deck. Most people run it as one loop with the Loboc river cruise, the tarsier sanctuary and Baclayon church.
Nine or more sunken Japanese fleet vessels, bombed by Allied forces on 24 September 1944, sitting in 0 to 45 metres of water and now encrusted with coral. Local PADI shops run 3 fun dives for around PHP 3,500, operators using imported Western staff charge closer to PHP 4,500.
Whole roast pig, seasoned inside with lemongrass and aromatics so it is eaten without sauce, which is the argument Cebu makes against every other version in the country. Zubuchon is the one Anthony Bourdain publicly called the best pig he had eaten. Carcar, an hour south of Cebu City, is the older market version: saltier, plainer, cheaper, sold by the kilo off the carcass.
A sit-down carinderia on El Nido's main strip, the kind of counter-order Filipino cooking overshadowed by the town's Italian and French menus. Pork binagoonan, chicken tinola and crispy pata are the draws, PHP 150 to 300 a plate.
Grills set up on Corong-Corong beach from around 5pm, pick your own squid, fish or prawns and watch it cooked in front of you. Busiest 7 to 9:30pm, stalls close by around 10:30 or 11.
The budget seafood pick locals and repeat visitors point to over the town's pricier Italian and French sit-down spots, fresh catch cooked simply. Casual counter setup, easy to eat alone without ceremony.
Five short questions, about three minutes. The plan starts from this route and a library of Philippines trips we have tested, then reshapes the nights, the food and the days to your pace and budget.
No sponsored stops, no filler days. If a place stays on your plan, it earned the spot.