How Much Should You Budget for a Trip to the Philippines?

The Philippines can be relatively affordable on a day-to-day basis.

It is often transportation and excursions that push the budget up, far more than meals or basic accommodation.

An extra ferry, a domestic flight or a three-day cruise can therefore have a much bigger impact than saving a few euros each night on your room.

Prices also vary significantly depending on the season, the islands you visit and the level of comfort you are looking for. The Philippine Department of Tourism is a useful reference when planning your trip and checking practical information before departure.

On our side, we have already gathered all the benchmarks we consider useful. After traveling through the country for several months, these are the budgets we would use today to plan a realistic trip.

 

What daily budget should you plan for in the Philippines?

In our guide, we distinguish between three traveler profiles.

Traveler profile	Average budget to plan
Backpacker	around €72 / day / person
Couple	around €76 / day / person
Family of 4	around €99 / day / person

These budgets include accommodation, food, local transportation, activities and miscellaneous expenses, but not international round-trip flights.

 

How much does accommodation cost in the Philippines?

Accommodation remains relatively affordable, but prices vary significantly between islands.

Among the prices we actually encountered:

• Coron: around €13 solo / €35 for a double room
• El Nido: around €14 solo / €38 for a double room
• Puerto Princesa: around €8 solo / €22 for two
• Cebu City: around €25 for a double room
• Moalboal: around €75 for two depending on the level of comfort
• Siquijor: around €65
• Bohol: around €80

For more general benchmarks, expect around:

• €10 for a dorm bed,
• €25 for a basic double room,
• €45 for a family room.

Prices depend heavily on the destination: Palawan, for example, does not have the same price levels as Bohol or Moalboal.

 

How much should you budget for food?

This is probably the easiest part of the budget to control.

In a small local restaurant, lunch or dinner can cost around €2.50, often with rice included.

For a more Western-style or tourist-oriented restaurant, expect closer to €8 for a main course and a drink.

Food is rarely what makes a Philippines trip expensive.

 

The real expense to watch: transportation

This is where the Philippines differ from many other Southeast Asian countries.

Changing islands can sometimes mean tricycle + ferry + van, or simply a domestic flight.

Local transportation, on the other hand, is generally much cheaper: just a few euros by tricycle, bus or jeepney.

So the way you build your itinerary determines a large part of your overall budget.

That is also why we recommend choosing islands that connect naturally rather than multiplying unnecessary back-and-forth journeys. Our article Which Islands Should You Choose in the Philippines for a First Trip? explains the most coherent combinations in more detail.

What about activities?

This is the other major expense that can really change your total budget.

A few examples from our trip:

Coron Island Loop: around €35
Tour A in El Nido: around €45
Underground River: around €45
3-day Balabac cruise: around €235
3-day / 2-night Coron–El Nido cruise: around €280

This is also where we would avoid automatically choosing the cheapest option.

A three-day cruise may cost far more than a direct ferry, but it can also replace several nights of accommodation, meals, transfers and excursions.

 

How much should you budget for 3 weeks in the Philippines?

For our 21-day itinerary, the estimates in the guide are around:

€1,520 per backpacker,
€3,220 for a couple,
€6,410 for a family of four.

This corresponds to the route developed in our article Philippines 3-Week Itinerary: A Smooth and Balanced 21-Day Route.

These figures are obviously not a rule.

You can spend less by removing certain excursions or relying more heavily on overland transportation and ferries. You can also spend significantly more with higher-end hotels and several domestic flights.

 

Small expenses you should not forget

A few useful benchmarks:

SIM card: around €10
Scooter rental: around €15 / day
Laundry: around €2 / kg
Local beer: around €2
Cocktail or glass of wine: around €6

Individually, these expenses are small. Over three weeks, they still add up.

 

How can you reduce your budget without ruining the trip?

We would save mainly on logistics, not on the experiences that made you want to take the trip in the first place.

Avoid unnecessary domestic flights. Group islands by region. Use buses and ferries when they do not cost you an entire day. Eat local regularly. And most importantly, choose the excursions that genuinely matter to you rather than booking one every day.

A better-designed itinerary can often save you more money than choosing accommodation that costs €5 less per night.

 

So, how much should you plan for?

For a comfortable but reasonable first trip, we would budget around:

€70 to €80 per day per person, excluding international flights.

That gives you enough to sleep comfortably, eat without constantly watching every euro, move around and keep the major experiences that make the trip worthwhile.

The TAMAP Philippines Guide breaks down the prices we observed, transportation and activities at each stop so you can anticipate your budget before departure rather than discovering it as you go.

 

Planning your trip?

If you want to follow this route without rebuilding all the logistics yourself, the TAMAP Philippines guide details the actual journeys, travel times, best areas to stay, access, prices we observed, excursions and alternatives. Its itineraries are flexible: you can follow them as they are, keep individual days or build your own route using the same framework. Then it is yours to turn into your own trip.

→ Discover the Philippines Guide