Philippines
You can be here in December for about €419, 4 days, direct.
Why now
Good time in December: 30°C days, 20 rainy days, sea 29°C.
The dry season from about December to May is when Palawan's boat trips run reliably and the seas are calm; the typhoon months from July to October bring cancellations, especially in the north and east. Holy Week and Christmas move the whole country and fill flights.
Best months here: January, February, March. December is not one of them — the label above measures the month against a fixed bar, not against the rest of the year here. Daytime highs, sea temperature and rainy days from three years of Open-Meteo reanalysis; a rainy day is one with at least 1 mm of rain, which is the WMO threshold and not the same as "it drizzled". This page stands for a whole country, and its weather is measured at one point — 14.60°, 120.98°, near Manila (Pasay). Somewhere else in Philippines the numbers will differ.
The place
The Philippines is seven thousand islands and Manila is the traffic-locked door to them: a few hours of Spanish walls and Art Deco cinemas in Intramuros and Escolta, then a flight on to Palawan's limestone lagoons or the Visayas. It suits people who plan around domestic flights and ferries, speak English happily everywhere, and accept that plans change with the weather.
What you can do
- 01Walk Intramuros in the morning: San Agustin Church, Fort Santiago, the walls by bamboo bicycle, then lunch in Binondo's Chinatown.
- 02Island-hop from El Nido to the Bacuit lagoons, or take the two-day boat expedition south to Coron.
- 03Snorkel the Japanese wrecks and Kayangan Lake at Coron, then the hot springs after dark.
- 04Ride the subterranean river at Puerto Princesa, then eat tamilok and crocodile sisig at Kinabuchs on Rizal Avenue.
- 05Spend an evening in Poblacion, Makati: rooftop bars, Filipino natural-wine restaurants, karaoke until late.
Where to stay · neighbourhoods
In Manila, stay in Makati or BGC and treat the old city as a day trip; in Palawan, El Nido town is convenient and noisy, Corong-Corong and Las Cabañas quieter, Coron town the base for the wrecks.
Unusual things
- ◦The Escolta street in downtown Manila, pre-war office buildings with the Hub artists' market in the First United Building.
- ◦The Chinese Cemetery in Santa Cruz, with mausoleums the size of houses, some with air conditioning and kitchens.
- ◦Port Barton, a small village between Puerto Princesa and El Nido with its own island-hopping and far fewer boats.
Day trips
Flight options
Routes come from OpenFlights (historical) and a 2026 route reference compiled from public timetables. Durations are the published schedule where we have it, otherwise a block-time model fitted on measured nonstop flights. Verify schedules with the airline before booking.
Entry requirements · IT passport
Source: passport-index-data, March 2026 (coarse indicator), covering 258 of our 268 destinations for each of 199 passports. Always confirm with the destination's official site.
Airports
Distances are centre to airport derived · nonstop counts are our route reference for 2026, not every flight that exists.
Local transport
- Airport to city
- Taxi/app ride, 45 min, ~€6
- Car needed?
- No — walkable or good public transport
- Getting around
- Manila traffic is among the worst anywhere, so keep the city short and use app rides, the MRT-3 and LRT lines, or the Pasig ferry when it runs. Palawan flights from Manila or Cebu go to Puerto Princesa, El Nido and Busuanga for Coron; El Nido to Coron is a fast ferry of about 4 hours.
- Clock
- Same time as Hong Kong (Asia/Manila) derived
- Daylight
- 11.3 hours of daylight in December · sunrise 06:13, sunset 17:29 derived
- Currency
- PHP
Good to know
Most governments advise against travel to western Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago, and the typhoon season regularly cancels flights and boat trips.
Alternatives at a similar price
Whole trip per person for 4 days from Hong Kong in December, then the flight time; estimates, like the total above.
Hanoi
Chiang Mai
Luang Prabang
Da Nang
Bangkok
Ho Chi Minh City