Bohol Full-Day Countryside Tour — Chocolate Hills, Tarsier & More

If you only have one full day on Bohol, this is the tour to take. The Bohol Countryside Tour has earned its reputation as the island's classic itinerary by packing the greatest hits into a single well-paced day — no rental car stress, no getting lost on single-lane mountain roads, just a comfortable air-conditioned van and a local guide who knows which photo spots work at which time of day.

The itinerary starts early at the Blood Compact Shrine in Tagbilaran, commemorating the historic friendship pact between Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna in 1565 — the first international treaty on Philippine soil. From there it's north to the Chocolate Hills viewpoint in Carmen, where 1,776 perfectly conical hills spread to the horizon. The Tarsier Sanctuary visit is next: these tiny nocturnal primates have eyes the size of golf balls relative to their body, and the sanctuary's naturalistic enclosures mean genuine close-up encounters.

Lunch is the star of the Loboc River floating restaurant cruise — a slow drift past jungle riverbanks with a generous Filipino buffet and sometimes live folk music on board. The afternoon adds the 200-year-old Baclayon Church and a nerve-testing walk across the hanging bridge over the Loboc River before the drive back to Panglao. Book through Klook and hotel pick-up from most Panglao resorts is included.