Manila

Founded on the eastern shore of Manila Bay at the mouth of the Pasig River, Manila was for two and a half centuries the western terminus of the Spanish Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade, linking Ming and Qing porcelain and silk from China with silver from Mexico. Today, Metro Manila (the National Capital Region) is a federation of sixteen cities where two contrasting worlds sit half an hour apart: the historic core of walled Intramuros, Rizal Park and 1594 Binondo in the City of Manila, and the palm-lined skyscrapers and pedestrian parks of Makati and Bonifacio Global City (BGC) to the south-east.

Give the capital two or three structured days before flying out to the Philippine islands and you will discover world-class free museums, bamboo bike lanes on 16th-century ramparts and one of Southeast Asia's most soulful dining scenes. Start with our first-timer briefing.

Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) operates across four separate passenger terminals on the southern side of the metropolis, linked directly to Manila Bay, Makati and BGC by the elevated NAIA Expressway (NAIAX). Within the city, a stored-value Beep card works on the elevated LRT-1, LRT-2 and MRT-3 lines, while the Grab app handles door-to-door car rides. See how to get to Manila and around.

Most visitors choose between sleeping in modern, walkable Bonifacio Global City (BGC) or Makati (Ayala Center, Salcedo and Legazpi Villages) and commuting into Old Manila for sightseeing, or staying beside Rizal Park, Intramuros and Manila Bay to have the historic sights on their doorstep. Compare every district in where to stay in Manila.

Walk the volcanic-tuff ramparts of Fort Santiago and UNESCO-listed San Agustin Church inside Intramuros, spend an afternoon inside the three neoclassical halls of the National Museum Complex before crossing the Pasig River into Binondo, and unwind among the murals and restaurants of Bonifacio High Street and Ayala Triangle. See the full list in things to do in Manila.

Filipino cuisine is a bold meeting of indigenous Austronesian souring techniques (using calamansi lime, tamarind, green mango and cane vinegar), Chinese wok cookery from Binondo, and Spanish slow-braises and pastries. Do not leave without tasting slow-braised adobo, sizzling pork sisig, tamarind-sour sinigang, roast lechon, Binondo lumpia and shaved-ice halo-halo crowned with purple yam (ube). Read where to eat in Filipino food, Makati and BGC.

From the 1571 arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi until 1815, Manila was Asia's first truly global crossroads, where Hokkien merchants, Spanish friars, Mexican sailors and Tagalog artisans created a distinct mestizo aesthetic seen in capiz-shell sliding windows, carved hardwood santos and courtyard stone townhouses (bahay na bato).