From stunning beaches to breathtaking mountains, the places to visit in the Philippines offer something for every kind of traveler. The Philippines is a tropical paradise brimming with natural beauty. It is filled with vibrant culture and unique experiences. Get ready to explore 11 mind-boggling destinations that will leave you in awe in this blog post!
11 Mind-Boggling Places to Visit in the Philippines for an Unforgettable Adventure!
-
Quezon City
Aren’t you impressed with this scene? Didn’t you cry out aloud, “wow”?
This mind-bogglingly beautiful scene depicts Quezon Avenue; and the tall, colorfully-lit building in the distance is Quezon Memorial Shrine.
In this blog post, you will come across Mind Boggling Places to Visit in Philippines that are spread all over the Philippines Islands.
Here is one more scene in Quezon that will make you reach out your mobile phone and search for the cheapest flights, and affordable hotels in Quezon.
The coliseum
The coliseum is a sprawling sports arena meant for conducting indoor games.
Quezon is an ultra-modern city that the Filipinos call Q.C. and pronounce it as “Kyusi”. It was named after one of the past presidents of the Philippines called, Manuel L. Quezon.
Quezon City is within the borders of Manila, as an alternative commercial, entertainment, broadcasting and housing city to the congested Manila.
For your information, Manila, the capital of the Philippines is part of Luzon Island, one of the 7641 islands that make up the country of the Philippines.
As a matter of fact, Quezon was so well planed and beautiful with terrific infrastructure that, it was made the capital and remained so from 1949 to 1976.
To see around the attractions of Quezon city alone, you need a week. Nonetheless, the majority of the tourists to the Philippines, head straight to Manila and return without a glance at Quezon.
Due to the location of several entertainment industries, numerous shopping malls started coming up; one of them is the large Ali Mall.
Gateway Mall
Another huge shopping mall is the Gateway Mall.
Several churches would catch your attention with their immaculate construction and appealing elevation, and façade. Please be aware that Quezon City is primarily a Christian city belonging to the Roman Catholic section.
More notable tourist landmarks in Quezon City are:
- Eastwood City
- City of Makati
- GMA Network Center
- Quezon City Hall
- The Department of Interior and Local Government
- The National Science Complex
There are so many cities with in cities and all are within the metropolitan area of Manila City.
It is no wonder that Kyusi (Q.C) is the wealthiest of all the cities in the Philippines.
-
Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park
Tell me frankly, boss, isn’t this breathtakingly beautiful is mind-boggling?
There are very few subterranean (underground) rivers in this country. River Saraswathi is one such sacred river in India.
All over the world, there are 11 rivers that play hide and seek, both on the surface of the earth, and beneath it.
Puerto Princesa Underground River
The Puerto Princesa Underground River and the national park that was developed surrounding the river are recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
In addition, a wetland is identified here and that comes under the Ramsar Sites, a special eco system that hosts numerous species of birds, fish, and insects.
In order to see the beautiful river, you have to hire a taxi from Puerto Princesa city, and travel 80 km north, towards the coast of South China Sea.
It may be interesting to know that the underground river is included in the list of New 7 Wonders of Nature.
An underground river means, you are sure of finding several caves through which the river flows.
One particular cave is a whopping 24 km long!
Ramsar Site
As many as 13 different forest ecosystems were identified and they are home to 800 species of flora.
Being a Ramsar Site, more than 160 species of birds were recorded and the majority of them are exotic.
Boat rides are available that take you in the underground river and even enter the caves up to some distance only.
Are you wondering about how does it feel entering a sea cave? Watch this video.
Awesome-right?
Another big surprise for you are the waterfalls that ere gently falling inside the caves.
Are you now fully lured to go and see Palawan and its spectacular natural wonders?
If you are a nature lover, you will stay for 15 days in Palawan Island alone to admire the extraordinary natural beauty on the island.
You must know before booking your flight tickets to Manila that the real Philippines, and its wonderful culture, food, and natural attractions are in its large and small islands.
Puerto Princesa is the capital of the island of Palawan. Palawan is a long, narrow island, floating in the South China Sea, and south of Luzon Island.
-
Taal Volcano
The crater looks scary!
Do you know it erupted just two days before (2nd October) I composed this article?
Batangas city is the location to see Tall Volcano. The volcano is home to the Taal Lake in its caldera.
The Volcano Island is seen in Batangas City, which is one of the provinces of Luzon Island.
Incidentally, the lake is quite big, ranked the third largest in the Philippines. You can imagine how big the size is of the caldera.
When you are touring Manila, you can quickly dash to this fantastic natural beauty from Manila. The distance to be covered is only 50 km, folks!
Here is one more photo of the lake inside the crater.
When you go here, you can see a few more active volcanoes.
-
Firefly Watching Cruise
Along the banks of Iwahig River, dense mangrove forests host thousands of fireflies, and both land and aquatic birds.
Fireflies are awesome creations. They are rare sights these days. About 60 years ago, I used to watch them every time I traveled by road through the countryside. Now they are gone.
So, don’t miss the opportunity when you go to Palawan Island, the Philippines.
The cruise organizer will send a vehicle to pick you up from hotel around 4 pm. After all have assembled (6 passengers), a boat will carry them in the Iwahig River in Puerto Princesa city.
The 45 minutes tour departs by 6 pm because you can see the fireflies only after dark.
The area is dense with forest. There won’t be any artificial light that will interfere with fireflies spotting.
The conditions are just right for star watching on the sky.
In order not to disturb the fireflies, the boat will be only paddled.
When the boat had reached some distance, the guide will point out to the glowing blue light on the water. The presence of Plankton, a kind of micro-organisms that illuminate the water can also light your trip.
Palawan Island is rich with naturally beautiful spots.
-
Apo Island Marine Sanctuary
Marine Sanctuaries somehow are not highly visited when compared to wildlife sanctuaries on land.
There is a grand sanctuary protecting numerous exotic marine creatures off the waters of Apo Island, the Philippines.
Due to the rich diversity of the submarine living beings, scuba divers, and snorkelers throng the island throughout the year.
Apo Island is floating just 7 km from the southernmost point of Negros Oriental, the eastern portion of Negros Island.
The western portion of Negros Island is called Negros Occidental.
The statistics of the marine species surrounding the Apo Island is head-spinning.
- 650 species of fish
- 450 species of corals.
It is no wonder the Apo Island is equally swarmed by divers, and snorkelers.
This popular tourist spot in the Philippines is surrounded by the Sulu Sea.
By the way, the seas that surround the Negros Island will lure your interest.
- Visayan Sea on the north
- Guimaras Strait on the northwest
- Sulu Sea in the south
- Tanon Strait on the east
- Mindano Sea is southwest of Apo Island
- Bohol Sea is further southeast
All these seas are part of the Pacific Ocean.
This 1.5 km by 1 km island is accessible by boat from Zamboanguita, the last town in Negros Oriental. The ride takes half an hour from here.
The seascape that will come into your sight during your 30 minutes boat passage is simply jaw-dropping.
The marine lives are considered so rich and rare that you have to pay upfront even to visit Apo Island, irrespective of your desire to wet your feet or not. It means, even when you accompany someone, you have to pay the entrance fee.
-
Pagsanjan Falls
Watch below the absolutely dramatic kayaking ride up to the thundering Pasanjan Falls.
If you dare enter falls, you will find a cave that is rightly called the Devil’s Cave.
This breathtaking attraction is seen in a small town known as Cavinti, in the province of Laguna, on Luzon Island, where Manila City is also located.
If you pay a little extra, the boatman will take you on a bamboo raft safely through the waterfalls to the Devil’s cave behind the sheet of falling water.
Watch the most trilling raft ride through the furious waterfalls and enter the Devil’s Cave.
This one experience alone is worthy of your trip the Philippines’s main island Luzon. When can you get such an opportunity of going through a waterfall on a boat?
-
Vigan, Ilocos Sur
The approximately 8000 feet altitude of the Mount Camingingel draws locals staying on the island of Luzon, frequently as a summer escape destination.
But that is not the only reason as an excellent tourist spot in the Philippines.
Vigan City is located on the northwest coast of Luzon Island, some 500 km west of Manila City.
Vigan is the capital of Ilocos Sur province.
Vigan city sits facing the South China Sea. Surprisingly, this city looks exactly similar to a Spanish town, the roads, and the buildings speak Spanish. This oddity in the middle of the Pacific Ocean earned it a UNESCO World Heritage status.
Here is more surprise. Vigan is included in the list of New 7 Wonders Cities!
-
Hundred Islands National Park, Pangasinan
Are there really 100 islands? Yes, in fact more. There are 124 islands that are covered in Pangasinan National Park, the Philippines.
The islands are naturally beautiful with terrific beaches, rock formations, jagged cliffs, and a range of wildlife.
You can say these 124 islands are wildly beautiful, and unspoiled by commercialism.
The Hundred Islands National Park is very ideal for a true island holiday.
Pangasinan is the name of the province, and Alaminos is the name of the city where the national park is located.
From Manila, the distance is 245 km northwest.
For retaining the rustic charm of these Philippines Islands, just 4 out of 124 islands are in developed state for allowing tourists. The rest 120 islands are absolute tropical paradise.
Due to lack of human presence, the islands’ wildlife is rich. The birds and bats live here fearlessly.
-
Baler, Aurora
Baler is a small city, on the east coast of Luzon Island. From Manila, you have to hire a taxi to travel about 250 km northeast to come here to see some spectacular seascapes.
The Philippines Sea lies on the east side of Luzon Island. Baler is sitting on the shores of the Philippines Sea.
I saw a few terrific attractions in Baler; I am sharing a few of them below.
- Dicasalarin Cove
- Baler Bay
- Sabang Beach
- Diguist Bay
It has white sand and a lovely tropical mountain in the backdrop.
A couple of waterfalls add to the tourist appeal to Baler.
-
Ditumabo Mother Falls
It’s a gentle waterfall but a true hidden gem amidst some dense foliage.
Doesn’t the sight itself refresh us?
-
Diguist waterfall
At the beginning of the video, the Diguist Bay was shown and some rock formation could be seen in the distance that gives the beach a wild look.
-
Zabali hanging wooden bridge
The hanging bridge is built over a river called Tibag Sabang. Walking on the shaky bridge is a thrilling experience. The length of the bridge is 380 feet roughly.
From the bridge, you can see the estuary where the fresj water river meets the Philippines Sea.
-
Mayon Smoking Mountain
Ah, this is a volcano that seems to be exhaling smoke from its mouth. Funny sight of a volcano-eh? The peak of the blow hole stands at 8000 feet!
To come and see this attraction, you have to travel 466 km southeast.
The smoke indicates that the volcano is still breathing and that is a valid reason for a good numbers of tourists to visit the site.
The Philippines has a number of volcanoes that form a ring indicating the map of their positions. This is called, “Pacific Ring of Fire”. Mayon is a part of it. The Ring of Fire extends beyond Australia.
The ring covers a staggering 950 volcanoes!.
Incredibly, the Mayon volcano’s soil has cancer treating properties. I have never of a soil containing such medicinal values.
-
Banaue Rice Terraces, Ifugao
Any vegetation that is cultivated on the slope of a mountain is very attractive.
Here in Benaue, that is located in Ifugao province on the Luzon Island of the Philippines, these rice fields on the steps of a mountain is great to look at.
However, I think you need to go to the top of the mountain to enjoy the appealing view.
That’s the round up of 11 enchanting attractions to see in the Philippines.
