This archipelago of more than 7,000 islands stretched over 3,000 kilometers is Southeast Asia’s best-kept secret. Largely neglected by tourists, it offers amazingly diverse natural wonders and some of the world’s best diving as well as a lively city life.

Visit the spectacular Chocolate Hills of Bohol or the 2,000-year-old Banaue rice terraces; dive among the wrecks of Japanese warships at Coron or swim with whale sharks at Donsol.

Perfect white beaches, karstic formations rising from the sea, coral reefs: these islands are an unspoiled paradise.

Those in search of more cosmopolitan pleasures can look to bustling Manila, known for its shopping, restaurants, and nightlife. Filipinos are some of the friendliest people in the world, and their capital—where modernity rubs shoulders with Spanish Colonialism—moves at an exhilarating rhythm day and night.

For an active outdoors adventure, a relaxing beach holiday or an exciting stay in a city that never sleeps, the Philippines is the region’s ideal destination.