The Philippines - Travel Information

The Philippines is a country with a marketing problem. The foreign tourism to this country has been severely damaged due to several terror incidents that occurred there, and it has still not been recovered from these incidents. Also the fact that the country is compound from more then 7000 islands that are situated relatively far from the mainland does not help in turning the Philippines to a part of the ?must sites? of the travelers in the Far East.

Nevertheless the Philippines enable the travelers to enjoy virginal beaches, wild nature and beauty, and all of this without the extensive tourism traffic that is so typical for the Far East. And another important thing- most of the inhabitants are English speakers (even signs are in English) which makes the traveling easier.

And remember- if you visit one island a day, it will take you 20 years to finish your visit in the Philippines.

The Philippines's Geography

The land size of the Philippines is 299,000 sq km spread on 7102 islands. Among the islands, about 2000 are not settled and only about 500 are bigger then 1 sq km. The Philippines population is about 85 million inhabitants.

Technical information

International phone code: 63
Electric current: 220V

When to travel to The Philippines

The convenient season to travel in the Philippines is during the season without typhoons, meaning September to mid May. The periods of Christian holidays are problematical for traveling in the Philippines, from the transportation aspect.

Between January to May there are few colorful festivals which are recommended and the rice terraces of north Luzon are most beautiful between March to April.

In and Out

The entrance to the Philippines is possible only by flight and the authorities are very strict with the exit flight ticket from the county, so don?t plan on buying a continuance ticket there. There is no need to pre issue a visa, and when you land you will be granted with an automatic 21 day stay visa. Very important ? if you insist at the airport, you can get a 59 day stay visa without an additional payment! So you just need to insist. For us all it took was a polite request.

Travel costs in The Philippines

The Philippine?s local currency is called Peso. $1 = 51.36 Peso, updated for July 2006.

The Philippines is not an expensive place to travel, however it is not as cheap as Thailand. $500-$700 per month will be sufficient for most backpackers, not including internal flights.

It is recommended to exchange money at an official agency. Many are the cases where tourists were tempted to a higher exchange rate offered by a money changer in the street, and only later at the hotel discovered that they received less money.