Philippines: Ten Attractions and Natural Wonders

An archipelago of over 7,000 islands

The Philippines, a scattered archipelago of more than 7,000 islands in Southeast Asia, combines some of the region's most celebrated beaches and diving with a distinct cultural blend of Malay, Spanish, and American influence, layered over centuries of colonial history. Its geography is extreme in every direction — active volcanoes, deep ocean trenches nearby, and rice terraces carved by hand into mountainsides — and its 7,000-plus islands mean that no single trip covers more than a fraction of what the country holds.

The ten below range from Luzon in the north to Palawan and the Visayas. The dry season (roughly November to May) is generally the most reliable time to travel, ahead of the June-to-October typhoon season.

1. El Nido and Palawan

Palawan, frequently rated among the most beautiful islands in the world, is anchored by El Nido's Bacuit Bay, where dozens of sheer limestone islands rise from turquoise water riddled with hidden lagoons, secret beaches, and coral reefs reached mainly by island-hopping boat tour. Further south, Puerto Princesa's underground river — a navigable cave system stretching several kilometres — adds another UNESCO-listed natural attraction to the island.

2. The Chocolate Hills, Bohol

The Chocolate Hills, a formation of over a thousand near-identical grass- covered mounds scattered across Bohol island, turn from green to a chocolate-brown colour in the dry season, giving the site its name — their exact geological origin (weathered coral limestone, most geologists agree) remains debated in detail, but their sheer uniform number makes them one of the most distinctive landscapes in the country. Bohol also holds the tiny, wide-eyed Philippine tarsier, one of the smallest primates on earth, in a protected sanctuary nearby.

3. The Banaue Rice Terraces

The Banaue Rice Terraces, carved into the Cordillera mountains by the Ifugao people an estimated 2,000 years ago without the aid of modern tools or machinery, are often called the "Eighth Wonder of the World" and remain farmed by Ifugao communities today using largely traditional methods. The amphitheatre-like terraces at Batad, reached by a steep hike from the nearest road, are considered the most dramatic and least altered by modern development.

4. Intramuros, Manila

Intramuros, the walled old city at the heart of Manila, preserves the core of the Spanish colonial capital founded in 1571, including Fort Santiago, where Filipino national hero José Rizal was imprisoned before his execution, and the baroque San Agustin Church, one of the oldest stone churches in Asia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Much of Intramuros was destroyed during the 1945 Battle of Manila and has been partially restored since.

5. Boracay

Boracay's White Beach, four kilometres of powder-fine sand, became so popular that overdevelopment forced the Philippine government to close the entire island to tourism for six months in 2018 for environmental rehabilitation — it has since reopened under stricter capacity and environmental controls, and remains one of the country's most visited beach destinations, known for water sports, nightlife, and dramatic sunsets.

6. Mayon Volcano

Mayon, in the Bicol region, is renowned for having what is often described as the world's most perfectly symmetrical volcanic cone, formed by centuries of consistent eruptions from a single central vent. It remains one of the country's most active volcanoes, and eruption activity periodically triggers evacuation zones around its base — a reminder that, despite its beauty, Mayon is a genuinely active and monitored hazard, not simply a scenic backdrop.

7. Vigan

Vigan, on the northern island of Luzon, preserves one of the best-surviving examples of a Spanish colonial trading town anywhere in Asia — cobblestone streets, horse-drawn kalesa carriages, and colonial-Chinese-influenced mestizo architecture, largely intact since the 16th century. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the country's most atmospheric heritage towns.

8. The Tubbataha Reefs

The Tubbataha Reefs, a remote atoll system in the middle of the Sulu Sea reachable only by liveaboard dive boat, hold an exceptional density of coral and marine life protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and marine sanctuary since the 1980s. Access is limited to a short season (roughly March to June) and strictly regulated, making it one of the least disturbed, most pristine reef systems left in Southeast Asia.

9. Siargao

Siargao, a teardrop-shaped island in the far southeast, has grown from a surfers' secret into the Philippines' most talked-about island escape, built around the world-class reef break at Cloud 9 and a laid-back scene of lagoons, palm-lined roads best explored by scooter, and the postcard rock-pool islands of Sohoton Cove.

It suits travellers chasing a slower, more bohemian pace than Boracay's, with surf lessons available for beginners alongside the serious swell.

10. Coron and the Palawan shipwrecks

Coron, at the northern tip of Palawan, pairs limestone scenery to rival El Nido's with a unique draw: a dozen Japanese naval and cargo ships sunk by American air raids in 1944, now among the most accessible wreck-diving sites in the world, encrusted with coral and reachable even by snorkellers on some wrecks. Above water, Kayangan Lake, reached by a short climb, is regularly ranked among the cleanest lakes in Asia.

Coron town makes an easy base for both the wrecks and a day of island-hopping among the surrounding limestone cays.

The Philippines rewards focusing a trip on one or two regions rather than trying to cover the archipelago broadly — inter-island flights and ferries are often necessary, and Palawan, the Visayas (Bohol/Boracay), and Luzon's north each comfortably fill a week or more on their own.