Planning a family trip to Philippines? TripNest turns it into its own app: 10 narrated story podcasts about Philippines for the drive, games and a quiz for the kids, an audio phrasebook, and the day-by-day plan and map the whole family shares.
Made by TripNest's own "Plan my days for me" for a family with kids aged 5 to 12 who love beaches, animals, nature and food. Start from it as it is, or let the planner build one around your family.
Route: Bohol
Bohol suits children from about five upwards. Older kids can snorkel off Panglao, swim at calm beaches and enjoy the river cruise at Loboc. Toddlers are harder at the tarsier sanctuaries, where visitors are asked to keep quiet and still. The Chocolate Hills viewpoint also has a long flight of steps. Day trips into the countryside mean several hours in a vehicle, which is tiring for little ones.
Aim for December to April, the drier months, when boat trips are more likely to go ahead. From March to May it gets very hot and humid, and small children can wilt by midday. June to November is the rainy season. Typhoons are more likely in the later months and can cancel sea trips. Christmas and Holy Week are busy because Filipino families travel then too.
Most families reach Bohol by a short domestic flight to Panglao or by fast ferry from Cebu. On the island, the easiest way to see the countryside is to hire a van with a driver for the day. There's room for bags, and kids can nap between stops. Tricycles are fine for short hops but get cramped with luggage. Car seats are rare, so bring your own if it matters to you.
Expect your children to get a lot of attention. Filipinos tend to be openly affectionate with kids, and strangers may touch their cheeks, play with them or ask for a photo. It's meant kindly, but a shy child may need a heads-up beforehand, and you can politely say no. On the plus side, restaurant staff often happily keep little ones busy while you eat.
General guidance for planning - check current conditions and official travel advice before you book.
How do you count a country made of islands?
Some Philippine islands are big enough to hold mountains and cities. Others are small enough to walk around before lunch. We find out why the number keeps changing and what it's like to grow up with the sea as your front yard.
Living beside volcanoes
The Philippines sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the Earth's plates bump and shove. We'll visit Mayon's famous cone and the little volcano sitting in the middle of Taal Lake, and learn how scientists keep watch so everyone stays safe.
Farming on the side of a mountain
Imagine carving flat shelves into a mountain so steep you have to climb to work. That's what families in the Cordillera mountains did, and they built channels to walk water from the forest down to every single terrace. Some of these terraces are still farmed by hand today.
Tarsiers, eagles and forest neighbours
A tarsier can turn its head almost all the way around, hunt in the dark and leap between branches. Meanwhile the Philippine eagle needs a whole forest to itself. We meet the animals you might see - and learn why whispering near a tarsier really matters.
The loudest, brightest ride in town
There's no ticket machine on a jeepney. You pass your fare up through other passengers' hands to the driver, and when you want to get off you shout 'Para po!' We learn the unwritten rules of Philippine roads, including the three-wheeled tricycle.
A food tour in one episode
Sour soup, garlicky rice for breakfast, and a dessert you have to stir before you eat it. Filipino cooking borrows from Asia, Spain and the Americas and turns it into something all its own. Bring an appetite and a spoon.
Festivals, drums and giant lanterns
In Bacolod people wear smiling masks. In Cebu whole streets dance to the same drumbeat. In Pampanga, lanterns the size of cars spin with thousands of lights. We find out what each festival is celebrating and how kids join in.
Baybayin, traders and a long story of change
Long before Spanish ships arrived in 1521, people here traded with China and across Southeast Asia and wrote with a curvy script called baybayin. We follow the story through three hundred years of Spanish rule to the writer José Rizal and Independence Day on June 12.
Coral gardens and gentle giants
Philippine waters sit in the Coral Triangle, the richest sea for ocean life on the planet. We'll paddle over reefs, meet the whale shark - a spotted fish the size of a bus that eats tiny plankton - and hear from people working to keep the reefs healthy.
The word for helping each other
There's an old picture of neighbours lifting an entire bamboo house onto their shoulders to carry it to a new spot. That's bayanihan. We'll see how the idea shows up today, from storm clean-ups to star-shaped parol lanterns glowing in December windows.
About 700 / About 2,000 / About 7,641 / About 40,000
Bohol / Palawan / Luzon / Mindoro
A lizard / A tiny primate / A bat / A type of possum
The Philippines podcast has 10 narrated story episodes for the car or the plane: 7,641 Islands and Counting, The Island of Fire Mountains, Staircases for Rice, The Animal with Enormous Eyes, Riding the Jeepney, Mix-Mix and Mangoes, Street of a Thousand Dancers, Writing Before the Ships Came, Under the Blue and Bayanihan.
"Salamat po", said sa-LA-mat poh. It's one of the phrases in the Philippines audio phrasebook, recorded so the kids can hear it before they try it.
911 (all services). TripNest puts it in your trip's contacts page next to your own contacts.
Every trip starts free: the day-by-day plan, map and contacts. Premium adds the Philippines podcasts, kids' games and the audio phrasebook for $24 (£19 in the UK, A$36 in Australia), once per trip - no subscription.
No. Your trip is one link that opens on everyone's phone, grandparents included, without an account. You can add it to your home screen so it works offline once you land.