Philippines or Vietnam?

Vietnam is a beautiful country but overrun with tourists. In the Philippines, you'll be on your own.

I'd go to Boracay if I were you. You have the amenities that you need and a world class beach to boot.

Both places have beautiful areas. If you are into quieter beaches, the Philippines has plenty of those. If you are looking to party in the PH, head to Boracay. Alona Beach in Bohol is not anywhere near the party scene that Bora is, but there's some nice bars things there, + excellent to go island hopping from for snorkeling + diving. (Boracay is not great for diving, although it has a stunning beach).

Don't know if you are into trekking + caving, but if so in the PH the other backpacker congregation is in the Cordilleras -- rice terraces + caving + hiking in Banaue, Batad, Kalinga, Sagada. No beaches, obviously :-)

I don't know about Vietnam's beaches but I imagine they are gorgeous too. Vietnam has a long coastline and similar mountain formations coming out of the water as Palawan in the Philippines, which is stunning. Halong Bay in Vietnam in particular is beautiful.

There are more foreigners bumping around Vietnam, so you're more likely to meet more travelers in Vietnam than in the PH, on average. For some it's a plus, for some travelers they want to get away from that. It depends on what you want. You guys are younger, you might want to be around other travelers more. I did wish there were more travelers to hang out with in the PH when I was backpacking around, but I also met a lot of great Filipinos. You do have the advantage of most Filipinos speaking English (and also in general being much friendlier than the Vietnamese), so you'd be more likely to chat up locals if you go the PH than Vietnam.

You are going to be ripped off sometimes no matter which country you go to -- it just happens when you travel (for example all the hotdog vendors in New York City have 2 prices -- one for the tourists + one for the local New Yorkers who know to ask for the real price). But I have to say it seems to be more hardcore in Vietnam. In the PH even if you are being overcharged people are more willing to bargain and to be friendly about it. In Vietnam, you have to play hardball if you want to negotiate that little piece of fruit down, and even then sometimes people simply won't budge. It gets tiring after a while.

You are 2 boys, but if you were girls, I'd throw out there that the shopping in Hanoi is excellent. The most beautiful silk handbags + silk dresses lacquerware for cheap. But I don't think that's a factor for you guys :-)

Oh Hedberg meant to say: do you 2 surf? If so Siargao, just north of Mindanao, is a surfer spot. I don't think it's "developed", so you may not have the party scene you're looking for, but just another tip.

I spent 16 days in each of these countries this year and I think you've got a really tough choice. I loved these places. As far as big cities go, I liked Ho Chi Minh more than Manila (and definitely more than Cebu), for me the atmosphere was just really awesome there, lots of laid back fun foreigners and a sort of strange vibe that's hard to explain, but awesome. Manila is harder to get around and more expensive. Generally, I found that Vietnam is less "touristy" (except for certain areas, of course) than the philippines, in Vietnam there is alot of opprotunities to go "off road" so to speak and have random adventures (definitely venture into the highlands! get off the beaten track). Of course the philippines has that as well, but parts of it can be really really touristy and for me was no different from the caribbean or any other well-developed touristy breach place. Don't get me wrong, I loved the philippines, and i'm going back in afew months! It's beautiful, the people are fabulously warm... but Vietnam is the same too! I guess if money is a factor I'd stick to Vietnam as it's alot cheaper, especially since you don't have to be flying everywhere, and you can take a trip to cambodia aswell (angkor is a must). Either Vietnam or Philippines is great, this is win win for you. Get a map, close your eyes, throw a dart.

Hedberg, you said 1 month right, 3 weeks in the Philippines and maybe a week in Vietnam.

You guys are 19 so, Boracay would fit you guys, try Puerto Galera (Mindoro) too.

I just wanna say thanks to all of you that have shared your experiences with me! They will absolutely help me a lot!

I think we will go to the Philippines, it seems more like a place that fits us... Is it tricky to travel between different places in the PH? Lets say if we wanna stay one week in Cebu, one in Boracay and one in Palawan or something like that? Is it expensive to travel between different places in the country?

And some people have said Vietnamn is cheaper, but I hope the PH is still cheap? I mean it´s not expensive there, right? How much is recommended to budget for a night in a hotel/hostel/b&b, if you dont need it to be high-class, we just want a place to crash during the night...

Thanks for everything, Johan

Definitely much, much cheaper than the Caribbean Islands, Mexico and the Bahamas. A hotel room in St. John would cost us $200. While a hut with AC in Boracay around $20.

if you want a good mix, try boracay for a week , el nido for a week and dumaguete siquijor for a week

book flights online and in advance for really low fares - lower than ferry costs in some cases

boracay will be the toughest to get discount rates.... manila dumaguete and manila el nido are easier

it seems out of the way but its usually easier to go through manila each time for areas that far apart from each other

my opinion.....
in SEA , the philippines wins hands down in terms of the people, the partying , the beaches and the overall experience - indonesia 2nd , thailand 3rd, vietnam 4th, malaysia 5th ---cant comment on other sea countries
you can get a clean decent fan room with private bath in dumaguete for 400 peso ($8.) Aircon rooms with hot water are double that or more
you may want to limit yourself to 2 places - Boracay and one other - anyway, start with boracay

It's a myth that you can no longer find budget accommodation in Boracay.