At the mouth of the Pasig River you’ll find Manila’s premier tourist attraction, Fort Santiago , fronted by a pretty lily pond and the Intramuros Visitors Center . During WWII the fort was used as a prisoner-of-war camp by the Japanese. Within the fort grounds you’ll find the Rizal Shrine in the building where national hero José Rizal was incarcerated as he awaited execution. It contains Rizal’s personal effects and an original copy of his last poem, ‘Mi Ultimo Adios’ (My Last Farewell).

The most interesting building to survive the Battle of Manila is the church and monastery of San Agustin . The interior is truly opulent and the ceiling, painted in 3-D relief, will make you question your vision. You must visit during a mass, or access it through the interesting San Agustin Museum .

Opposite the church, Casa Manila is a beautiful reproduction of a three-storey Spanish colonial mansion, filled with priceless antiques.

Within a resplendent neoclassical building, this superb museum houses a vast and varied collection, including the skullcap of the Philippines’ earliest known inhabitant, Tabon Man (said by some to actually be a woman), who lived around 24,000 BC. A large section of the museum is devoted to the wreck of the San Diego, a Spanish galleon that sank off the coast of Luzon in 1600, with salvaged items such as shell-encrusted swords, coins, porcelain plates, jewellery etc on display.

Other treasures include a large collection of pre-Hispanic artefacts and musical instruments, and extensive displays on the major Filipino indigenous groups. Note that the entry ticket also gets you into the National Gallery of Art.

Chinatown is demarcated by Goodwill Arches . The main street is Ongpin St; walking its length – which we recommended – will take 10 minutes, but exploring the neighbourhood can take hours. As in any other Chinese enclave around the world, you’ll find dozens of goldsmiths, herbalists, teahouses and shops selling mooncakes, incense, paper money to burn for ancestors, trinkets and other curios. There are numerous places for a snack or a meal.

Manila’s iconic Rizal Park is spread out over some 60 hectares of open lawns, ornamental gardens, ponds, paved walks and wooded areas, dotted with monuments to a whole pantheon of Filipino heroes. It’s an atmospheric place to take a stroll, particularly late afternoons, early evening and weekends.

As the place where José Rizal was executed by the Spanish colonial authorities, it’s of great historical significance. Here you’ll find the Rizal Monument (fronted by a 46m flagpole and guarded by sentries in full regalia), which contains the hero’s mortal remains and stands as a symbol of Filipino nationhood.

The park is divided into three sections. At the edge of the middle section is the Site of Rizal’s Execution ; at the entrance is a black granite wall inscribed with Rizal’s ‘Mi Ultimo Adios’ (My Last Farewell). Eight tableaux of life-size bronze statues recreate the dramatic last moments of the hero’s life; at night these statues become part of a light-and-sound presentation dedicated to Rizal (admission P50; 7pm Wed–Sun). It’s in Tagalog, but they’ll do it in English if you have a big enough group (or pay them enough). At the opposite end of the park towards Kalaw Ave, keep an eye out for the drinking fountain shipped all the way from Heidelberg, Germany, where Rizal spent time studying at university.

Also in the middle is the Central Lagoon , a pool lined with busts of Filipino heros and martyrs, and a dancing musical fountain that erupts in colourful explosions in the evening.

The long-running Concert at the Park takes place at the open-air auditorium; it’s free and starts at around 5.30pm on Sundays. At dawn, you’ll find various groups gathered to practise t’ai chi or the local martial art of arnis , or arnis de mano , a pre-Hispanic style of stick-fighting.

Along the north side are several ornamental gardens and the Chess Plaza , a shady spot where regulars test each other and look for new blood with shouts to visitors of ‘Hey Joe, do you play chess?’

Across Roxas Blvd at the western end of the park is the Quirino Grandstand , where Philippine presidents take their oath of office and deliver their first address to the nation.

At the opposite end of the park across M Orosa St where the National Museum is located, you’ll find a large statue of Lapu-Lapu (16th century national hero famous for slaying the portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan), the flower-fillled Manila Orchidarium , a gigantic three-dimensional relief map of the Philippines and an ostentatious children’s playground .

The new visitors centre at the park’s Kalaw Ave entrance has a good