Best And Worst Places In Philippines

[Thomas]

In context here though. Navotas, Malabon, Tondo, Payatas (Smokey Mountain), Paco, Bagong Silang Phases 1-7, Novaliches Bayan, areas of Pasig City, Agham, Litex, Capitol Hills, Bgy Commonwealth are not areas where a person would tour or go to say voluntarily if not for family.

I recognice some of them. Are they all in Metro Manila?

[Petey]

I really like Baguio. There are some nice places to visit. My daughter likes the pony riding. Visited a military museum - tanks and artilary to name but a few. I really enjoyed visiting there.

 

La Union was very nice. Felt very relaxed at Kahuna Resort. A nice little challet/hut with a pool and nice view of the beach. There were vendors selling paintings there, but they wern't pushy. Vigan was enjoyable. Took a horse and cart on a tour. Very reasonable pricing.

 

Tagaytay is the place we have gone back to a few times. Picnic Grove has a great view of Taal volcano. Plus Skyranch is a big hit with my daughter.

 

The hotel we stayed, in Boracay was really nice. Only a stones throw from a private beach. The main populated area of the beach was a little too crowded. But i can see the appeal for younger people, and for the gentlemen in their silver years :dance: We had a tour of some of the islands by boat.

 

In Metro Manila - Hmm. Let me think..... long and hard. Ok. Global City ( Taguig ) is very nice. Market Market! is a good place to visit. There are some really nice bistros and wine bars. You can see there putting a lot of effort into the area. It is still well maintained and hasnt been totally inundated with condos yet. Eastwood is like the "Entertainment" area. Popular with you younger genration. Lots of places to eat, very well maintained also. Greenhills Mall is great if your looking for Tech things at "discount" in the basement areas, if you know what i mean. :thumbsup:  Star City in Manila was very good also. Lots of rides for the kids, but they have odd opening times, IIRC 2pm till 10pm. They have an Ice Kingdom, and my god it was lovely. I was handed a jacket with hood and gloves. I'm like "Nahhhh! I'm British and the cold is what i need" :lol:  -20 and I'm a happy bunny.

 

I really loved Cebu. We stayed in a hotel ( cant remember the name of it ) where you could zip line from one building to the other side, also do an outside walk around the building. That was cool. The guide was really nice. He incorporated the surounding areas into a story that he was telling.

 

End of the day it all comes down to what you enjoy. Do you like places of natural outstanding beauty? I find that here there very hard to come by. Meaning that they exist but are almost impossible to get to, or people don't know them and if they do then it becomes populated by squatters and vendors for the tourists :1 (103):  The best natural place i have seen in Manila is WahWah Dam. A nice walk but its a little out of the way, and yes. There are vendors in the area. But past those its a nice walk. If dining out is your thing, then i would reccomend visiting Taguig. Nice, clean and modern. Plus not having colour coding there helps and it has the lowest tax bracket in Philippines. Damn we should of moved there lol.

[chris49]

 

In context here though. Navotas, Malabon, Tondo, Payatas (Smokey Mountain), Paco, Bagong Silang Phases 1-7, Novaliches Bayan, areas of Pasig City, Agham, Litex, Capitol Hills, Bgy Commonwealth are not areas where a person would tour or go to say voluntarily if not for family.

I recognice some of them. Are they all in Metro Manila?

 

 

Highly populated squatter areas of Manila and Quezon City. Bagong Silang is pretty far out but it's still QC. Flooding being the main problem through all of them.

[chris49]

La Union was very nice. Felt very relaxed at Kahuna Resort. A nice little challet/hut with a pool and nice view of the beach. There were vendors selling paintings there, but they wern't pushy. Vigan was enjoyable. Took a horse and cart on a tour. Very reasonable pricing. (Petey)

Since San Fernando, La Union is one of my no go areas, it should be clarified that San Juan is 8 km north of San Fernando. It is quite nice and has a decent surf, a favored spot for foreigners over many years because at one time there was a small US Navy base there.

Edited August 31, 2015 by chris49

[Petey]

La Union was very nice. Felt very relaxed at Kahuna Resort. A nice little challet/hut with a pool and nice view of the beach. There were vendors selling paintings there, but they wern't pushy. Vigan was enjoyable. Took a horse and cart on a tour. Very reasonable pricing. (Petey)

Since San Fernando, La Union is one of my no go areas, it should be clarified that San Juan is 8 km north of San Fernando. It is quite nice and has a decent surf, a favored spot for foreigners over many years because at one time there was a small US Navy base there.

 

San Juan is where the Thunderbirds resort is, or close to it?

 

Why is La Union a no go area for you? Of course we may of had different experiences, perhaps i was pre occupied with finally being able to enjoy driving on pretty calm roads for once i didn't notice anything wrong.

[afathertobe]

Interesting discussion, let's keep it going. I also found many tourist spots to be somewhat disappointing, and the natural beauty not quite as great as elsewhere.

 

My personal favourite still has to be the South of Cebu island, terrific coastal roads, beautiful and peaceful towns, some nice little beaches though no stand-outs, snorkeling, diving. 

 

I was somewhat unimpressed by Bohol, Puerto Galera, Puerto Princessa (just a crowded city really) and the roads and towns in Palawan in general (compared to Cebu island) 

 

Boracay is what it is, it's a quality place if what you're looking for is beach and party, rather than a quiet retreat I think. 

 

But I'm grateful for pointers of other places to visit, both for biking (motor-) and for a family holiday. 

[Jack Peterson]

:thumbsup:  yes i am very Bias but I also think Dumaguete and surrounding Districts are worth a visit;

https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=images+of+dumaguete+now+and+then&rlz=1C1GIWA_enPH638PH638&espv=2&biw=1360&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=EWRUVbyxI8a9ugSghYCIDA&ved=0CDAQ7Ak

http://www.godumaguete.com/

 

That's me Folks and many others  :thumbsup:

 

JP

 

 

[chris49]

Petey. SF, La Union for only a medium sized town has one of the worst traffic systems in the Philippines, with a one way system, bottle neck at either end.

To the point where if by car, bus or tricycle, you may see the place you want to go, even if it's only a few hundred metres which you might walk. But you are forced to follow the one way system, taking up to 30 minutes to get to your destination vs 5 mins you walked.

Surely you would have noticed that if you were there daytime? Take a stsrting point at Mc Donald's, KFC, or Chow King, there in Town Centre oppostite that big square around the park and try reaching a point which is behind you.

Plus for only a medium sized town it is extremely overcrowded and not that clean. Then in SF, trying to get any kind of "deal" on a hotel room. They won't budge and the rooms are quite old.

Edited September 1, 2015 by chris49

[frosty (chris)]

:thumbsup:  yes i am very Bias but I also think Dumaguete and surrounding Districts are worth a visit;

 

 

That's me Folks and many others  :thumbsup:

 

 

Looks good Jack, might just have too do a trip and check the place out, everyone I have spoken too always give Duma the :thumbsup:

[scott h]

I also found many tourist spots to be somewhat disappointing

 

One thing I have noticed about tourist attractions and other places of interest. I would be interested if other have noticed the same thing.

 

Once an attraction becomes popular and know, basic upkeep seems to slide and after awhile just are not that attractive anymore, my examples:

 

#1 Way back we too our young nieces to a new water park. Fun place had a great time. Couple of years later went back and a few of the attractions were out of order, place wasn't as clean etc. Few years later almost unrecognizable. Almost as if investors got their money back but didn't bother to reinvest.

 

#2 The famous Borakay. Went there way back, and 3 times since, stayed at the same medium budget bungalow type hotel. Was very pleased, quiet, nice water, easy beach access, great island hopping. But over the years harder to get to the beach because of all the bars and clubs lining it. Can no longer land right on hotel beach from the pump boats. Water has algae (I think I saw an article in the paper that the island sewage system is overloaded) Folks just seem to build and build until it is over capacity.

 

Those are just a couple. Just wondering if others have noticed the same trend.