Philippines Travel Guide
Philippine travel destinations guide gives you an over view of popular tourist spots in the Philippines. On each of the featured tourist destination in this travel guide, you will find places of interest on each destinations, things to do and how to get there. We have included a page of travel tips, a list of interesting Philippine festivals that runs year round, a collection of underwater scuba diving pictures, and a map of the Philippines for your reference.
Communications and getting around the country is easy as most Filipinos understand and speak English. Mobile Phones are used through the archipelago. Foreigners can buy “pre-paid” SIM cards for their cell phones for temporary use in the country to avoid costly roaming charges. Also foreign currency can easily be converted into Philippines Peso and all major credit cards are accepted in major establishments.
Filipino are a fun-loving and friendly people. Throughout the island, there are festivals celebrated everyday and foreign guests are always welcome in their homes. Every travel destination on this guide is worth a visit. We have featured the most frequently visited tourist spots ing the Philippines; Bohol Island; Corregidor Island; Cebu City; Davao City; the island of Palawan; the hundred Islands of Pangasinan; Puerto Galera Beach; the old Spanish colonial city and UNESCO World heritage Site of Vigan in Ilocos Sur; and the breathtaking Banaue Rice Terraces
About the Philippines
The Philippines archipelago consist of 7,107 islands with a total area of 300,000 square kilometers or 115,830.60 square miles (about the same size as Italy). The 11 largest islands contain 94% of the total land area. The largest of these island Luzon at about 105,000 km. It is where the capital city of manila is located. The next largest island is Mindanao at about 94,600 km. the Philippines is around 800 km from the Asian mainland and is located between Taiwan and Borneo.
The Philippine islands are divided into three groups: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The Luzon island include Luzon itself, Mindoro, Palawan, Masbate, and other smaller islands. The Visayas is a group of several small islands, the largest of which are: Panay, Boho;, Negros, Cebu, Leyte, and Samar. Mindanao island includes Mindanao island itself and the Sulu Archipelago, composed of Tawi-tawi, Basilan and Sulu. Each island group has a philippines destination worth visiting.
Climate in the Philippines is hot, humid, and topical.The average yearly temperature is around 26.5 Celsius. Filipino generally recognize three seasons:
The island of the Philippines archipelago are volcanic in origin and are mountainous. The island are part of the pacific Ring of Fire. Mt. APO (2,954 meters above sea level. The Philippines have numerous rivers, volcanoes, streams, narrow coastal plains and beautiful sandy beaches which foreign and local tourist enjoy. The country has total of 36, 289 kilometers of coastline.
Travel within the Philippines not difficult, if you don’t mind riding the sometimes rickety public transportation. There are all kinds of vehicles available to tourist and locals: Ferries for over the Philippines and the ubiquitous jeepney can be found everywhere. In Metro manila, light rail transit is available on main roads & small rural towns the tricycle is the transport of choice.
The official languages in the Philippines are Filipino and English. Filipino which is based on the Tagalog dialect (the dialect of national capital region), is the national language. English is also widely used and is the medium of instruction in higher eduction in the Philippines. There also 76 major local languages and more than 500 different minor dialects throughout the archipelago. 83% of Filipinos are Roman Catholic. The rest are made up of smaller Christian denominations e.g Moslems and Buddhist.
This guide previews the more popular tourist spots in the Philippines beginning with the city of Manila, then Baguio City, Banaue Rice Terraces, Batanes group of islands, BOracay Island, Cebu City, Corregidor, Davao City, Palawan Island, Pangasinan’s Hundred Islands, Puerto Galera Beach, Bohol Islands and the world Heritage City of Vigan in iLocos Sur. MAbuhay!