The story of a place
A repeated landscape of rounded limestone hills.
The Chocolate Hills make their strongest impression through repetition. From a suitable viewpoint, the near-perfect forms spread across the landscape, with vegetation changing their colour through the year.
The hills are part of Bohol's wider karst environment and an inhabited countryside. A satisfying visit includes time beyond the main viewing platform, without treating every nearby attraction as equally responsible or worthwhile.
The essential experience
Make time for this.
Visit a recognised viewpoint in good light, then explore the surrounding countryside at a slower pace.
Explore the highlights
Look a little closer.
Watch the Chocolate Hills repeat their rounded shapes across the landscape of Bohol.
Repeated profiles
Compare nearby hills with the distant pattern.
Seasonal colour
The familiar brown appearance is not constant.
Valley spaces
Notice farming and settlement between the hills.
For the curious reader
History, landscape
and context.
The Chocolate Hills (Cebuano: Mga Bungtod sa Tsokolate, Filipino: Mga Tsokolateng Burol, or Mga Burol na Tsokolate) are a geological formation in the Philippine province of Bohol. A minimum of 1,260 hills, and possibly over 1,776, spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometres (20 sq mi). They are covered in green grass that turns a chocolate-brown during the dry season, hence the name. The Chocolate Hills are featured on the provincial flag and seal to symbolize the abundance of natural attractions in the province. The site is on the Philippine Tourism Authority's list of tourist destinations in the Philippines, and it has been declared the country's third national geological monument, as well as being proposed for inclusion in UNESCO's World Heritage List.
Background reading: an abridged extract from Chocolate Hills, by Wikipedia contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and shortened for this guide. Retrieved 22 September 2026. Source revision ↗.
Turn curiosity into a visit
Plan your visit.
- Physical demands
- Viewpoints often involve steps and exposed heat.
- The practical detail
- The green-season landscape is still the Chocolate Hills; colour is not a measure of a successful visit.
Before you set off.
Your ticks stay in this browser.Through the seasons
A place in the world
Find your bearings.
Select the pin to open a detailed map. Use Closer look to see the surrounding region. Drag to move a zoomed map.
Map: Natural EarthA closer view.
Load the local map to explore the surrounding area. Map tiles require an internet connection.
- 1Chocolate HillsOpen directions ↗ · Location reference ↗
A sense of place
In pictures.
Keep looking.
10 photographs, with full-size views and individual credits.
Go a little further
