The Philippines, planned around the flights that actually work
Seven thousand six hundred islands, and the difference between a good trip and a frustrating one is almost never which islands you pick. It is how many times you move between them, and whether the person who built the route knew which connections hold up.
Plan my The Philippines trip Read the complete guide
- Best time to go
- Late January to early May
- How many days
- 12 to 16
- Entry
- Visa-free on arrival, 30 days
- Getting around
- Internal flights, then boats
Every Philippines trip we build is written from scratch by a named specialist, with our own office in Manila behind it handling the archipelago and the island logistics.
Why plan the Philippines with us
We are in the country. Our Manila office is ours, staffed by our own people. Island transfers, private bangkas, resort logistics, a ferry the coast guard has just suspended: handled by someone who is here.
We plan the flights properly. Nearly every Philippines itinerary needs several internal flights. They are cheap and they eat days, and a badly built connection through Manila’s unlinked terminals can cost you a whole one. We never put a domestic flight on the same day as your international departure.
A named specialist, not a queue. One person owns your file from the first email to the day you land home. Our groups and business manager Daniella Eitan has built three-week Philippines routes across north Luzon, the Visayas and Palawan.
The first proposal is free and it is not a template. Actual resorts, actual flight numbers, and the reasoning behind the order of the days, including the days we deliberately left empty.
A WhatsApp group while you travel. Your consultant in Tel Aviv and our representatives in the Philippines, open from take-off until you are home. Our rating is 4.9 from 93 reviews.
The short answers
| Question | Short answer | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Best time to go | Late January to early May | February to April is the reliable core. Late December is a domestic peak at peak prices. |
| How many days | 12 to 16 | Under 10 means one island plus a city. Over 18 opens north Luzon and the deep south. |
| Entry | Visa-free on arrival, 30 days | Most Western passports. Extendable in-country, which we arrange. |
| Getting around | Internal flights, then boats | Two islands plus Manila beats four islands plus Manila. |
| Typhoon risk | July to October, mostly eastern | Palawan sits on the sheltered western edge. Bicol, Samar and Leyte do not. |
| Typical budget | $130 to $650 per person per day | Land only. Internal flights add roughly $250 to $500 a person over two weeks. |
The full breakdown is in our complete guide →
Eight ways to travel the Philippines
Every route below is a real itinerary we build, published day by day. Start from one and we will rebuild it around you.
- Classic Philippines in 14 days: Manila, El Nido, Cebu and Bohol
- The Philippines with children, 12 days: two islands, short boat days, calm water
- Diving the Philippines, 14 days: Coron wrecks, Malapascua threshers, Apo Island
- Romantic Philippines, 11 days: two islands, three hotel changes, private boats
- Culture and food, 13 days: Banaue, Sagada, Vigan and a Binondo food walk
- Boutique islands, 12 days: small design resorts and one private island
- Palawan and Siargao, 14 days: the island-focused fourteen days
- Deep Philippines, 21 days: north Luzon, the Visayas and Palawan
The Philippines in the magazine
How much does two weeks in the Philippines really cost? · El Nido or Coron: how to choose · Travelling in typhoon season, honestly · Is Boracay still worth it? · The Banaue rice terraces: getting there · Filipino food, where to start · Which reefs justify the journey · Manila in one very good day
The Philippines itineraries
Every one of these is a starting point, not a fixed departure. We change the length, the pace and the hotels to fit you.
Classic Philippines in 14 days: Manila, El Nido, Cebu and Bohol
The route we build more than any other, and the one we have spent the most time getting the flights right on. Two islands…
The Philippines with children: 12 days, two flights, calm water
The Philippines is one of the easiest countries in Asia to travel with children and one of the easiest to ruin. Warm shallow water,…
Diving the Philippines in 14 days: wrecks, threshers and black sand
Three sites that are worth flying across the world for, and nothing padded in between. The Japanese fleet sunk in Coron Bay in September…
Romantic Philippines in 11 days: Bacuit Bay and Coron, slowly
Two islands, both in Palawan, and only two real unpackings in eleven days. Five nights on Bacuit Bay and three in Coron, with a…
Culture and food in 13 days: Pampanga, the rice terraces and Vigan
There are no islands in this itinerary. That is the point. Almost every foreign visitor to the Philippines flies over Luzon on the way…
Boutique islands in 12 days: Coron, Bohol and a good hotel in Manila
Two small resorts, four nights in each, and a design hotel in Manila in the middle rather than a lost transit day. Everything on…
Palawan and Siargao in 14 days: the island route
The alternative fourteen days for people who did not come here for museums. Three islands, no inland detours, and the two ends of the…
Deep Philippines in 21 days: north Luzon, the Visayas and Palawan
Three weeks is the length at which the Philippines stops being a beach holiday and becomes a country. This route covers the three parts…
What is in every The Philippines trip we build
- A day-by-day document with flight numbers and boat departure times, not just island names
- Internal flights routed to survive a delay, and a buffer night before your flight home
- Private bangkas rather than joined group boats, which is most days
- Resorts chosen for the bay they sit on and the transfer they involve
- The alternative written down for every boat crossing, because sea conditions overrule everything
- Our Manila office on WhatsApp for the whole trip
Planning The Philippines, in detail
What we would skip in the Philippines, and what we book instead
This article costs us bookings and we publish it anyway, because the alternative is selling you a day you will resent.
The Philippines for the first time: what surprises people
Nobody has a bad first trip to the Philippines. What they have, quite often, is a trip in which three or four…
The internal flight problem nobody warns you about in the Philippines
The Philippines is more than seven thousand islands. That number is in every article ever written about the country, and it is…
The Philippines month by month, and which islands work when
The best time to visit the Philippines is February to April, and if that is all you need, you can stop reading.…
The Philippines with children: what works, what does not, and what we change
The Philippines is a genuinely good country to travel in with children, and it is not the easiest one in Asia. Those…
How much does two weeks in the Philippines really cost?
The Philippines is cheaper than people expect to be in and more expensive than they expect to sleep in, and almost every…
Frequently asked questions
How many islands should we try to see?
When is the best time to go?
El Nido or Coron?
Is Boracay worth it?
Do you book the Oslob whale sharks?
What happens if a typhoon or a suspended ferry disrupts our trip?
Tell us roughly what you want. We will tell you honestly what works.
A named consultant in Tel Aviv, our own people on the ground, and a written plan you can argue with before you commit to anything.