PHL is ‘off the beaten path’ but visit it in 2014, says int’l travel site

Published January 6, 2014 10:20pm

Boracay's White Beach is one of the Philippines' must-visit sites, says travel site Rough Guides. Department of Tourism

Black travel warnings and news of calamities and insurgencies may frighten away some tourists from visiting the Philippines, but at least one global travel site is promoting it as actually “relatively safe for travelers”—and is, in fact, one of its top 10 countries to visit this year.

Granted, the list compiled by UK-based travel content provider and guidebook publisher Rough Guides features mostly unconventional, even surprising suggestions—along with tourist favorites Brazil, Japan and Turkey are Ethiopia, Madagascar, Rwanda, Bulgaria and Macedonia. The list looks like the itinerary of a globe-trotter who truly likes to take the road less traveled.

That said, Rough Guides' picks for places to visit, events to watch, things to try and creatures to see in the Philippines are safe and conventional:

White Beach, Boracay
Ati-Atihan Festival in Kalibo, Aklan
El Nido, Palawan
Banaue Rice Terraces
halo-halo
Vigan, Ilocos Sur
whale sharks in Donsol, Sorsogon
Coron Island, Palawan
Chocolate Hills, Bohol
San Agustin Church, Intramuros, Manila
Apo Reef Marine Natural Park, Occidental Mindoro
Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro
Underground River in Sabang, Palawan
Mayon Volcano, Albay
tarsiers of Bohol

The site acknowledges the country's "flare-ups of political violence", but adds that these are "easily avoided." The Philippines, it declares, remains off the beaten (tourist) path for a country that "boasts a dazzling array of pristine reefs, volcanoes, sleepy backpacker islands and the famed rice terraces".

And new direct flights from London to Manila, it added, "mean that it’s now even easier to get there from the UK." — BM, GMA News

Tags: mayonvolcano, butanding, donsol, elnido, palawan