Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City.
According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 1,902,590 people. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on the island of Luzon, it is classified as a highly urbanized city. With 44,935 inhabitants per square kilometer (116,380/sq mi), Manila is one of the world's most densely populated cities proper.
Getting to Manila
- 01Ninoy Aquino International Airport
For more information check the section on airports in the Metro Manila article.
Worth seeing
The main tourist sites of Manila are mostly along Manila Bay. Bonifacio Shrine - A shrine in honor of Andres Bonifacio who was one of the Filipinos who struggled and fought for freedom for the country against the Spanish forces. Chinatown - Manila has one of the largest and oldest Chinatowns in the world, where one can find exotic Chinese goods and delicious cuisine.
Things to do
Tour Manila's historical heart in a historical fashion. Watch out for touts, especially around Rizal Park, and negotiate prices with the cochero to avoid being ripped off. Manila's most populated district, Tondo, can be explored with a guided tour. There are no organized tour agencies, but you can ask many locals who know the life inside this giant slum.
Where to eat
Street food is often described as "pantawid gutom" or food to tide over, something to temporarily hush a stomach growl, sold at small food stalls, food stands, or food carts set up in places with high amount of pedestrian traffic.
Getting around Manila the local way
- Wilson E-trike System Route: Greenhills → Wilson
- Wilson E-trike System Route: Wilson → Greenhills
- M01 Buendia–SM Fairview via Quezon Avenue UV Express
- Kalayaana Tawiran - Baden Powell Court · WERTODA
OpenStreetMap contributors.
- Get inFor travel by ferry, mainly from other parts of the Philippines but also from a few other ports, see the section on boats.
- Get aroundManila is also served by several jeepney routes, some of which ply the routes previously served by Manila's pre-World War II tram system.
- Get aroundThe Lawton Bus Terminal is also a major jeepney terminal, with several jeepneys either crossing through, terminating or originating here.
- Get aroundHowever, unlike buses, jeepney routes are not numbered, but the route is prominently displayed on the sides of the jeepney and on the dashboard, and drivers, or specialized barkers announce their destination and departure at route origins.
- Get aroundTricycle and pedicab terminals are normally beside jeepney terminals and railway stations.
- Go nextYou may take day trips to Manila's neighbors next door.
- Go nextMount Batulao — is a popular trekking destination near Tagaytay, with the same nice views and cool weather, making for a nice dayhike.
- Go nextWithin the confines of the freeport one can partake of practically all of the activities that most tourists generally experience in the Philippines: sun-tanning on white sand beaches, bay side dining, studying English, forest canopy walking, wreck diving, casino gaming, survival trekking with native Aeta guides, bar hopping, golfing, getting a massage (one spa even offers synchronized massage with two masseuses) and other spa treatments, outlet shopping, you name it (around 3½ hours from airport).
From Wikivoyage: Manila, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: GRMondala (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons.
