Philippines travel guide with our best tips • 2024
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Providing advice about the Philippines travel guide, a country composed of over 7,600 islands, can pose a challenging task, even for the experts at Lonely Planet. So think about the difficulty it presents for ordinary individuals like us.
Nevertheless, with the experience of having spent two months exploring the breathtaking beauty of the Philippines, we humbly endeavor to offer you valuable information for your future travels to this enchanting country.
With this Philippines travel guide we want to make your holidays as pleasant as possible. We know in advance that writing these travel tips will take a lot of energy, but we will try to do it the best we can.
If you are looking for accessories for your next trip to the Philippines, look at our incredible online shop.
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As we told you, the Philippines is a country divided into more than 7,000 islands, and in two months we have been able to visit only a small part of this country. For this reason, and knowing from experience that each island is a world in itself (with its expenses, prices, and laws), we will try to give you general travel tips about the Philippines.
During these two months of travelling in the Philippines, we have been in the following locations: Manila, Cebu Island (Cebu City, Moalboal, Oslob), Negros Island (Dumaguete), Siquijor Island (San Juan), Bohol (Panglao and Tagbilaran), Palawan (Puerto Princesa, Port Barton, El Nido, Coron), Mindoro Island (San José and Roxas), and the famous Boracay Island.
If you need specific information about some of these locations, do not hesitate to contact us.
Here is our Philippines travel guide and we hope you find it useful for your next trip to this country.
1. Security – philippines travel guide
Is it safe to travel to the Philippines in 2024?
Prior to our visit to the Philippines, we thoroughly researched this country, delving into topics ranging from the existing security concerns to the diverse challenges one might encounter while traveling there (including the presence of terrorism).
During our trip we didn’t have any problems and if we exclude Manila, we haven’t noticed moments of insecurity when traveling in this country.
We excluded the capital because it was the only place where we had to pay more attention to our belongings. To clarify, we did not experience any theft or encounter. However, the city’s poverty and sense of insecurity were palpable, evident in the overall atmosphere and maybe also in our feelings.
As we explored the Philippines for our travel guide, we couldn’t help but notice the number of people living on the streets, asking for coins or food. What surprised us even more was the tight security in every store, mall, and bank. They had security checking everyone’s backpacks before entering more or less to any place and when going to the metro you had to pass your backpack through a scanner which was really strange.
Another thing to keep in mind on your next trip to the Philippines
Speaking of security, there’s something you need to watch out for during your time in the Philippines, and that’s scams.
Believe me, we’ve had our fair share of experiences where people tried to charge us more than they should, all because they saw us as tourists. We’ve had people try to ask us for double the price just to stow our backpacks on the ferry (can you believe it?), and we’ve even had some attempt to charge us twice for a mini-van ride after only reaching the halfway point. It was crazy!
Here’s our advice for dealing with these situations: always do your homework beforehand. Take the time to research and find out the prices of services in the places you plan to visit. You can ask the locals or simply do a quick online search. If you can’t find any information or the prices seem ridiculously high, bargain, negotiate, and if they won’t budge, don’t be afraid to look for alternatives. Trust us, there’s always another option out there.
Overall Filipinos don’t like to argue, and if they see that you’re upset and you don’t want to pay, they’ll leave you alone. Using common sense and some general precautions will help you avoid trouble.
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2. Visa – philippines travel guide
How much does a Philippine visa cost?
Almost every person from most countries in the world has the possibility to visit the Philippines for max. 30 days for free.
This means that for stays equal to or less than 30 days you will not have to request any visa beforehand, and you will get a stamp upon arrival in the country.
Of course in this Philippines travel guide we give you the most common tips and tricks, however when it comes to visas, it’s always better to check at the local website just in case the visa rule is different for you.
Remember that to obtain this stamp you must have a passport valid for at least 6 months, and that often at customs control they ask you for a ticket to leave the country.
If you want to stay in the country for more than a month, you have the possibility of renewing the visa for 29 days more (tot. 59 days). This has a cost of 2000 pesos, + or – 35$ (May 2023) with extra payment of 1000 pesos (18$) for the “express” stamp service.
You can avoid paying these 1000 pesos only if you are willing to wait 3 business days in any location where there is an immigration office. You can also request the visa extension at the airports upon arrival, in this specific case you will be obliged to pay the “express” service of 1000 pesos.
What do I do if I want to stay longer in the Philippines?
If you fall in love with this country and decide to stay, you will not have many problems, since you can stay in the Philippines for 3 years by extending the visa over and over again.
In these cases you will not have to leave the country, just go to an immigration office and continue paying the extension every two or three months (or hire a service that does it for you).
Below we leave you a link with all the addresses of the immigration offices present in the country (link here).
3. Vaccines – philippines travel guide
This is an argument that may surely interest you, and at this point you may be wondering:
What vaccinations are necessary to go to the Philippines?
We want to start this paragraph by saying that we are not specialists and the information is based on our experience, and it is always better to obtain information from specialist doctors in your country of origin.
However, at the time of writing this Philippines travel guide, no vaccinations are required to enter or travel within the country. The health authorities recommend several vaccinations, since in the Philippines there are many exotic animals and wild nature.
Recommended vaccinations: typhus, rabies, diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis A and B, typhoid fever and Japanese encephalitis.
The yellow fever vaccine is mandatory only for people who live in or have been in a high-risk country in the previous 12 months.
We recommend you take malaria pills on your trip to the Philippines, especially if you decide to visit rural areas of the country.
We also recommend that you also take a good mosquito repellent, as it can get you out of trouble.
Finally, we want to tell you again to check if anything has changed on the official government websites before embarking on a trip, preferably the official health websites of the Philippines or your home country.
4. Coins and Exchange – Malay – philippines travel guide
The official currency in all the islands of the Philippines is the Philippine peso, its acronym is (PHP), and its value when we write this Philippines travel guide is equal to:
1 Euro = 60.22 PHP or 1 dollar = 55.65 PHP.
To know the updated exchange rate during your trip to the Philippines, we advise you to use this platform Xe.com.
Although we can confirm that it is getting better with time, and that every day you will find more and more ATMs in all the Philippine islands, depending on where you have to go you can run out of cash at your arrival.
Our recommendations for your next trip to Philippines:
- Check online if there are ATMs or banks in your next destination, you can use Google Maps for this search, which turns out to be quite up-to-date.
- As you have high commissions to withdraw money with your foreign card (250 pesos per operation), we advise you to get the most you can in each operation.
- Keep in mind that the maximum amount offered by local banks per transfer is only 10,000 pesos.
- If you want to save something on commissions, we recommend that you use international banks to withdraw money. This is because international banks, such as HBSC, allow you to withdraw more than 10,000 pesos in a single operation (HBSC, for example, 40,000 PHP).
- Remember that international banks only have branches in big cities.
- BPI banking also allows (up till now) to withdraw 20,000 PHP in a single operation, however, there is a small problem. Not all of the bank’s ATMs are authorized to withdraw money with international cards (for example, they do not accept Wise virtual banking cards, however they do accept the Revolut cards).
Other useful tips…
- Withdraw money in advance if your vacation is close to a national holiday (Christmas, Easter, etc.), especially if you are visiting more remote areas of the country. Simply, because the ATMs are not refilled frequently and are usually empty for many days, leaving many people without cash.
- Before using your card on your trip to the Philippines, remember to notify your bank that you will be visiting one or more foreign countries. This will prevent you from having your card blocked, leaving you with one less option to obtain money.
- In addition to the “already expensive” Philippine bank fees, you should be aware that your bank may have fees for withdrawing money abroad. Review the contract you have with your bank before using the card.
- It is possible that your bank charges you extra commissions to withdraw money during the weekends (ours does) so it is better to also review this point with your bank.
- It is advisable to withdraw money directly from ATMs present in banks, better when they are open, so that you can solve problems without having to call the bank’s customer service.
To minimize bank commissions on your trips, we advise you to get virtual banking cards.
We use Wise banking on our trips, and we are very happy with this company. It turns out to be virtual banking with an incredibly good exchange rate and low fees, perfect for all the countries we’ve had the pleasure of visiting so far, including the Philippines.
As we have already said before, we also use the cards of the Revolut company. We complement the two, and we can affirm that so far we have traveled in more than 50 countries without problems.
If your trip to the Philippines is short and you are thinking about the option of exchanging money and not using the cards, you can always choose to exchange money from your currency for the Philippine peso.
Throughout the Philippine territory, you can find authorized exchange houses or services that offer you this service in exchange for a commission.
Here are a couple of tips if you decide to exchange money from your currency to the Philippine peso:
- Do not change all your money in the exchange houses present in airports or customs, simply because the commissions are usually much higher.
- If you need money to be able to move from the airport to the center, change only a small part at the airport, the rest is better to change in a location where you find favorable commissions.
- Absolutely avoid exchanging money in your country of origin, the commissions could be very high.
- If you can’t find an exchange house or banks in your area, check if there are stores nearby with the name Palawan Pawnshop, they are the Philippine version of Western Union.
Pay directly with credit / debit card:
The use of cards as a method of payment is accepted in shopping malls, most restaurants, and especially in large cities or urban centers. We can say that in all the Philippines it is better that you always have cash on hand, especially in less urbanized areas.
IMPORTANT: If at any time you use your card for your purchases or expenses, remember to always pay in the local currency to avoid extra commissions from your bank.
Alternative payments:
On the island of Boracay, we have noticed that all the businesses accepted payments with Bitcoin. Boracay happens to be the first island in the Philippines that is adopting virtual currency payment for all kinds of expenses. In fact, it is very difficult to find an establishment that allows you to pay with a normal debit/credit card. Will this be the future? Who knows.
Our Tip: Wise is a great card when you are travelling to a country with a different currency than yours. We use this online bank during our trips and we never had problems, even in remote places around the world.
5. Internet and Sim Card – philippines travel guide
Without a doubt, not having a stable internet was the most painful part of our entire trip to the Philippines. Working online and having zoom meetings was almost impossible in the Philippines since we never knew if we were going to have a stable signal or a good Wi-Fi network in the accommodation.
In two months we have bought all the SIM cards from the best companies in the country, Globe, Smart and Dito, and even so, they all failed at some point. Of the three SIM cards, if we have to recommend a company, it would be Smart. That’s because it was the card that had the most signal in some places.
Important: Dito is a new company that works only with latest generation smartphones, so it only works with smartphones that integrate the 5G line, so just keep this in mind before traveling and buying the sim card in the Philippines.
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi in cafes, restaurants, and hotels is becoming more common and is offered throughout the Philippine islands. Of course, we do not recommend that you rely only on free Wi-Fi if you must work, simply because it is not stable. Also, you have to keep in mind that blackouts are everyday things in this country.
During our trip through Southeast Asia, we discovered that there are electronic SIM cards on the market. Practically with the use of an app, you can get a number, data and calls without having a physical card in your phone. At the moment they are only compatible with some latest generation smartphones (iPhone, Samsung and little else). In this list of smartphones, our Chinese mobile cars do not enter and for now they are not compatible, although we hope only for now 😉 . That is why we have not had the opportunity to test this card in person, despite this, this e-SIM seems to us to be a great invention and will be a total revolution when it comes to moving from one country to another.
6. Transportation – philippines travel guide
How to move within the Philippines?
Being a country with more than 7,000 islands, you can imagine that the most used means of transport to move from one place to another are two, ferries and planes.
Here we list some other means of transportation that we have used on our trip to the Philippines.
PLANE
At some point during your trip (whether you want to or not) we assure you that you will have to use this means of transport to move from one island to another. Don’t worry about your budget, flights are often quite cheap. Cebú Pacific and AirAsia tend to be the low-cost airlines with the most connections. There are also other small companies such as Air Swift that are usually a bit more expensive because they only work with small planes. An example is the Air Swift flights that connect El Nido with other national towns.
We recommend using search services such as Skyscanner or Google Flight to get the best deals.
If you want to save some money, we recommend organizing your trip to the Philippines in advance and taking advantage of the offers you find. The flights purchased at the last minute could lighten your wallet a lot.
BOAT/FERRY
Ferries are another means of transport widely used to move between islands in the Philippines. Many times they are the only way, although it is true that some trips tend to be longer and often difficult to organize in advance.
During our stay we have used many ferries, and we can confirm that it has not always been easy to know in advance if there was a connection between two locations. In order to take advantage of these services, we have done many searches on the internet before visiting an island or charting the possible route.
The Rome2rio.com App helped us a lot in this task and provided us with a lot of useful information. Remember that a lot of information on the internet is not updated, so we advise you to check the date of the articles you read, because, after two years of closure due to the pandemic and , many companies and routes no longer exist.
At the moment of writing this Philippines travel guide, there were quite many routes canceled or not reestablished so we had to take a flight instead of ferry.
Facebook is also a good platform to find up-to-date information, hours and names of companies operating in the Philippines.
IMPORTANT:
You always have to pay a port fee, every time you use a ferry, don’t worry, it’s usually just a couple of pesos.
Many companies charge a surcharge to be able to put your luggage on the boat, especially in the Cebu area. Ask when you buy the ticket how much this fare is so you don’t get ripped off, remember that once they asked us for more than double the original fare.
CAB/TAXI
Taxi is a widely used service in cities like Manila or Cebu. We have always used the Grab application in these cities for two reasons, one because it is a very safe app, and two because you know in advance the price you are going to pay. If you decide to use a normal taxi service, always remember to haggle the price in advance.
BUS
Buses are means of transport generally used to move around medium-large islands. Currently, there are no applications to book tickets online. Yes, it is true that you can find information on the Internet, however, you can only buy tickets at bus stations.
There are two types of buses in the Philippines, those with air conditioning and those with natural air (from the window).
Normally, the buses with A/C tend to be a bit more expensive, even so, they are not always more comfortable than the others, and often the air conditioner does not work perfectly.
Many times, because we have no other option, we use local buses without AC, and the truth is that for medium-distance trips they are better than buses with AC, simply because it is not hot inside, since all the windows are open and natural air circulates freely.
MINIVAN
When there are no local buses you will always find a minivan that connects the various locations on an island.
Usually, it is not very comfortable, due to the fact that they always travel super loaded and the seats are very small, despite that sometimes minivans in the Philippines are the only way to move from one point to another.
Remember, if you can, check the price online or ask the locals in advance how much a trip might cost you, don’t get scammed (many times it can happen).
IMPORTANT: If you travel with a large suitcase or backpack, sometimes you will have to add more money for your luggage, simply because another person could fit in that space. Once the minivan was so full that we traveled for more than 4 hours with a person clinging to the roof, absolutely crazy!
TRICYCLE
If you haven’t used a Tricycle to get around you haven’t really been to the Philippines. They are usually nothing more than tuk tuk of different shapes and colors. Tricycles are often used for short-distance travel to transport not only people but anything. Always haggle the price.
JEEPNEY
A little bigger than the tricycles, they are used as public transport, since they fit more people than in a tricycle. They have a fixed rate based on where you go, they are often quite spruced up and red and you’ll recognize them right away.
MOTORCYCLE
Generally, if you like to explore places freely and on your own, you should rent a motorbike in the Philippines. The price can vary a lot depending on which island you are on. In our two-month Philippines trip we have paid from 300 pesos per day in Siquijor to 500 in El Nido.
7. Accommodation – philippines travel guide
The value for money for accommodation in this country leaves much to be desired, especially when compared to other countries in Southeast Asia. We say that many times during our Philippines trip we have not been able to find a decent room for less than 20 euros, and we have not always been in very touristy or exploited areas.
On average, a cheap double room with air conditioning (and sometimes a private bathroom) costs between 20 and 30 EUR/$, while a bed in a hostel in a shared room costs between 8-15 EUR/$.
Most of the accommodations in the Philippines in 2024 use electronic reservation systems. On this specific trip, we mainly used Booking.com and Airbnb as they offered us a wider range of accommodation when booking. We have also used Agoda, and Hostel World.
During this Philippines trip, we went from booking accommodation online to the “old way” which means that we booked in person once we arrived in the town. Even so, unfortunately, we do not recommend that you do it unless you do not feel the need, since using this method the prices used to be the same as in online reservations.
Remember to book your accommodation in advance if you decide to travel to the Philippines during national holidays (Christmas, Easter, etc.)
In all accommodations (99%) guests are offered free filtered drinking water, which is very convenient and good for the environment.
8. Food – philippines travel guide
Before traveling to the Philippines we have heard everything about the food in this country, and many times it was not so good. Filipino food can be liked or disliked, however, we have noticed that many travelers give their opinion of something just because they have heard it from others and not because they have actually experienced it.
It has happened to us several times (and not only in the Philippines) that other travelers told us that they did not like the local food, but after discussing it in depth we found out that they had not tried almost any dish!
That is why we think that the opinions of these pseudo-travelers should not be given weight, since on the road as at home we are sure that they always eat the same thing and pamper themselves.
Among other things, it’s most likely that they like to eat pizza with pineapple and pasta carbonara with cream and for that reason, we do not believe that they understand much about gastronomy or they are willing to try authentic local food.
What to eat in the Philippines?
During two months in the Philippines, we ate exclusively Filipino food (only two, or three times we have eaten pizza or hamburger), and we believe that we can humbly comment on it.
According to us, Filipino food is very varied, and if you search, you can eat different dishes throughout your trip. Of course, most of the time you have to invest a little more money than your budget if you want to eat something that you remember forever.
Remember that Filipino food is a large and colorful mix of various ancient and indigenous traditions and other cultures (such as Hispanic or Chinese), who occupied and lived in these lands in the past.
Our tips for a Filipino food newbie are lumpia (spring rolls), Lechón, Abodo, Bicol express, Eggplant omelet, Kinilaw (Filipino ceviche), or Pork Sisig.
If you want to try something extravagant you can also try the Balut (we did it), which is nothing more than an egg with a developing bird embryo.
What does a meal cost in the Philippines?– viajar a filipinas
Keep in mind that a (decent) dish in a local restaurant can cost you from $4-5 and up.
If you are traveling on a tight budget you have several options. The first option we give you is fried chicken, which you will find everywhere in the Philippines. There are also several chains, like Jollibee or Andok’s that serve chicken (ultra loaded with MSG) at an affordable price.
If you want to try local food without spending a fortune, in every corner of the country (including most tourist areas) you will find homemade restaurants (Carinderias) that offer various classic preparations at a more than reasonable price (60-80 pesos per dish).
It is easy to recognize these restaurants since they have pots or trays with all kinds of preparation right at the entrance. Our advice is to ask the locals where the best Carinderia in the city is.
If you are a vegetarian, you have to be more careful, due to the fact that most of the time Filipinos add fish sauce to their preparations to enrich them, including vegetable-based ones.
If you don’t have a lot of money to spend on food (although in principle if you don’t have a big budget we don’t recommend visiting the Philippines) you have two super cheap options, the 7-Eleven and their pre-packaged food or the bakeries that sell buns (almost always sweet) at 5-7 pesos per piece.
Are there restaurants in the Philippines that serve international food?
Due to the easy immigration process that this country has, it will not be difficult for you to find international food if you want to eat other things, especially in most touristic centers.
For example, we found amazing pizza on the island of Siquijor, one of the best (if not the best) of our trip in Southeast Asia. The restaurant is called Dolce Amore, we write it to you just in case you get a craving.
IMPORTANT: Naturally in this restaurant they do not serve pizza with pineapple or pseudo carbonara with cream, only authentic and traditional Italian food.
9. Insurance – philippines travel guide
In our opinion, the only useful mandatory thing you had to have while traveling during the COVID emergency was travel insurance. Now that many countries no longer require it as mandatory, many people decide not to invest in it and make a serious mistake.
We do not travel anywhere without travel insurance, it is a basic and essential thing that you can not do or ignore. We assure you that in case of health problems (and not) during your trips it will get you out of trouble and save you a lot of money.
Our insurance is TrueTraveller. We strongly recommend it, because it is a very serious company, super organized and with good conditions. We think that it is one of the few insurances that you can take out while traveling, so it is perfect for travelers and digital nomads like us.
10. Cultures and Habits – philippines travel guide
What is the main religion of the Philippines?
The Philippines is the country with the highest number of Catholics in all of Asia, in fact, it is estimated that more than 80% of its population is practicing Christian. Their lives, customs, and festivities revolve around the Church and the community. Actually, in every town, there is at least one church.
During our two-month trip to the Philippines, we are sure that there are more churches in the Philippines than in Italy (and look, there are many churches in Italy). If you visit this country on holidays like Christmas or Easter, you will see how much they care about these celebrations and how religious they are.
We have seen with our own eyes how a priest went from house to house blessing the premises on a motorbike in the middle of Holy Week (Easter). It is also customary to go to church on Sunday with the whole family and wear their best dresses to attend mass (when I was little it was also done in Italy).
LANGUAGE
If you want to learn some words of the local language, we warn you that it will not be entirely easy. This is because throughout the country it is estimated that more than 175 different languages are spoken.
Although it is true that Tagalog and English are the official languages, it would not be strange to see two Filipinos speaking English to each other because otherwise they would not understand each other.
Also, don’t worry, they all speak English discreetly, and it won’t be difficult for you to make yourself understood, also if you speak Spanish you are a bit ahead, since after 300 years of colonization some words have stayed the same (fork, spoon and more).
11. Other tips and curiosities – philippines travel guide
- Filipinos are very friendly and like to chat with tourists, and if they can, they help you without problems. Don’t believe people who say that the Philippines is a dangerous country for a traveler, just be a little more careful in big cities.
- Most Filipinos have surnames of Spanish origin. Filipinos are very family-oriented, they like to spend time with their friends and loved ones, and eat until they drop (and we have experienced that :-)).
- In shopping centers, or tourist places, it will not be strange to see entire families dressed in the same color. It is called family day and it is a totally Filipino custom.
- The locals are true masters in posing to be photographed, never before in our travels have we seen so much nature in the practice of these actions.
- Remember that for a Filipino a meal cannot be considered complete if there is no rice on the plate.
- The most used means of transport is undoubtedly the motorcycle, followed by tricycles.
- The beaches in the Philippines are some of the most beautiful we have seen so far. The locals take great care of their beaches, they know that it is a good source of income and that beach tourism feeds many people.
- The national sport is basketball, you can see basketball courts in every corner of the country. The second national sport we think of is boxing, probably due to the famous Manny Pacquiao.
- If you want to see some very local activity, every weekend cockfights are organized almost everywhere. Not recommended for vegetarians or animal lovers.
The strangest food in the whole country…
The balut (embryo egg) is considered a real delicacy for the locals, they say that eating this delicacy makes you sleep better and strengthens your knees.
Although the thought of eating a bird embryo may seem gross, it’s not as bad as it sounds, we’ve tried it and the taste is very similar to a boiled egg that tastes like chicken otherwise.
The Philippines has a tropical climate throughout the year. The seasons can be divided into three, the dry season, which runs from March to May, the rainy season, which runs from June to November, and finally, the temperate season, which runs from December to February.
You have to avoid traveling to the Philippines in the rainy season, because tropical storms are very strong and destructive. In addition, it will be much more difficult to move from one place to another (especially on the ferry).
Almost all restaurants and accommodations offer free drinking water. If you want to buy water, you will mostly find 1-lt bottles.
11. General prices – philippines travel guide
Prices are based on our travel experience in the Philippines. When we wrote this list, the exchange was: 1$=54.59PHP or 1€=60.47 PHP.
We remind you that due to various factors, prices could change (up or down) and that these types of prices are for information only, since they are based on an approximate average.
Street food: 20-50 PHP or $0.37 – $0.92
Local Restaurant (medium class): < 240 PHP or < $4.39
Carinderia: 60 – 80 PHP or $1.10 – $1.47
International restaurants (pizza, ramen, etc.): < 450 PHP or < $8.25
Bottled water 0.5 lt: +- 20 PHP or $0.37
Water 1 lt: +- 30 PHP or+- $0.55
Espresso coffee: 120 PHP or $2.20
Local coffee: 50 PHP or $0.92
Bread rolls (1pc): 5-7 PHP or +- $0.09 – $0.13
Local buses (1h journey): 70-100 PHP or $1.28 – $1.83
Ferry (2h journey): +- 700-1000 PHP or $12.84 – $18.32
Motorcycle 125cc (x day): 350 – 500 PHP or $6.42 – $9.18
Gasoline (x lt): 55-70 PHP or $1.01 – $1.28
Accommodation 2 pax/day with a/c and private bathroom: 40 – 60 PHP or $0.73 – $1.10
Bunk bed in shared room: 20 – 30 PHP or $0.37 – $0.55
SIM card (card + unlimited gig): 400 PHP or $7.32
SIM card (card only): +- 100 PHP or +- $1.83
Laundry (x kg): +- 70 PHP or $1.28
Conclusions – philippines travel guide
After a 2 month trip in the Philippines, we can affirm that we have seen practically nothing of this country and that there are still some 7580 islands pending +-.
The Philippines turned out to be in our eyes a country with many beauties that is definitely worth a visit.
Here we have had the wonderful opportunity to spend a few days with a local family that treated us as part of it. It was an unforgettable experience that we hope you can experience on your next trip there.
On the other hand, we have experienced moments in the Philippines that have not turned out to be very beautiful, but with a cool head, we cannot criticize at all. It should be noted that several times because we were tourists (in their eyes we are all tourists) they tried to rip us off by inflating prices. Only when they found out that we were not willing to fall into the trap, they magically lowered the prices like nothing ever happened.
As well as fact that in the most touristic places, some locals mistreat the natural beauties, thinking that foreigners are willing to pay anything for a vacation.
On the other hand, with this treatment towards tourists, what they achieve is that over time people do not return anymore and prefer other countries that are cheaper than the Philippines (since sometimes they even want to charge for the air you breathe).
Imagine that in a famous town on the island of Cebu they asked for money to be able to stay under the palm trees, something never seen in the 50 countries we visited.
Our personal considerations
It is true that a country cannot be understood in two months, and it is just as true that poverty, lack of work, and the various typhoons that destroy year after year the homes and dreams of Filipinos make each one of them find a way to survive.
We can’t entirely blame these people who want to get a hot plate for themselves and their families, but we also can’t get ourselves treated as living wallets just because we are tourists and want to visit their country.
With this, we do not want to tell you not to visit the Philippines, quite the opposite.
We hope you visit it, and that you can create beautiful memories there because the truth is that we have also experienced similar situations in other countries, and they are a constant and natural part of travel and life (who says that everything is beautiful, cheap and great lies, wherever it is).
If we can make a recommendation, it is for the backpackers with a very small budget, since we think that “currently” the Philippines is not a country for travelers on a tight budget. According to us, it is difficult to move, eat and stay in a hostel with less than 25-40 euros per day per person in 2024.
We believe that it is possible to spend less in the Philippines, only if you decide to concentrate on one area and move as slowly as possible. Still, you should give up many things and sometimes also tours.
We hope our tips in the Philippines travel guide will be useful to you on your next trip to this country. If you need any additional information, write to us freely in the comments or via email.
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Thanks for reaching the end of this article, if you are interested in more travel and food tips around the world, every month (more or less) we come out with a new post in Spanish and one in English.
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Our tip: When we travel we always make sure to have travel insurance. Our personal recommendation is Truetraveller as they have great support and health coverage around the world. And don’t worry if you forget about it, you can purchase the insurance during your trip!
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