Philippines trip cost: an overview (update 2024)

How much does a Philippines trip cost? I kept track of my expenses and this is an overview of all the costs for transportation, food, and activities.

Table of contents hide

1 Philippines trip cost: my travel budget in 2017 vs 2024

2 Phillipines vacation cost: an overview

3 How much does it cost to travel in The Philippines? A summary

4 Book a trip to the Philippines

5 Read more about The Philippines

Philippines trip cost: my travel budget in 2017 vs 2024

At the end of 2017, I traveled to the beautiful Philippines for 2 weeks. The enchanting landscapes, hospitable people, and rich culture left a deep impression on me. To help you plan a trip to the Philippines, I will share an overview of my travel expenses. In this article, I highlight the costs of various aspects of traveling in the Philippines, from flights and accommodation to food and activities.

In addition to my travel experiences from 2017, I will also mention the current prices (2024) where possible. This gives you a good idea of how costs have evolved in recent years.

Whether you’re a budget traveler or prefer a little more luxury on your trip, this article will give you the information you need to create an informed budget for your adventure in the Philippines.

Good to know: Don’t forget that the costs per person can of course vary depending on your travel style, interests, and choices made.

I hope you enjoy reading this article and have fun planning your trip to the Philippines!

Phillipines vacation cost: an overview

Are you curious about my expenses for a 2-week trip to the Philippines? Let’s get started!

Costs you make before your trip to The Philippines

Before traveling to The Philippines, there are some costs you have to take into account. For example:

Plane ticket to The Philippines

If you don’t live in Asia, a plane ticket to The Philippines might be quite expensive. Especially when you travel to The Philippines from Europe, the plane ticket might be one of your largest expenses. Prices for a return ticket range somewhere between €650 and €1000.

I booked my flight for the Christmas holidays very early (in February) and was lucky: I only spent €448 on my return ticket from Amsterdam to Manilla. I flew with China Airlines and KLM and had good flight times (with a layover in Taipei). Good deal, right? If I look at the same period for 2024, I see tickets for €900+. But you can certainly find cheaper tickets if you play around with the dates.

Travel vaccinations

Before traveling to The Philippines, you might need some travel vaccinations. Check with your doctor before you go. I was traveling from The Netherlands, and I needed a vaccine for DTP and Hepatitis A. If you have good travel insurance, it might be covered. If not, those will be additional costs. For me, it was about €90. But of course, this is different in every country.

Backpack

You can travel to The Philippines with a suitcase or a backpack. However, the streets in most places (especially on smaller islands) are not that good, so traveling with a suitcase can be a challenge.

If you don’t own a backpack yet, make sure to get a good one. A good-fitting backpack will last for years. It can be quite expensive though, a good backpack costs between €150-€250. My favorite brand is Osprey.

Costs of transportation in the Philippines

Flying between the islands with Cebu Air.

By plane

The Philippines consists of thousands of islands, and many of the islands have an airport. You can fly to another island for just a few bucks with, for example, AirAsia, Cebu Pacific, or Philippine Airlines.

Check WayAway for the best prices and to get cashback. I took two domestic flights: from Manila to Puerto Princesa and from Coron to Manila. In total, I spent €133.46 (including luggage) for these flights and I chose the Cebu Pacific airline.

Update 2024: the flights between Manila and Puerto Princesa and Coron are still not that expensive. You already have a ticket for a few bucks. The earlier you book, the cheaper it is.

By ferry

You can also take a ferry to many islands, which is cheaper than flying, but the journey is also much longer and it is not always safe.

You can book a single trip from Manila to Coron, for example, from €30 and it takes about 13 hours. Please note that ferries do not run as often as planes, but it can be a special experience.

A good website to compare ferry prices is 2Go Travel. I did not use the ferries during my trip to the Philippines.

By minivan

To travel on land, you can also choose from different means of transport. I have good experience with minivans, for a ride of about 6 hours I paid about 10 euros. At the time I booked these via email or at a kiosk where I was, but nowadays you can also reserve them on websites such as Klook and Get Your Guide.

Update 2024: I see that the prices for this have increased slightly, instead of €10 I would now pay €13 for the same ride.

This can be much cheaper if you take the local buses (jeepneys), but then there is a good chance that you will have to transfer more often and it will take you much longer to get there. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to take a jeepney during my trip (not enough time), but if I go back again, I will definitely take one. They look so cool!

By tricycle

A tricycle is a sidecar motorcycle with a roof, and you will see them driving around all the time. It’s your best option to use these for short rides (less than an hour) and a ride usually doesn’t cost you more than €1.

By taxi

In a big city like Manila, it’s better to use taxis (for example from the airport to Makati), they are pretty cheap. It’s even better to install an app like Uber or Grab on your phone because those services are even cheaper. For a ride from the airport to Makati, I only had to pay €3,50. From what I’ve found, prices for these haven’t increased dramatically in 2024.

Accommodation

You can get accommodation for every price in The Philippines, it just depends on how much you enjoy having some luxury items, like air-conditioning.

Dorm in a hostel

Your cheapest option will probably be staying at a hostel in a dorm. In some hostels, you can sleep for less than €5. I only slept in a hostel once during my trip to The Philippines, and it was really expensive (€17 a night), but also the most luxurious place I’ve stayed in during my trip. Hot showers, fantastic beds, air conditioning, big lockers, nice people, and a great breakfast. Check out Spin Designer Hostel in El Nido if you’d like the same experience.

Update 2024: Hostel prices have increased slightly. For the same hostel, you now pay around €19 per night for a bed in a dorm.

Private room

Staying in a private room can also be cheap, but I noticed prices differ a lot depending on the location you’re staying. In Manila (Makati), I paid about €45 a night for a nice and comfortable room in a luxury hotel. And in Port Barton (Palawan) I had my own (wooden) beach hut for €24 a night.

So you can make it as expensive as you want. In all cases, breakfast was included. I slept alone, so if there are two of you, you can still share these costs.

Places where I’ve stayed in The Philippines

I did a mix myself and alternated between cheap accommodations, a hostel, and luxury hotels. These were the accommodations where I stayed in the Philippines:

Manilla: Red Planet Manila Aseana City – €48 for 1 night
Port Barton: Ausan Beach Front Cottages – €71,57 for 3 nights
El Nido: Spin Designer Hostel – €61,77 for 3 nights
El Nido: Rico’s beach cottages – €30,96 for 1 night
Coron: Sunz En Coron Resort – €61,71 for 2 nights
Manilla: City Garden Hotel Makati – €46,91 for 1 night

On average, I spend €29,17 per night in The Philippines. I only spent 3 nights in a hostel dorm, and all the others were private rooms. I was traveling solo, so when you travel with someone, it’s cheaper. Hotel rooms in Manilla are pretty expensive compared to the hotel rooms in Palawan.

Update 2024: accommodation costs have increased compared to 2017. Take into account an extra 10-25%. But as I mentioned earlier, you can make it as expensive as you want in the Philippines, there are plenty of budget accommodations, but also many beautiful luxury hotels.

Food & drinks

San Miguel in Port Barton - The Philippines — Cheers!

It’s well-known that food in Southeast Asia is cheap. However, before I went on my trip to The Philippines, I read that the food in The Philippines can be pretty expensive. I thought it was fine, it just depends on what you want to eat.

For a local dish, including drinks, I usually paid €3 to €5. If you’d like pizza or a burger, you can double the price, and it doesn’t taste as good as the Philippino dishes. Drinks aren’t that expensive either. A large bottle of water costs €0,50 to €1 and you pay €1 to €1,50 for a beer.

Update 2024: Prices for food and drinks have of course also increased. It’s smart to add at least 10 to 25% to the prices I mention in this article.

Activities

Buhay Isla Tour — Exploring the islands with Buhay Isla.

With all the tropical islands, you should at least book a snorkeling tour when you’re in The Philippines. Especially the El Nido island hopping tours are amazing! During these tours, you can explore the beautiful Bacuit Archipel. The tours will cost about €23-€45 per person, including snorkeling equipment and lunch.

You can also book similar tours in Port Barton, where they are a little cheaper. Unfortunately, I had to skip those day tours, because of a tropical storm and a typhoon.

Update 2024: from what I have found, these tours have become slightly more expensive, but overall the price increase is not too bad.

However, one of the best tours in The Philippines is a multi-day tour from El Nido to Coron (or the other way around). This is also one of the most expensive tours you can take. For 5 days, and 4 nights, including snorkel gear, food, drinks, guide, and sleeping on remote islands, you pay about €360. Update 2024: you now pay around €420 for this tour.

You can book this tour (or a similar one) with Buhay Isla (the company I used) or Tao. A big advantage of taking a tour like this is that you barely meet any other tourists. And the sunsets you’ll see are spectacular.

A local SIM card

The wifi in The Philippines is pretty bad, so if you’d like to keep in touch with your friends and family, I suggest you buy a local SIM card. You can buy a SIM card when you arrive at the airport (you’ll see many stalls of Smart and Globe) and they even install it for you, so you can use it straight away. For 10 GB of data (valid for a month) you’ll pay about €25 (this used to be €17).

You can also opt for an e-SIM from Airalo, this way you will have immediate coverage upon arrival. There are several options, from 1GB for $4.50 to 20GB for $32. With the code JACOBA4108 you get a $3 discount.

How much does it cost to travel in The Philippines? A summary

How Much does it Cost to Travel in The Philippines - pie chart — Breakdown of my travel budget for The Philippines.

How much did it cost to travel in The Philippines during my two-week trip? I spent €1095.05 in total.

Accommodation: €320.92 (11 nights, 8 nights in private rooms with my own bathroom and 3 of them in a 4-bed dorm).
Food: € 185.05
Excursions: € 367.68 (Buhay Isla)
Transportation: €191.17 (2 domestic flights, 3 taxi’s, 2 tricycles, and 3 minivans)
Miscellaneous: €30.23 (SIM card, laundry, and tips)

Costs before traveling to The Philippines: €448 (return flight Amsterdam – Manilla)

During this trip, I did everything I wanted to do and picked some more expensive food (and cocktails) and accommodation. Especially the tour with Buhay Isla was really expensive, but it was definitely worth it. If you skip this one and do day tours instead, you’ll probably have a cheaper trip.

Update 2024: thanks to the cheap ticket, the whole trip wasn’t very expensive. All in all, I think the same trip would be 25-50% more expensive if I made it in 2024.

Book a trip to the Philippines

Are you excited to travel to the Philippines now you now more about the costs of traveling? Then book your trip now!

✈️ Plane tickets – Ninoy Aquino International Airport, also known as Manila International Airport, is the largest international airport in the Philippines. From Manila, you can get almost anywhere in the Philippines. Check WayAway to find the best deals on plane tickets and get cashback.

⛴️ Domestic travel in the Philippines – You can fly to many of the islands in the Philippines, but you can also take the ferry or minibus to get to your next destination. You can book these through 12Go Asia.

💊 Travel insurance – Having good travel insurance will give you peace of mind. Check Insubuy to find the best travel insurance that fits your needs.

🎡 Tours and activities – The Philippines is a perfect destination for adventure seekers. There are a lot of fun tours and activities. Check V iator and Get Your Guide to find the best guided tours and activities.

Philippines trip cost: an overview (update 2024)

Philippines trip cost: my travel budget in 2017 vs 2024

Phillipines vacation cost: an overview