Manila city breaks

Places to see in Manila

Manila’s culture has been influenced by its history as a Spanish colony, an American colony and then under occupation by the Japanese during World War II. Manila was the second most devastated city during World War II and almost the entire city had to be rebuilt after the war. There are several buildings left over from the Spanish era of the city, particularly churches and cathedrals. Binondo in Manila is the world’s oldest Chinatown, and the Binondo Church has Spanish and Chinese architectural influences making it unique. Manila has several forts, parks, museums, and art galleries. There are also several organized tours of different parts of the city available, so be sure to check your options and find one that covers your interests. Manila hosts several festivals throughout the year, many of them around the Christian calendar, but also film and sport festivals. Find out more from the City of Manila’s official tourism website.

Food in Manila

Each region in the Philippines has its own cuisine and they can all be found in various restaurants across the city. Most of these cuisines are a mix of traditional Philippine cuisines with influences from Malaysian, Spanish and American cuisines. There are several street food centres around the city, but they are not as safe as those in other Asian nations – so find food chains that serve the same dishes. Pork or chicken barbeque is also quite easily found. You can find a wide variety of rice and noodle based dishes, with a whole array of different meats and seafood. Vegetarians may have a harder time in most restaurants as options may be limited, but those serving Chinese and Indian food may help – be sure to check that the dish doesn’t contain fish paste or other seafood sauces as some dishes that don’t have chunks of meat are considered vegetarian by locals.

Shopping in Manila

There is a large variety of shopping options in Manila. The most basic are the markets around the city where most locals do their day to day shopping. Ukay-ukay’s are the budget shoppers’ paradise as they sell second-hand clothing from the top brands for as little as a one US dollar – these are genuine but their legality is questionable, and may be alongside stores that sell knock-offs. You can buy traditional Philippine clothing that is worn on special occasions in many local stores. Philippines has some of the largest shopping malls in the world, where you could literally spend days – but most of them are outside the City of Manila. The SM Mall of Asia is in Pasay City which is just south of the city, and is being expanded to make it the largest in the world, and Robinsons Place Manila is the largest mall in the city.