How Much Does It Cost To Travel The Philippines? Budget Breakdown
The Philippines is a country like no other and holds a very special place in our hearts, from the picture perfect beaches in Palawan to the dense jungle of Sagada, we fell in love with every corner of this oasis. The main highlight is the people, the wonderful and overly-friendly people, with the cherry on top being that the Philippines is so cheap to backpack! You can experience some of the world's best activities and island hopping tours for a fraction of the price it would cost in Europe or the States.
After we spent two months travelling the Philippines and tracking everything we spent, we’ve decided to create this guide to help you create your own travel budget for your trip.
Whether you’re a solo-traveller, in a couple or a family, you should be able to use it as a guide to work out your budget and estimated costs. So, how much does it cost to travel the Philippines?
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How Much Does It Cost To Travel The Philippines?
We travel as a “comfortable budget couple”, meaning we are mostly in private rooms, not eating in fancy restaurants but also not from street stalls, we take the bus but choose the aircon option and prioritize activities, but try to choose the local boats and guides.
Overall, we would say it’s a good middle ground to calculate your estimated budget from, here’s our average costs to backpack the Philippines for one person. If you estimate yourself to be a budget or mid-range traveller, then you can subtract or add a little to the daily costs:
Monthly: £680 / $900 / €800
Weekly: £170 / $225 / €200
Daily: £24 / $32 / €28
Average Philippines Backpacking Costs:
Bottle of beer: £1-3
Hostel Bed in a Dorm Room: £5-15
Private Hotel Room (for one or two people): £10-25
Trike Ride: £0.2-5
Jeepney Ride: £0.5-2
Western Restaurant Food: £5-15
Local Restaurant Food: £2-5
Street Food: £1-2
US Dollars
Euros
Backpacking The Philippines: Two Month Itinerary Cost Breakdown
Time Spent: 55 days
Total Cost For 2 people: £2,676 / $3,400 / €3,100
Daily Average For 2 people: £48.66 / $62 / €56
Daily Average For Solo-Traveller: £24.33 / $31 / €28
Our Philippines Travel Budget Breakdown (all prices are for two people):
🏠 Accommodation £607.33 (£14.81 average per night)
🍔 Food & Drink £603.54 (£10.97 average per day)
🏄🏼♂️ Activities £439.78 - Kawasan Falls, El Nido Boat Tours, Sagada Spelunking etc...
✈️ Internal Flights £466.57 - The biggest expense when travelling the Philippines
🚌 Transport £375.82 - Buses, Trikes and Ferries
🧯 Random £183.04 - Scooter Breakdowns and visits to the Pharmacy
10 days in the Philippines budget per person: £250 / $320 / €290
2 weeks in the Philippines budget per person: £340 / $450 / €400
3 weeks in the Philippines budget per person: £510 / $670 / €600
Backpacking The Philippines Expenses: Preparation and International Flights
Before you even touch down in Asia, be prepared to splash the cash!
International Flights
The biggest expense will probably be your international flights, if you’re coming from somewhere else in Asia then this shouldn’t be too bad, however it can be a big lump sum coming from Europe or the US. Here’s what to expect:
Long haul - Europe/US to Asia £250 to £600 per person ($330-790 / €300-700)
Internal in Asia - £50 to £100 per person ($65-130 / €60-120)
We use WayAway to check for the cheapest flights!
Travel Vaccinations
The next biggest expense was our health jabs that we got, to be protected from the diseases in Asia, we got some done through the NHS which is free healthcare in the UK, however the ones done privately cost £460 ($600 / €550) per person! For more details on what’s needed, checkout the Top Things To Know Before Visiting The Philippines.
Travel Insurance
Essential for peace of mind on your trip, make sure you’re covered if anything goes wrong. From lost baggage to medical emergencies, SafetyWing have got you covered, they have a super helpful online portal where you can login to see your policy, billing and make claims. We were originally insured through Tesco Bank however once we discovered SafetyWing it was an absolute game changer!
Random Travel Essentials
The final big expense we had in the preparation for our Philippines trip was all of the random travel essentials we needed, from our backpacks to mosquito spray, here’s some of the items we use the most:
Apple Air Tags in case your luggage goes missing. This happened to us on our first long haul flight and the air tags paid for themselves immediately, worth their weight in gold!
Multi-USB Travel Adaptor, All of the countries in Asia have different plugs, charge multiple devices in any country with one adaptor
Microfibre Towels, lightweight and dry quickly
Osprey Backpacks, open as a chest rather than top down and also have a detachable front pack perfect for day trips.
Strong Mosquito Spray, make sure you bring tropical mosquito spray!
Enough Suncream, it is expensive in Asia as they know only tourists buy it. The local sunscreen also has bleaching agents in it to stop tanning
Philippines Transport Costs
The Philippines is made up of 7,000 islands meaning in order to get around you have to get between each island, this makes ferries and flights a necessity and is the reason travelling the Philippines is slightly more expensive than the rest of Asia.
Total Transport Cost: £883 / $1,120 / €1,020
Time Spent: 55 days
Daily Average For 2 people: £16 / $20 / €18
Daily Average For Solo-Traveller: £8 / $10 / €9
The chart above shows clearly that internal flights are the biggest expense by far, they are the quickest and most convenient way of getting between the islands however they cost, so if you’re on a tight budget we suggest getting overnight buses and long ferries where you can.
Philippines Accommodation Costs
Overall, for mostly private rooms with some hostel shared dorms, for two people it cost us:
Total Accommodation Cost: £607.33 / $770 / €700
Nights: 41
Daily Average For 2 people: £14.81 / $18.75 / €17
Daily Average For Solo-Traveller: £7.40 / $9.40 / €8.50
The reason it’s 41 nights and not 55 to represent our full two months is because we stayed with a local family in their village for a week with a family friend. Read more on our experience Living With A Local Filipino Family, it was an interesting one!
Interestingly, we found that for a couple, private rooms are cheaper, so it makes so much more sense to choose that:
Private Rooms:
Total Spent: £453.05 / $580 / €530
Nights: 31
Average Cost per Night for Couples & Solo Travellers: £14.61 / $18.75 / €17
Dorm Beds:
Total Spent: £154.28 / $195 / €180
Nights: 10
Average Cost per Night for Couples: £15.43 / $19.50 / €18
Average Cost per Night for Solo Travelers: £7.70 / $9.75 / €9
Philippines Food and Drink Costs
Although the food isn’t the best in the Philippines, especially compared to Thailand, it is pretty cheap. You will definitely pay more if you want to eat in western style restaurants every night, here’s how much food cost us on average excluding the nights we spent with family friends:
Total Spent: £562.41 / $715 / €655
Days: 41
Average Cost per Day for 2 People: £13.70 / $17.50 / €16
Average Cost per Day for 1 Person: £6.85 / $8.75 / €8
You will also notice a large difference depending on where you eat, we chose to eat at local restaurants rather than street food or western restaurants. These are the average costs:
Western Restaurant Food: £5-15
Local Restaurant Food: £2-5
Street Food: £1-2
Philippines Attractions and Excursions Costs
Prioritise what’s important! We think making memories doing the activities in each place is all we’ll really remember in 10 years about our trip so we try to prioritise adventure, here at some estimated costs of our favourite activities and excursions throughout the Philippines.
Philippines Adventure Travel Budget
Here are some of our favourite adventure activities and their costs for 1 person:
Moalboal - Kawasan Falls Canyoneering: £37 / $47 / €43
Moalboal - Diving or Snorkelling The Sardine Run (DIY): £5 / $6.40 / €5.90
Moalboal - Diving or Snorkelling The Sardine Run (Tour): £30 / $38.40 / €35.40
Moalboal - Snorkelling at Panagsama Beach: Free
Siquijor - Cantabon Cave: £4 / $5.10 / €4.70
Bohol - The Danao Adventure Park Plunge: £10 / $12.80 / €11.80
Siargao - Cloud 9 Surf Lessons: £20 / $25.60 / €23.60
Sagada - Sumaguing Cave: £7.50 / $9.60 / €8.80
Philippines Island Hopping Costs
El Nido Island Hopping Tour A: £21 / $27 / €25
Port Barton Island Hopping Tour: £18 / $23 / €21
Siargao Island Hopping Tour: £40 / $53 / €49
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Other and Random Costs
There is then the annoying category of costs, the random things people don’t really budget for, trips to the Pharmacy, scooter flat tyres, rental car breakdowns, mobile data and souvenirs. Make sure you always allow yourself an emergency fund in case something goes wrong.
Total Spent On Random: £183 / $233 / €212
Budget Travel In The Philippines: Tips and Tricks To Save Money Backpacking
Eat breakfast at the bakeries. Going out to a restaurant 3 times a day is so long, especially for two months so we decided every morning would be a trip to a bakery or supermarket, saving us money and time
Limit internal flights. Get overnight ferries and buses if you can, we never found out until after, but there is a long haul ferry to Siargao which would’ve saved us over £100
Stay in guest houses. The western style hotels and hostels are always more expensive than a more local guesthouse, we always found private rooms for much cheaper than a single bed in a western style hostel
Rent your own scooter. If you’re brave enough to tackle the Asia roads, then drive yourself to all of the tourist hotspots rather than hiring a driver for the day
Cut down on booze. We found this to add up so quickly! If you cut down on beers and cocktails then you’ll save so much money, we often found this is how restaurants make most of their money, cheap food but expensive drinks
Final Thoughts On Your Travel Budget Philippines
After spending two months travelling around the Philippines and seeing the variety it has to offer, we fell in love with the country and actually found it hard to leave! It's one of the cheapest countries to travel in the world, and depending on your preference of travel, you can go super budget and hitchhike or you can stay in luxury western style hotels.
So how much does it cost to travel The Philippines? For the normal backpacker it’s very affordable to travel and you can set a realistic budget whether you’re there for 10 days, 3 weeks or 2 months!
Travel Tools To Help You Plan
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Thank you for reading and enjoy your Philippine adventure. Reach out to us over on Instagram @KateandMikesTravels. We always love to hear from people who read our blogs!
For our Filipino friends: Maraming salamat sa pag babasa, hangang sa susunod nating pag kikita, mamimiss namin kayo, mabuhay ang pilipinas! Salamat
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