Chocolate Hills, Bohol

The Chocolate Hills are one of the Philippines’ most unusual landscapes: more than a thousand almost perfectly rounded hills scattered across the interior of Bohol island. Covered in grass, they are green through the rainy months and turn brown in the dry season, when they look like rows of chocolate drops.

The main viewing complex near Carmen has a stairway up to an observation deck with a sweeping view across the hills. On the way, most tours stop at a sanctuary for the tiny Philippine tarsier, one of the world’s smallest primates, and drive through a planted forest of tall mahogany trees.

Round off the day with a lunch cruise on the Loboc River, drifting past palm-lined banks with live music on board. Bohol is a short flight from Manila or a ferry ride from Cebu, and the beaches of neighbouring Panglao make a comfortable base for families.