Philippines holidays

The Philippines is South-East Asia's archipelago-and-beach headline — 7,640 islands strung across 1,800km of the Western Pacific, with Spanish-colonial Catholic heritage (the country's the only majority-Christian Asian nation), the dramatic Banaue and Batad rice terraces (UNESCO, 2,000 years old, carved into the Cordillera mountains of Luzon), the world-class diving at Tubbataha Reef (the Philippines' UNESCO marine sanctuary), the unbeatable beach scenery of Palawan (the El Nido and Coron limestone-karst islands, the Underground River at Puerto Princesa UNESCO), the surfing islands of Siargao on the Pacific coast, and the boutique-resort island of Boracay (closed for cleanup in 2018, reopened and now better-managed). Manila is the megalopolis capital — Intramuros' Spanish-walled old quarter and the modern Makati and Bonifacio Global City districts.

A 14-day Philippines trip: Manila (1-2 nights — Intramuros walking tour, Fort Santiago, San Agustin Church UNESCO, the National Museum, Rizal Park, optionally an evening at Poblacion district) → fly to Cebu for the central Visayas (3 nights — Cebu City's Spanish-colonial heritage, Mactan Island resort coast, whale shark snorkelling at Oslob, the chocolate hills of Bohol and the tarsiers, the Loboc River cruise) → fly to El Nido in Palawan (4 nights — Big Lagoon and Small Lagoon island-hopping, Secret Lagoon, the Bacuit Bay limestone-karst boats, Nacpan Beach for sunset) → fly back to Manila or onwards to Coron (3 nights — Coron Bay shipwreck diving from WWII Japanese fleet, Kayangan Lake, the Tagbanua Indigenous community) → optional Banaue rice terraces extension (3-4 nights — bus from Manila is 9 hours, or fly Cauayan and drive) or Siargao surfing extension (3-4 nights — Cloud 9 break).