Manila

The wall still runs some four and a half kilometres, and the Spanish city sat inside it. Street fighting in 1945 flattened most of the buildings, so much of what you see is rebuilt, and the walkway on top breaks off in places. Bamboo bicycles are for hire.

Finished in stone in 1607, the only building inside Intramuros to come through the war standing. The ceiling is flat but painted to read as coffered, and the monastery beside it is a museum with its own ticket. Back-to-back weddings close the nave at weekends.

The cell where Rizal was held until the eve of his execution is still there, and bronze footprints in the ground trace the walk he made out of it. A panel says high tide reached the lower cells. The gardens are wide and people sit out in the shade.

Rizal was shot here in 1896; what stands now is a monument and lawns. A separate section stages the execution in life-size bronze, and the fountains are lit in the evening. On Sunday mornings tai chi and zumba groups divide the grass between them.

The old finance building turned gallery, and there is no admission charge. Juan Luna's Spoliarium, which took a prize in Rome in 1884, fills an entire wall, and that room is the only one with benches. Closed on Mondays.

Spain settled Catholic Chinese here in 1594, hence the claim to the oldest Chinatown anywhere. Narrow lanes tangle with jeepneys and handcarts, so walking is quicker, and restaurant signs run half in Chinese and half in Filipino.

Home to the Black Nazarene, and the procession on 9 January draws millions and stops traffic across the city. A queue stands at the image even on weekdays, and the lanes outside sell herbs and charms. At mass the crowd reaches past the doors.

Earthquakes, fire and war brought it down eight times, and what stands today went up in 1958. The bronze doors carry the church history of Manila in relief, and the pipe organ was shipped from Europe. Weddings are frequent enough to shut it some afternoons.

Manila's main commercial street in the early twentieth century, and the art deco blocks are still lined up. Most stand empty or serve as storage, though young traders have taken floors in a few and run a weekend market. A bridge links it to Binondo.

A Spanish cemetery where graves were stacked as niches inside a circular wall, and the ground where Rizal was first buried after his execution. It serves as a garden now rather than a cemetery, and a Friday evening concert series has run here for years.

A branch of the National Museum in the old Finance Building beside Rizal Park. Pottery and textiles from across the islands share its floors with finds raised from the San Diego, a Spanish galleon that sank in 1600. Entry is free.

Opened in 2018 in the restored former Agriculture and Commerce Building. A steel Tree of Life rises from the central courtyard to the roof, ringed by gallery floors. The skeleton of Lolong, a saltwater crocodile caught in the Philippines, is on show.

A museum across from San Agustin Church, built during the 1980s to copy a Spanish-era mansion. Upstairs rooms hold period furniture behind windows paned with thin capiz shell. Even the kitchen and a two-seat toilet are recreated.

A museum of Chinese-Filipino history inside Intramuros. Dioramas and life-size figures show daily life in the Spanish-era Parian, and its rooms collect the porcelain and household goods Chinese traders brought in. Fort Santiago is walkable from here.

A Gothic church built entirely of steel, its sections made in Belgium and shipped over, completed in 1891. It is painted to pass for stone, but a knock on a pillar rings like metal. Quiapo Church is within walking distance.

The church at the heart of Binondo's Chinatown, a minor basilica honouring Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino saint. Its octagonal bell tower is the older part that survived wartime bombing. Ongpin Street's food lanes begin at the plaza in front.

Wealthy Chinese-Filipino families built houses over their graves here, and some mausoleums have air conditioning, kitchens and toilets. The lanes carry names and numbers, so it reads like a neighbourhood. It is big and tangled; many hire a guide at the gate.

A seafront promenade along Roxas Boulevard on Manila Bay. The water faces west, which gave the bay its name for red sunsets, and people line the railing as the sun drops. Nobody swims; the bay is too murky.

An art deco theatre opened in 1931, its facade crowded with carvings of Philippine plants. Left derelict for years, it was restored and stages shows again. It stands near the Manila Central Post Office.

A market district west of Binondo where wholesale arcades and street stalls run on for blocks. It is known as the cheapest place in Manila for clothes, fabric, toys and party goods. In the year-end rush it is barely walkable, so carry bags in front.

More than 17,000 American and Filipino war dead lie under the lawns of this cemetery in Taguig. The curved colonnades carry the names of over 36,000 missing whose bodies were never found. It sits beside Bonifacio Global City, an easy taxi ride.

A pipe organ in St Joseph's Church, Las Pinas, with most of its pipes made of bamboo. The Spanish priest Diego Cera built it in the early 1800s, and it still plays for Mass and concerts. An international bamboo organ festival is held in its honour each year.

Formally the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. Each Wednesday the novena draws crowds that spill into the yard, and the church is known for keeping its doors open day and night. The Baclaran market around it is famed for cheap clothes and shoes.

The fortress island guarding the mouth of Manila Bay, where American and Filipino troops held out against Japan early in the Pacific War. Gun batteries and bombed barracks remain, and Malinta Tunnel runs a light and sound show. Day tours sail from Manila.

A highland city south of Manila whose ridge looks down on Taal Volcano rising from the middle of its lake. It stays cooler than Manila, so weekend traffic piles up. Landings on the volcano island are often barred during unrest, so most just take in the view.

A contemporary art museum spread over several white Mediterranean-style buildings on a hill in Antipolo. Paintings and installations by Filipino artists fill each building, linked by gardens. Traffic east of Manila is slow, so budget half a day.