Manila & Cebu, 5 Nights

Flights from India arrive at Ninoy Aquino International, and the drive into the city can take anything from forty minutes to well over an hour; Manila's traffic is famously slow. Rooms are generally ready from mid-afternoon. Keep the evening easy: a stroll through the Greenbelt gardens in Makati or the sunset over Manila Bay from the promenade on Roxas Boulevard, then an early dinner. Indian restaurants are not hard to find in Makati if a familiar meal appeals after the journey.

The private tour begins at the Manila American Cemetery in Taguig, where white marble crosses mark more than 17,000 graves from the Pacific campaign. From there the car crosses town to Rizal Park, where the national hero José Rizal was executed in 1896, and into Intramuros, the walled city the Spanish began in 1571. Fort Santiago holds the cell Rizal spent his last night in; San Agustin, completed in 1607, is the oldest stone church in the country and part of a UNESCO listing. The drive back passes the Cultural Center and the bayside malls. The afternoon is unplanned.

After breakfast, back to the airport for the domestic flight to Mactan-Cebu; the fare is not in the package, and we book it for you alongside. Mactan is the flat coral island that holds both the airport and most of the beach resorts, tied to Cebu City by bridges across a narrow channel. Depending on the hotel you choose, the stay is either on Mactan's shore or in the city. Nothing else is planned: the pool, perhaps, or an evening at one of the seafood grills where you pick your fish from the ice and pay by weight.

Cebu is where Spanish Christianity in Asia took root, and the city tour follows that thread. Magellan's Cross stands in a small tiled kiosk beside the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño, which keeps the image of the Christ Child given to the island's queen in 1521; expect candle sellers, worshippers and a dress code of covered shoulders. The Heritage of Cebu monument in the old Parian quarter tells the island's story in sculpted bronze. Up in the Beverly Hills district, the Taoist Temple looks over the city to the sea. At dusk the car crosses to Mactan for the 10,000 Roses garden, whose rows of LED flowers light up by the water, and dinner there.

A banca, the wooden outrigger boat of the Visayas, leaves Mactan's eastern shore for the channel towards Olango. Hilutungan's marine sanctuary is the stop most people remember: shallow water, protected coral and shoals of fish close to the surface. Caohagan is a small island of fishing families, and San Vicente on Olango has a second protected reef. Masks and life jackets are standard on these boats, so non-swimmers can float over the coral holding a ring. Carry reef-safe sunscreen and a dry bag, and there is still time for sunset at the hotel.

Breakfast, then the transfer to Mactan-Cebu airport. Most routings home to India connect through Manila or another Asian hub, so the flight time decides how much of the morning is yours. With a later departure there is room for a final swim, or a stop for dried mangoes and otap biscuits, the Cebuano snacks every Filipino host expects a visitor to take home.