Philippines

With over 7000 islands spread over 300,000sq km, there’s never a bad time to grab a beach towel and head to Whether you’re looking for the best time to hit the beach, dance up a storm at a festival, or simply avoid the worst of the tourist crowds, here’s our guide to the best time to visit the Philippines. Editor's note: during High season means perfect beach weather in spots like El Nido, but also crowds © bugking88 / Getty Images High season: November-April The high season is dry season for most of the country, with December, January and February the coolest, most pleasant months for travel, which brings crowds to popular beach areas like Celebrations around Christmas, New Year and, notably, Holy Week, in the build up to Easter, make it a colorful and fascinating time to visit the country, but many resorts triple rates around these popular periods. The popular Masskara Festival falls in October © Francisco Mangubat Pajares Jr. / Lonely Planet Shoulder season: May-October Shoulder season tends to be short and sweet in the Philippines, often just a month either side of the popular dry season and quieter rainy months. Accommodation savings are available if you time it right and tourist crowds are thinner; however, end-of-term school holidays in April and May bring high levels of domestic tourists during this period. Exciting events like the month-long Magayon Festival in Legazpi in May, with nightly street markets, pop-up bars and live music, and MassKara Festival, which br...

The Philippines’ most active volcano was spewing lava down its slopes on Monday, prompting officials to warn tens of thousands of villagers to be prepared to flee their homes if the gentle eruption turns into a powerful and life-threatening explosion. More than 13,000 people have left the mostly poor farming communities within a 6km (3.7-mile) radius of Mount Mayon’s crater in mandatory evacuations since volcanic activity increased last week. But an unspecified number of people remain within the permanent danger zone below Mayon, an area long declared off-limits but where generations have lived and farmed because they had nowhere else to go. The high-risk zone around Mayon, which began to expel lava on Sunday night, may be expanded should the eruption turn violent, said Teresito Bacolcol, the director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. He said if that happened, people in any expanded danger zone should be prepared to evacuate to emergency shelters. “What we are seeing now is an effusive eruption,” Bacolcol said. “We are looking at this on a day-to-day basis.” Villagers began evacuating from around the volcano last week. Photograph: Aaron Favila/AP Associated Press journalists watched from a distance as lava flowed down the volcano’s south-eastern gullies for hours on Sunday night. People hurriedly stepped out of restaurants and bars in a seaside promenade in Legazpi, the capital of north-eastern Albay province about 8.5 miles (14km) from Mayon, many...

Mayon, the Philippines’s most active volcano, has begun sending lava down its slopes, as volcanic activity increases in an area that is home to tens of thousands of mostly-poor farmers. Lava began to appear on Mayon’s slopes on Sunday night and Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said that authorities were on alert for further developments. “What we are seeing now is an effusive eruption,” Bacolcol told The Associated Press news agency. “We are looking at this on a day-to-day basis.” At least 12,800 people living within a 6km (3.7 mile) radius of the Mayon volcano The area below Mayon, about 330km (205 miles) southeast of the capital Manila, is designated a permanent danger zone but many thousands of people continue to live there because they have nowhere else to go. Volcanologists say the lava is a further sign of increased activity, noting that there were also about 260 rockfall events in the past 24 hours, compared with 177 in the previous 24 hours. More tremors were also recorded – 21 in the last 24 hours compared with two previously. Sulphur dioxide emissions had also tripled on Saturday, according to state volcanologists. “There is a concomitant health risk while being close to the eruption because of inhaling sulphur dioxide gas or the particulate matter of ash-falls,” Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa told a press briefing on Sunday. The The province of Albay, where the conical Mayon is a popular tourist attraction, ...

• Acèh • Адыгэбзэ • Afrikaans • Alemannisch • አማርኛ • Anarâškielâ • अंगिका • Ænglisc • العربية • Aragonés • ܐܪܡܝܐ • Armãneashti • Arpetan • অসমীয়া • Asturianu • अवधी • Avañe'ẽ • Azərbaycanca • تۆرکجه • Basa Bali • বাংলা • Banjar • Bân-lâm-gú • Basa Banyumasan • Башҡортса • Беларуская • Беларуская (тарашкевіца) • भोजपुरी • Bikol Central • Bislama • Български • Boarisch • བོད་ཡིག • Bosanski • Brezhoneg • Буряад • Català • Чӑвашла • Cebuano • Čeština • Chamoru • Chavacano de Zamboanga • ChiShona • ChiTumbuka • Corsu • Cymraeg • Dansk • الدارجة • Davvisámegiella • Deutsch • ދިވެހިބަސް • Diné bizaad • Dolnoserbski • डोटेली • Eesti • Ελληνικά • Español • Esperanto • Estremeñu • Euskara • فارسی • Fiji Hindi • Føroyskt • Français • Frysk • Fulfulde • Gaeilge • Gaelg • Gagauz • Gàidhlig • Galego • 贛語 • Gĩkũyũ • ગુજરાતી • 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌹𐍃𐌺 • गोंयची कोंकणी / Gõychi Konknni • 客家語/Hak-kâ-ngî • Хальмг • 한국어 • Hausa • Hawaiʻi • Հայերեն • हिन्दी • Hornjoserbsce • Hrvatski • Bahasa Hulontalo • Ido • Ilokano • বিষ্ণুপ্রিয়া মণিপুরী • Bahasa Indonesia • Interlingua • Interlingue • Iñupiatun • Ирон • Íslenska • Italiano • עברית • Jawa • Kabɩyɛ • ಕನ್ನಡ • Kapampangan • Къарачай-малкъар • ქართული • Kaszëbsczi • Қазақша • Kernowek • Ikinyarwanda • Ikirundi • Kiswahili • Коми • Kongo • Kreyòl ayisyen • Kriyòl gwiyannen • Kurdî • Кыргызча • Кырык мары • Ladin • ລາວ • Latina • Latviešu • Lëtzebuergesch • Лезги • Lietuvių • Li Niha • Ligure • Limburgs • Lingála • Lingua Franca Nova • Livvinkarjala • La .lojban....