10 Best Travel Destinations in the Philippines for 2022

In Year 2020, when the travel ban has become the “new normal” for the world, a lot of tourist destinations have closed. Months or even years have passed, and travel is still slowly getting back on track as people are trying to compromise and find ways to enjoy the activity again without the risk of putting their health on the line.

Tourism within the country is starting to grow again. A lot of Filipinos and even foreigners are starting to travel around the Philippines again and enjoy its astonishing beauty. While following the health protocols and the tourism rules, people are again allowed to explore the mesmerizing islands of the Philippines.

The Philippines is known for its rich natural tourist attractions that are not only awe-inspiring for the locals but also for foreign travelers. A lot of tourists who have visited the country are just mesmerized by its natural beauty, which no manpower can make. Right from its beaches, lakes, caves, mountains, hills, aquatic diversity, and many more, the Philippines surely has some of the “Heaven on Earth” spots that no one would want to miss.

From hundreds of travel destinations that one can surely enjoy in the Philippines, we’ve narrowed it down to the 10 best travel destinations that will surely satisfy every traveler. Let us dive into the best travel destinations in the Philippines for 2022 that every tourist should never miss.

1. Batanes

Peaceful, serene, quiet, simple, and laidback. That is how travelers described their experience after visiting Batanes. Every tourist who visited this place felt revitalized and rejuvenated, as Batanes is a great escape from the hustle and bustle of the city while enjoying your favorite vacation activities. Mountains, oceans, rolling hills, rock formations, famous landmarks, and great food; Batanes has it all. Located in the northernmost part of the country, this province in the Philippines is composed of several small islands, with only 3 of them inhabited. Travelers are allowed to visit Batan, Itbayat, and Sabtang islands in Batanes, and among these three, you can easily appreciate and enjoy the totality of the beauty of Batanes. Even if Batanes is the smallest province in the Philippines, with only 230km total land area, this travel destination can surely satisfy, or even exceed the expectations of its visitors. Some tourists stated that Batanes is like New Zealand, as they can witness cows and wild horses freely roaming in vast pastureland within the lush green hills.

Batan is the main island of Batanes, where the Basco airport and many famous Batanes landmarks, accommodations, and tourist spots are located. On the other hand, Sabtang is mountainous, less populated than Batan, has steep cliffs, and has preserved stone houses with cogon roofs. Lastly, Itbayat is the largest island among the three. This island is known for its grasslands, rolling hills, and mesmerizing coastline with steep cliffs. Within your Batanes stay, you can visit their famous tourist spots, including the Basco Lighthouse, Valugan Boulder Beach, Vayang Rolling Hills, Tukon Chapel, Dipnaysupuan Japanese Tunnel, Marlboro Country, Tayid Lighthouse, House of Dakay, Homoron Blue Lagoon, Diura Fishing Village, San Jose de Ivana Church, Honesty Coffee Shop, Sabtang Light House, Ivatan’s Stone Houses, Morong Beach, Mt. Karoboban, Torongan Cave, Torongan Hills, Rapang Cliffs, Small Lagoon, Mt. Iraya, and many more.

Other than the tourist destinations, you can also enjoy the unique Ivatan dishes and experience a back-to-basics lifestyle in Batanes. With the province’s distance, size, and small population, the beauty of Batanes is preserved, as well as the beautiful and peaceful lifestyle of its people. Pay a visit to the “Home of the Wind”, Batanes, and indulge in a quiet, peaceful, and serene stay within this magical province in the Philippines.

How to get to Batanes?

The best way to go to Batanes is through flying. Book your flight in the airports of different provinces, and go to Basco, Batanes airport. For accommodations, there are homestays, hotels, lodges, and guesthouses available in Batanes. You can go around the place through tricycle, motorbikes, vans, jeepneys, cars, bicycles, and boats.

2. Bantayan Island

If you are a beach lover and love doing water-related activities, Bantayan Island is a place you should pay a visit. Bantayan Island, located at the northernmost tip of Cebu, is one of the most beautiful islands in the Philippines. On this island, one can enjoy swimming, sightseeing, island hopping, different beach activities, and many more, without the hassle of too many crowds. Furthermore, Bantayan Island is a fishing community, in which the famous dried fish, danggit, is made locally here. With that, one can expect a lot of seafood feasts made from freshly caught seafood. The crystal-clear water and turquoise sea will surely tempt and catch your attention to swim and do other activities on the beach.

You can easily explore Bantayan Island by driving along the coastline and visiting the various tourist destinations on the island. You can enjoy the beaches scattered around Santa Fe, including Paradise Beach and Kota Beach, with their long white sandbars. Other than the beaches, you can also enjoy exploring the Hilantagaan and Virgin Islands for some snorkeling, swimming, fish feeding, and seeing the fish diversity within the oceans. One can also be mesmerized by some inland attractions like the Ogtong Cave, Sto. Nino Cave, and Obo-ob Mangrove Eco Park. Furthermore, there are also cliff-jumping and skydiving activities that you can enjoy at some spots on Bantayan Island. Enjoy a full day of activities, adrenaline, and beach trips to Bantayan Island, a must-visit place in the Philippines for its beautiful white sand beaches and hidden attractions.

How to get to Bantayan Island?

If you are from other parts of the country other than Cebu, you can take a flight going to Cebu City and make your way from there. You can take a bus form Cebu City to Hagnaya Port, or you can go to Palompon and take a ferry to Bogo City, and then a bus going to Hagnaya Port. From Hagnaya Port, you can ride a ferry going to Santa Fe. For accommodations, you can book at the many hotels, resorts, hostels, and vacation home rentals in Bantayan Island. You can travel around the island through a rented motorcycle or bicycle, pedicab, habal-habal, or jeepney.

3. Bohol

For many years now, Bohol has been one of the most popular travel destinations in the Philippines. This province has one main island and 75 small islands surrounding it, making Bohol quite special. From natural land attractions to beautiful beaches, Bohol is like an explosion of all possible natural beauties that every traveler can witness and savor. This destination has the famous Chocolate Hills, which are grass-covered hills that turn brown during the summer. The Chocolate Hills are comprised of around 1,800 hills, and this natural wonder has been declared as one of Visayas’ top tourist spots. The mesmerizing beauty and the unique formation of Chocolate Hills are enough to keep Bohol as a top tourist destination, but Bohol has more to offer. Bohol has a lot of diverse attractions, not only for their tourist spots but also for the diversity of land and water animals that you can see in this province. Bohol is the home of tarsiers, one of the world’s smallest primates. Other than that, you can see the aquatic animals’ diversity by diving and snorkeling on some of Bohol’s beaches. Talking about beaches, you can pay a visit to Panglao island, Aloha beach, the beaches of Anda, and Damaluan beach if you want to enjoy the beauty of unspoiled beaches with white sands and crystal-clear waters, and do some water activities that will let you appreciate the beauty of Bohol. In addition, you can go island hopping in the Pamilacan and Balicasag Islands and explore the Hinagdanan Cave.

For land exploration, you can go to Danao Adventure Park for some extreme activities like caving, zip-lining, rappelling, root climbing, bungee jumping, and many more. You can also go to the Bilar Man-Made Forest for some Instagram-worthy photos by standing alone on the road with mahogany trees around you. Other than that, you can also visit the Baclayon Church Ruins and check out the tarsiers up close. Lastly, you can end your trip by enjoying a boat river cruise in Loboc, and enjoy the locals’ serenade and their buffets, which will surely satisfy you and complete your trip.

How to get to Bohol?

You can fly from Manila to Bohol directly, or through other travel hubs in the Philippines. If you are from Cebu, Dumaguete or Siquijor, you can also take the ferry in order to go to Bohol. For accommodations, there are a lot of resorts, hotels, vacation home rentals, hostels, and many more that you can rent in Bohol. You can travel the province and their islands through jeepneys, tricycles, buses, motorbikes, vans, or car rentals.  

4. Boracay, Aklan

One of the top travel destinations in the Philippines is Boracay. This white sand beach is popular not only among the Filipinos but also with tourists from around the world. The world-class resort experience that is being offered in Boracay is a lingering magic that keeps every visitor wanting to go back for more. This island is not really for a completely peaceful stay, but rather for a full-of-activities beach vacation that you can surely enjoy, together with the different establishments around the island. The magical sunset that you can perfectly witness by Paraw Sailing and the crystal-clear and azure waters are just some of the things that you will surely enjoy during your stay in Boracay. Within the Boracay island are the Boracay white beach, Diniwid beach, unique rock formations, numerous nearby islands, Ariel’s point, Ilig-Iligan beach, Crocodile Island, and many more. You can enjoy a variety of beach activities in Boracay Island, including swimming, island hopping, diving, snorkeling, parasailing, parties, dining, banana boat riding, skiing, paddleboarding, helmet diving, riding a zip line, cable car, kayaking, and many more.

How to get to Boracay, Aklan?

You can fly from Manila to Caticlan Airport directly, or through other travel hubs in the Philippines. From Caticlan Airport, you can ride a tricycle going to Caticlan Jetty Port. Other than planes, you can also go to Boracay by a ferry. For accommodations, there are a lot of resorts, hotels, vacation home rentals, hostels, and many more that you can rent in Boracay. You can rent at any stays within the Boracay stations, and still enjoy the whole island. You can travel the island through walking, tricycles, motorbikes, or shared private tours.

5. Coron Palawan

Coron Island is one of the magical travel destinations that every tourist enjoys in the Philippines. This tropical island is known for its rock formations and wrecks from World War II and different limestone karst landscapes that go well with the crystal-clear water of the lakes. One dip in the waters and you’ll see the beautiful coral reef diversity and different small sea creatures. This island is separated from the long island of Palawan, and it is definitely a must-visit if you ever travel to the Philippines. If you visit Coron, Palawan, you will be astonished by one of the cleanest lakes in the Philippines, the Kayangan lake. Other activities include swimming in Barracuda Lake, island hopping to Malcapuya and Ditayan islands, visiting the Calauit game refuge and wildlife sanctuary, being mesmerized by the panoramic views of coastal cliffs, scuba or wreck diving, beach camping, hiking up Mt. Tapyas, swimming in the Maquinit Hot Spring, or simply relaxing in the fine white sands and watching the sunset. One can enjoy the beauty of Coron, Palawan, with its equally beautiful scenery, fun activities, and a quiet and peaceful stay. Enjoy a laidback and magical vacation in Coron, Palawan.

How to get to Coron, Palawan?

You can fly from Manila to Busuanga Airport directly, or through other travel hubs in the Philippines. Other than planes, you can also go to Coron by a ferry. For accommodations, there are a lot of resorts, hotels, vacation home rentals, hostels, and many more that you can rent in Coron, Palawan and near islands. You can travel the island through walking, tricycles, motorbikes, or shared private tours.  

6. El Nido Palawan

Another one of the best places to visit in Palawan is El Nido. El Nido is one of the top places visited by tourists in the Philippines. This destination gives the perfect representation of “heaven on Earth” with its picture-perfect beauty and magical scenery. El Nido has beautiful fine white sand beaches and islands, together with its turquoise crystal-clear waters, vibrant coral reefs, and mesmerizing limestone cliffs. El Nido has 45 islands, both big and small, which allows visitors to enjoy island hopping activities. Some of the island hopping activities in El Nido take its tourists to the Big Lagoon and Small Lagoon, which are perfect for swimming, snorkeling, and kayaking; Secret Lagoon, in which one of the limestone cliffs has a hole, showing a natural water pool inside; Secret Beach, which is a white sand beach hidden inside limestone cliffs; Shimzu Island, Seven Commandos Beach, Snake Island, Pinagbuyutan island, Matinloc shrine, Cudugnon Cave, Cathedral cave, Helicopter island, Popolkan Island, Tapiutan island, Paradise Beach, and Pasandigan beach. For divers, they can visit South Miniloc, North Rock, Dilumacad Island, Entalula Island, Nat-Nat Beach, and many more diving sites that tourists can enjoy to get the adrenaline rush and see the beauty of underwater diversity. Other than beach activities, one can also enjoy land tours in El Nido, in which they can visit the Twin Beaches of Nacpan and Calitang, Nagkalit-kalit falls, Lascabanas Beach, and hike the Taraw Cliff. El Nido is a very beautiful and magical place to visit, to fully submerge in the beauty of nature. Visit this astonishing destination in the Philippines, and enjoy a relaxing, mesmerizing, and surely memorable stay at El Nido Palawan.

How to get to El Nido, Palawan?

You can fly from Manila to Puerto Princesa directly or through other travel hubs in the Philippines. After that, you need to ride a bus or van from the airport to El Nido. Other than planes, you can also go to El Nido by a ferry. For accommodations, there are a lot of resorts, hotels, vacation home rentals, hostels, and many more that you can rent in El Nido, Palawan. You can travel the around El Nido through walking, tricycles, motorbikes, or shared private tours.

7. Oslob and Moalboal Cebu

Oslob and Moalboal are small coastal towns located in Cebu. These places are famous for their rich aquatic animal diversity, which you can see once you dive into their oceans. Oslob is a coastal town famous for swimming with the rare underwater giants, whale sharks, locally known as butanding or tuki. Locals are feeding the whale sharks in order to lure them to certain areas of the Oslob seas in order for tourists to see them. Other than swimming with the whale sharks, one can also enjoy the beautiful sandbars of Oslob, magical horsetail waterfalls, diverse and colorful coral reefs, secret caves, and different heritage sites with Spanish ruins. After exploring the beauty of Oslob, one can travel from there to Moalboal. Moalboal is also a small coastal town packed with bountiful waters. This destination has some of the best white-sand beaches and the most diverse underwater creatures that tourists can enjoy during their stay. This destination is famous for its seas being inhabited by millions of sardines that you can swim with when you take a dip in the ocean. This coastal town is perfect for a laidback vacation, being not too remote but also not too busy. Aside from the sardine run, one can also visit Pescador Island, go turtle watching, relax on the white beaches, and be captivated by the Kawasan falls in Moalboal. During your visit as well as in these coastal towns, you can also time your travel during the Sinulog festival in Cebu to enjoy the grand celebration with street dancing, fun activities, and many more.

How to get to Oslob and Moalboal, Cebu?

You can fly from Manila to Mactan Cebu directly or through other travel hubs in the Philippines. After that, you need to ride a bus going to SM City Cebu, or take a bus going to your hotel. Other than planes, you can also go to Cebu by a ferry. For accommodations, there are a lot of resorts, hotels, vacation home rentals, hostels, and many more that you can rent in Cebu City, Oslob and Moalboal. You can travel the around Oslob and Moalboal through walking, tricycles, motorbikes, boats or shared private tours.  

Oslob:

Moalboal:

8. Sagada and Banaue

Sagada and Banaue are a few of the destinations in the Philippines with majestic natural landscapes. These destinations are famous for their mountains, which people can hike, perfect sunny but chilly weather, beautiful rice fields, astonishing waterfalls, and cliffs with a sea of clouds. These peaceful, quiet, and serene tourist destinations are surely a few of the must-visit places in the country. The places that you can explore and the activities that you can do in Sagada are spelunking at Samaguing cave, sea cloud sighting and camping at Kiltepan Peak and Marlboro Hills, peaceful walks at Lumiang Burial Cave, beautiful mornings at Kapay-Aw Rice Terraces, history learning at Ganduyan Museum, mesmerizing sunsets at Blue Soil Hills, and many more. On the other hand, Banaue is a mountainous province in Luzon. This destination is known for its rich and beautiful culture, perfect weather, majestic mountain ranges, awe-inspiring rice terraces, and kind and charming people. The places you can visit and activities you can do in Banaue are the following: sightseeing of the famous Banaue Rice Terraces; experiencing a back-to-basics lifestyle through living the provincial life at Batad; indulging in the Ifugao culture at Tam-An Village; hiking and swimming to Tappiyah and Chappah Falls; learning about the Cordillera in the Cordillera Sculpture Museum; and many more. Sagada and Banaue are surely must-visit tourist destinations that you should never miss. Escape the hustle and bustle of the city through these provinces, and enjoy a peaceful, relaxing, and quiet vacation.

How to get to Sagada and Banaue?

From Manila, you take a direct bus to Banaue and Sagada from Cubao which will take approximately 12 hours. This bus takes the Banaue route but if you want to pass by Baguio, you can also take a Victory Liner or a Joy Bus from Manila. Then from Baguio City, you can take another bus to Sagada which takes 6 hours. For accommodations, there are a lot of hotels, vacation home rentals, hostels, and many more that you can rent in Sagada. You can travel the around Sagada and Banaue through walking, tricycles, motorbikes, or shared private tours.   

Sagada:

Banaue:

9. Siquijor

One of the smallest provinces in the Philippines is Siquijor. This island is famous for its mystic falls, caves, and beautiful beaches. If you are up for some majestic exploration, this province will surely satisfy your travel needs. With the province being quite small, it is not too difficult to travel around the whole island, even just for a day. The tours that you can experience in Siquijor are the coastal tour and the mountain tour. Taking the coastal tour will lead you to witness and experience the beauty of Salagdoong beach, Kagusuan beach, Cambugahay falls, Lazi Church and Convent, Siquijor church, Enchanted Balete Tree, Paliton beach, and Guiwanon Spring Park. On the other hand, the mountain tour will let you hike and explore the Cantabon Cave and Mt. Bandilaan Park. Siquijor is surely a must-visit travel destination in the Philippines. Explore and immerse yourself in its natural beauty, as well as the mystic talks about Siquijor. 

How to get to Siquijor:

The closest jump-off point to Siquijor is Dumaguete City and Sibulan which are just a boat ride away. So if you want to go to Siquijor, you can fly to Sibulan and board a ferry to Siquijor or you can take a ferry from Dumaguete City to Siquijor. For accommodations, there are a lot of resorts, hotels, vacation home rentals, hostels, and many more that you can rent in Siquijor. You can travel the around Siquijor through walking, tricycles, motorbikes, boats or shared private tours.   

10. Siargao

A list of the best travel destinations in the Philippines wouldn’t be complete without Siargao. Siargao is an island located in Mindanao. This island is very popular among surfers around the world because of its massive waves that are quite ideal for surfing. With that, Siargao is named as the Surfing Capital of the Philippines. The natural beauty of this island is out of this world, and every traveler who has visited Siargao is just mesmerized and wants to come back for more. More than it’s natural, what makes visitors stay longer on this island are the locals and the activities that tourists can do in Siargao. Some of the activities and spots that tourists can enjoy on this teardrop-shaped island are surfing at Cloud 9, a surf spot in General Luna; swimming at Magpupungko Rock Pools; island hopping on Naked Island, Daku Island, and Guyam Island; jumping off at Sugba Lagoon; swimming with stingless jellyfish in Sohoton Cove; diving in Blue Cathedral; and enjoying the Tayangban Cave Pools. Siargao is definitely one of the best travel destinations in the Philippines and is definitely a spot you should never miss. Enjoy the activities on the island and get captivated by its natural beauty and magic.

How to get to Siargao?

You can fly from Manila to Sayak Airport directly or through other travel hubs in the Philippines. After that, you need to ride a van or bus going to your accommodation house. Other than planes, you can also go to Siargao by a ferry. For accommodations, there are a lot of resorts, hotels, vacation home rentals, hostels, and many more that you can rent in Siargao. You can travel the around Siargao through walking, tricycles, motorbikes, boats or shared private tours.