One Day In Manila, The Philippines

In early 2026, as part of an epic 41 hour birthday trip, my wife and I spent a couple of days in Manila, in the Philippines. We really only had one day to actually explore Manila, so I thought I would share our itinerary for one day in Manila, in the hopes that it might help others who have a similarly short time.

Now of course one day is not a long time to be anywhere, and you can’t really explore everything  Different people have different opinions on “slow” vs. “fast” travel. Generally I am of the opinion that I prefer a faster form of travel, to see more places rather than staying in one place for a long period of time, though that is somewhat changing as I get older.

One Day In Manila – Intramuros (Old Town)

We had arrived in Manila late the night before after our United Airlines Premium Plus flight from San Francisco to Manila. By the time we walked to the Holiday Inn Express Manila Newport World Resorts hotel, it was pretty late at night. A combination of the time shift and being able to sleep on the plane, we were not feeling particularly jetlagged and were able to sleep a good night’s sleep.

Looking at Manila traffic, which has a reputation for being awful, it looked like our best bet was to get a little later of a start, so we planned to leave around 930 or 10 a.m. As it turned out, we were there on Good Friday, which is a big national holiday, so traffic was not really an issue at all. We used the Grab app, which is similar to Uber / Lyft which don’t exist in the Philippines. Our ride from our airport hotel to the city center of Manila took about 25 minutes and was about USD$6, incredibly cheap.

Our first stop of the day was Intramuros, the old town of Manila. We went to Fort Santiago, which was built in 1571 by the Spanish to guard the new city of Manila. We chose not to pay to go into the fort / grounds, but instead went to the nearby Manila Cathedral. This was an amazing piece of architecture and beauty

As we were there on Good Friday, there were a ton of people there, along with many people doing the stations of the cross. The Philippines are a very heavy Christian / Catholic country, and there were locals as well as tourists participating. There was a long line to get into the cathedral.

As we continued our exploration of Manila’s Old Town (Intramuros), we went to the San Agustin church which is a landmark baroque 16th century church. We went inside this church to explore it as well as rest for a bit from the heat.

Our final stop in Intramuros was at the 1945 Manila Memorial, which is in a small park in Intramuros with explanatory signs detailing the horrors and atrocities committed by the Japanese against the people of Manila in 1945.

Manila Chinatown – Binondo

I was a bit surprised to learn that Manila has the oldest Chinatown in the world, called Binondo. I would have figured that the oldest Chinatown would be in China, but I guess there they just call it “Town” :-D.

We took another Grab ride between Intramuros and Chinatown which was about USD$4. We walked around Binondo for awhile, sampling some of the culture and vibe. There are also a ton of little shops and street vendors, though make sure to bring cash if you want to buy anything there.

Museums of the Philippines

We had also planned to visit a few of the museums of the Philippines. We walked over from Intramuros to the Manila museum complex, which has the Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of Fine Arts, the National Museum of National History and the Museum of the Philippines. Sadly, after we had walked over there from Intramuros (in the heat!), we found that these museums were all closed because of the Good Friday holiday.

The Bottom Line – One Day in Manila

From some of the things that I have read, if you’re in the Philippines, there are other places to explore besides Manila, and one or two days in Manila may be sufficient, though of course your mileage may vary depending on your interests. We had a fun time with our one day in Manila (though I’d have liked to see the museums).

Have you ever been to Manila? What would you do with one day in Manila? Leave your suggestions in the comments below

Newsletter Signup

Join the PWaC newsletter filled with credit card and travel tips

Join Now!

You have Successfully Subscribed!