Top Things to do in Manila, Phillipines

If you are on exploring Asia, you have to make a travel plan to the Philippines and visit the capital city of Manila. Manila Metro has got some of the spectacular Spanish colonial buildings in INTRAMUROS. Manila is also home to a few of the world heritage sites like San Agustin Church and Rizal Park, etc. There are world-class museums, art galleries and many tourist attractions with regards to art and culture. My Filipino friend Maria narrated me all the Top Things to do in Manila and I planned to spend one Christmas holidays with her. Let me tell you about my plan and what I did with regards to the top things to do in Manila during my backpacking to Manila.

Manila INTRAMUROS

This was the first place that I visited during my Christmas Manila backpacking. History says it was built by the first Spanish colonial settlers in the late 16th century. Locals nicknamed this as the Walled City and it was rightly named indeed. This small colonial city was spread across an area around half a square KM. The best way that we explored this area was by taking a walk exploring the preserved religious, military, educational and cultural edifices all along the way. There are lots of Filipino restaurants serving tasty cuisines, so planning a whole day there was not a bad idea at travel blog.

Manila Ocean Park

I always get excited to see anything under the sea, and Manila Ocean Park was an ideal place for me. This is a large OCEANARIUM where over 250 species of sea creatures live. Ocean Park has 19 attractions and 4 encounters for you to give a thrilling enjoyment. I believe one visit was not enough to enjoy the thrill and excitement after exploring the attractions. Maria was smart enough to get the tickets booked online well in advance from their official website. This saved a lot of time as headed over directly to enjoy the attractions like SHARKS & RAYS ENCOUNTER, MERMAID SWIM EXPERIENCE, OCEANARIUM, TRAILS TO ANTARCTICA, SEA LION SHOW, NEON RIDES, AQUANAUT and BE A SEA LION TRAINER. We had our grand buffet lunch at the Club H2O Lounge of the Hotel H2o serving over 150 dishes to choose from having a mouth-watering taste.

Manila Cathedral

A visit to Manila remains incomplete unless you don’t see the Manila Cathedral. This architectural building is considered a grand masterpiece of architecture by the whole world and a famous tourist attraction. This amazing architecture was built by the first Spanish settlers in 1571 with wood and bamboo. It was demolished almost seven times since then until the last architecture building was constructed in 1958. The Door panels, sculptures, altarpieces, wrought-iron grille gates all are made out of bronze. This church has beautiful and famous stained-glass windows and the central door of the church artistically reflects about important episodes in the history of Manila Cathedral. This church is a famous venue for all Catholic celebration and a centre of attraction for all the tourists.

Among other top things to do in Manila are a visit to THE SAN AGUSTIN CHURCH, VISITING BINONDO (MANILA’S CHINATOWN), AYALA MUSEUM, MANILA BAYWALK, RIZAL PARK, and FORT SANTIAGO. Finally enjoy a gala sunset seafood dinner at THE HARBOR VIEW RESTAURANT.

There were more to explore in the Philippines and I decided to re-visit again. For now, I am signing off leaving an impression with all of you about my golden memories which I had during my Christmas Manila backpacking.