Intramuros: Fort Santiago, San Agustin Church and Casa Manila

Literal Spanish for "Within the Walls", Intramuros is the 64-hectare fortified stone district on the south bank of the Pasig River that served as the political, military and religious capital of the Spanish East Indies from 1571 to 1898. Surrounded by four and a half kilometres of thick volcanic-tuff (adobe) walls and stone bastions, it is the finest place to start your first morning in Manila.

Fort Santiago and the Pasig River bastions

Enter at the northern tip of the walled city through Fort Santiago, built by Miguel López de Legazpi on the site of the pre-colonial settlement of Rajah Sulayman. Cross the moat bridge to photograph the carved relief of Santiago Matamoros on the 1714 stone gate guarding Plaza Moriones. Inside the citadel, the restored brick Rizal Shrine Museum honours national hero Dr José Rizal, who was imprisoned here in late 1896 before his execution at nearby Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park); brass footprints set into the flagstones trace his final walk out of the fort. Climb the ramparts overlooking the Pasig River and explore the casemates of Baluarte de Santa Barbara.

San Agustin Church (UNESCO), Casa Manila and Manila Cathedral

Follow General Luna Street south past Plaza de Roma and the neo-Romanesque dome of Manila Cathedral. Two blocks further stands San Agustin Church, completed in 1607 and inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list as one of the Baroque Churches of the Philippines. Miraculously, San Agustin was the only building in Intramuros to survive the 1945 Battle of Manila with its roof standing. Step past the Chinese granite guardian lions at the portal to see the 1875 3D trompe-l'oeil ceiling paintings, the 17th-century carved molave choir loft and the tomb of Legazpi, and tour the adjoining San Agustin Museum cloisters filled with ivory santos and galleon-trade liturgical art.

Directly across the cobbled street in Plaza San Luis sits Casa Manila, a three-storey living museum showing how an affluent 19th-century Manila family lived: stone carriage courts below, hardwood halls cooled by floor-level ventanillas and sliding mother-of-pearl capiz window panes upstairs.

Baluarte de San Diego, Bambikes and Barbara's

At the southwestern corner of the walls, walk the concentric circular stone rings of Baluarte de San Diego (1586) and its pergola gardens. To cover all the gates and bastions effortlessly, join a guided ride with Bambike Ecotours on Real Street using bicycles handcrafted from sustainable local bamboo, and pause for halo-halo or lunch inside Barbara's Heritage Restaurant.