One Week in the Philippines
Oct 24, 2015 | 11:23 am
#1
Original Poster
Suspended
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 687
One Week in the Philippines
I am spending about 5 weeks in Asia in May 2016 and I am interested in visiting the Philippines for the first time. I will have about week, maybe a week and a half to spend there.
How should I plan my itinerary? Is Manila worth visiting?
Thanks!
How should I plan my itinerary? Is Manila worth visiting?
Thanks!
Oct 24, 2015 | 11:34 pm
#2
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
Programs: DL estranged 1MMer and lifetime gold, F9/CO/NW/UA/AA once gold/plat now dust, Spirit RIP
Posts: 42,201
The Philippines and Manila in particular inspire divided opinion. The people are IMO the friendliest in SE Asia and there's no language barrier, but there's a lot of visible poverty and other problems.
There's a touristy Manila that includes things like Intramuros, Rizal Park and sunsets along the Baywalk, as well as all the malls of Makati like Greenbelt 3 and the massive Glorietta complex. Many people stay in Makati even though it's not very Filipino...the major hotel clusters are there and in Malate (with the latter you get more hawkers, beggars and touts when you walk the street).
U could get a couple of days out of it, at least. Cebu City is a less-massive alternative, easier to get around and big enough for a number of restaurants but with a less-bad traffic problem and also so-so beach places on Mactan. Also a couple of places of historical interest (Magellan died there) that go back even farther than Manila's.
Boracay is the other big center and easier to get to now, but I'm glad I saw it in 1996, as it's a very fragile island. OTOH, the less-discovered beach places take more effort and hassle to get to. The country in general is not nearly as well-developed for tourism as Thailand or Malaysia. Most things are cheaper, there, but hotels aren't as good a value. The U.S. embassy has also strongly warned against travel to western Mindanao and islands nearby for many years, but there's not much of tourism interest there, anyway.
There's a touristy Manila that includes things like Intramuros, Rizal Park and sunsets along the Baywalk, as well as all the malls of Makati like Greenbelt 3 and the massive Glorietta complex. Many people stay in Makati even though it's not very Filipino...the major hotel clusters are there and in Malate (with the latter you get more hawkers, beggars and touts when you walk the street).
U could get a couple of days out of it, at least. Cebu City is a less-massive alternative, easier to get around and big enough for a number of restaurants but with a less-bad traffic problem and also so-so beach places on Mactan. Also a couple of places of historical interest (Magellan died there) that go back even farther than Manila's.
Boracay is the other big center and easier to get to now, but I'm glad I saw it in 1996, as it's a very fragile island. OTOH, the less-discovered beach places take more effort and hassle to get to. The country in general is not nearly as well-developed for tourism as Thailand or Malaysia. Most things are cheaper, there, but hotels aren't as good a value. The U.S. embassy has also strongly warned against travel to western Mindanao and islands nearby for many years, but there's not much of tourism interest there, anyway.
Oct 25, 2015 | 4:45 am
#3
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Scotland
Programs: Star Alliance
Posts: 476
Depends what you are looking for.
If you want crowded noisy places then yeah go to Manila, Cebu or Boracay. Would probably take a week to get from MNL to your hotel
(joking obviously but seriously the traffic is BAD).
IMO Boracay is vastly overrated, full of tourists, beggars and vendors that will try their best to ruin your stay.
If a quieter time is what you want, try Palawan, it has glorious beaches and great snorkeling and also hasn't been overrun by tourists....yet!
Another great place that I always go to is Camiguin, this tiny island has almost become a second home for me and I plan to move there permanently in the near future.
If you want crowded noisy places then yeah go to Manila, Cebu or Boracay. Would probably take a week to get from MNL to your hotel
(joking obviously but seriously the traffic is BAD).IMO Boracay is vastly overrated, full of tourists, beggars and vendors that will try their best to ruin your stay.
If a quieter time is what you want, try Palawan, it has glorious beaches and great snorkeling and also hasn't been overrun by tourists....yet!
Another great place that I always go to is Camiguin, this tiny island has almost become a second home for me and I plan to move there permanently in the near future.