The Philippines is an island chain located in Southeast Asia known for its incredible landscape and pristine beaches. There are numerous islands to explore and so many different highlights to see. So it can be overwhelming trying to decide where to go and how to plan a 2-week Philippines itinerary.
You could easily spend a lot of time exploring the different islands and places to go in the Philippines as there are over 7,000 in the archipelago. The islands here are frequently named as some of the most beautiful destinations in the world by top travel publications. In fact, that’s how the Philippines landed on my radar.
Two of the most popular places: Boracay and El Nido, Palawan landed on that list back in 2014 and still are at the top of that list in 2024. I knew after leaving China that the Philippines were one of the places I had to visit. And to this day, it remains one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to.
2-week Philippines itinerary
When it comes to Boracay vs Palawan, I couldn’t decide between the two and knew I wanted to see both. So if you’re like me and want to plan your trip around those two islands, here’s an itinerary for what to do and see while you’re there.
Day 1: Arrive in Manila
Depending on where you’re traveling from, you’ll likely have a long travel day(s) to get to the Philippines. I was traveling from Shanghai to Manila which is luckily only a 4-hour flight. (If I had been traveling from Miami like I usually am, the flight time is about 24-29 hours.)
Use the day to get in, adjust, get some food and check-in to your hotel.
Day 2: Explore Manila
This is an optional one–I actually flew into Manila in the evening and stayed in a place in the city and flew out the next morning. Luckily too, because apparently there was a city-wide water outage in Manila and I couldn’t even shower when I landed.
If you want to explore the capital, it can help give you a day to adjust before hopping on another flight right away to the islands. I chose to spend more time in the islands than exploring the city, so I went on to Boracay.
If you want to have a day to explore Manila, there are plenty of things to see. Walk through Intramuros (a historic walled city) and visit buildings like the Manila Cathedral, Fort Santiago and San Agustin Church (the oldest stone church). Walk through the National Museum Complex, explore Rizal Park and head to Manila Bay for sunset.
Day 3: Travel to Boracay
From Manila, you can take a quick flight directly south to Caticlan, the closest airport to Boracay. Getting to Boracay is fairly easy but there are a few steps involved.
It’s an hour and 15 minutes flight to Caticlan (the closest airport) and then you’ll need to take a tricycle to the jetty port which is a few minutes away. From there, the ferry is a short ride over (15-30 minutes) and then you’ll get another transport to your hotel in Boracay.
Check-in to your hotel, grab some food, walk along the beach road and head to White Beach for sunset.
Day 4-5: White Beach, Boracay
The whole reason to go to Boracay is to relax so don’t plan much for the next two days and just spend time enjoying White Beach. This is a beach with a lot of amenities so you can spend the day how you want.
Get massages on the beach, get your nails done beach side, have drinks and food delivered to you in the sand or do some beach activities if you get bored. You can go paddle boarding, parasailing, kite surfing, etc.
There’s a beach road that runs right along the sand with shops to peruse and restaurants to eat at, so you’re never far from something to do. A lot of the hotels are right up on the beach too.
Day 6: Take a Boracay Boat Trip
Though Boracay isn’t as famous for its boat trips, it’s still a fun way to explore and see some different areas. There’s a few small islands nearby like Crystal Cove (popular for caves and coves), Crocodile Island (snorkeling and diving) and Magic Island (cliff jumping).
Another popular spot is Puka Beach. You can get to it by tricycle (maybe 15-20 minutes depending on where you are staying on the island) but it’s also a popular spot for boat tours to pull up to.
I ended up visiting around sunset by tricycle one night so I didn’t really get to see what the beach looked like. Luckily I ended up on a boat trip that took us back during the day. The beach is incredibly beautiful. I thought White Beach couldn’t be topped but Puka Beach is 100% worth visiting.
It’s a different vibe and obviously much smaller but it’s stunning and I could have easily gone back here to spend more time.
Day 7: Explore Boracay Island
There are other beaches on the island to check out apart from White Beach and Puka Beach. Diniwid Beach is a small beach that connects to White Beach via a small rock footpath along a rock edge. On the opposite side of the island is Ilig-Iligan Beach or Bulabog Beach which is popular for kite surfing.
Other things to do:
- Head to Mount Luho Viewpoint
- Find Willy’s Rock, a volcanic rock formation with a shrine on it off Station 1
- Take a photo of Cujo’s Keyhole, a natural rock arch formation
- Walk through D’Mall–shops and stalls
Day 8: Fly from Boracay (to Manila/Cebu) to Palawan
The travel between the islands of Boracay and Palawan is not convenient. You’ll have to reverse your travel and take transport back to the jetty port on Boracay, take the ferry back to Caticlan and take a tricycle back to the airport.
Unfortunately there isn’t a direct flight from Boracay (Caticlan) to Palawan. So you will need to connect between the two and it will likely be through Manila or Cebu.
If you’re flying through Manila, it will be about an hour and 15 minutes from Boracay to Manila, then you’ll be on another hour and 15 minute flight back down to Palawan. It’s not the most convenient but it is what it is. The flights from Cebu take roughly the same amount of time also.
The other downfall is that El Nido is not the easiest to get to. You’ll have to fly into Puerto Princesa on Palawan but then it’s about a 5-hour drive up to El Nido. The passenger vans are air conditioned and comfortable but it’s a long ride over bumpy roads.
I’d recommend trying to do all this within the same day. It’s a long travel day but at least it knocks it all out at once. You can find van transportation that leaves up until about 6pm from Puerto Princesa. You’ll get into El Nido late, but it’s still worth doing in one day in my opinion.
Day 9-10: El Nido Boat Trips
Of the many reasons to visit the Philippines, the landscape was at the top for me and El Nido is famous for its karst limestone formations and incredibly stunning beaches. El Nido town is simply the starting point for boat trips that will take you to some of the most beautiful places in the area.
There are several different boat tours to choose from that will take you to different beaches. The tours are labeled with letters A, B, C, D and will take the majority of the afternoon and include a stop for lunch.
The most popular tours are A and C. My first day arriving, I did tour A and it was phenomenal. The Big Lagoon and 7 Commando Beach were definitely highlights, but the whole tour was amazing.
Unfortunately, my timing in El Nido wasn’t ideal as a tropical storm rolled through the next day and there were torrential rains. If I had the weather on my side, I probably would have done a boat trip every single day.
Day 11: Explore El Nido
The main town in El Nido is quite small to walk around and you can always do that in the morning before the boat trips. There are several restaurants on the beach for lunch spots or to get something for breakfast.
If you want to take a break from the boat trips, you can hop in a tricycle to go 10-minutes down the road to Las Cabanas Beach. We thought we might get a break in the weather but it started torrential raining as soon as we got into tricycles and we ended up turning around and going back to our hostel. We had to wait out the rain but we did make it.
This is another beach that I’m sure is beautiful when the weather is nice. You have a great view walking down to it with palm trees stretching out over the water.
There are several beachside restaurants and bars to hang out at for the day. There’s a nearby island you can walk to that’s a little rocky and a zipline that goes over the beach.
This beach faces the west side so it’s a popular spot for watching the sunset. Some of the beach bars will have music going and it’s a chill spot to have some drinks for the afternoon.
Day 12: Nacpan Beach
Nacpan Beach is supposed to be really beautiful, but again, weather was not on our side. The rain made the water look dull and brown but usually it’s apparently a very pretty beach to see. Even so, it’s a great day trip to do. I rented scooters with some friends I had made and we all rode out through the countryside to the beach.
I loved seeing a different side of the area and everything was incredibly green. It was just as much fun riding out there and exploring as it was hanging out at the beach. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to ride out there, so you do get to see quite a bit on the way.
Nacpan Beach is about 2.5 miles (4km) long and has some open areas with palm trees everywhere. We set up at a small restaurant for lunch that’s right off the beach.
Because of the rain, we were just about the only people out there. We ended up playing sand volleyball with some locals and just hanging out for the afternoon.
Day 13: Drive back to Puerta Princessa
For your flight back home, you’ll likely be transiting through Manila for your international flight. Depending on when your flight is, you’ll need to factor in the 5-6 hour car ride back to Puerto Princesa and the hour and a half flight from Palawan to Manila.
So this will mostly be a travel day to get back into Puerto Princesa in time to make your flight back up to Manila.
If you have a red-eye flight back home, you can get back to Manila in one day and leave this day as another exploring day.
Day 14: Fly back home
If you have a red-eye, you’ll likely be able to transit from El Nido to Puerto Princesa and fly back to Manila before your international flight. Transfers back to Puerto Princesa start as early as 6am, so you can make it to Manila before a late flight.
If your flight is mid-afternoon or in the morning, you’ll make the drive back on day 13 instead. US flights will be around 24-hours to get back home, so your last day will be spent up in the air!
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