Rainy-season plan B: flights, floods and indoor stops

The Manila Hotel opened on July 4, 1912 at the edge of Rizal Park and is a National Historical Landmark. William E. Parsons designed it in a California mission style, and General Douglas MacArthur lived in its penthouse. Even if you stay elsewhere, ask about the Heritage Museum on the property and take coffee at Cafe…

Each lunar new year Binondo turns red and gold. In 2026 the grand parade started at the Manila Central Post Office, crossed Jones Bridge and ran along Escolta to Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz, with a street food festival in the plaza and fireworks the night before. The date follows the lunar calendar, so check the city's…

From December 16 to 24, Manila's churches hold pre-dawn Simbang Gabi Masses, usually starting around 4 a.m. Manila Cathedral in Intramuros and Quiapo Church fill early, so arrive well ahead. Vendors outside sell bibingka and puto bumbong, often with hot chocolate or ginger tea, a breakfast that belongs to the season…

The National Parks Development Committee has run Concert at the Park since 1978, and it is billed as the agency's longest-running cultural program. Shows are staged at the Open-Air Auditorium in Rizal Park, are free to attend and mix classical music, bands, choirs and dance. Evening start times are typical, so arrive…

Behind the secondhand clothing stalls on Hidalgo Street in Quiapo sits the city's long-running camera district. Shops sell new and used bodies, lenses and vintage film cameras, and some of the last independent repair benches in town work here, so it is also the place to fix an old camera. Go in the morning, compare a…

Horse-drawn kalesas wait around Intramuros and Luneta. The classic trap is a low quote that turns out to be per half hour or per person once the carriage is moving. Published Intramuros rates are per hour for the whole carriage, up to six passengers, and the driver must tell you when your hour ends. Confirm price…

The National Museum complex beside Rizal Park groups the Fine Arts, Anthropology and Natural History museums within walking distance of each other. Admission has been free since 2016, and since 2025 the museums open all seven days, so Monday is no longer a dead day. Start at Fine Arts for the huge Spoliarium, then…

At Ninoy Aquino International Airport, solicitors posing as airport staff have steered arrivals into unauthorized cars and shown outdated or fake rate cards that no agency issued. Use the airport's accredited transport or the regular taxi lane, never a fare offered by someone in the terminal, and insist the meter is…