Things to do in Philippines

The 16 best things to do in Philippines

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1. 1El Nido

   Kayak into Big Lagoon on El Nido's Tour A

   Big Lagoon sits on Miniloc Island in Bacuit Bay, inside the El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area. You reach it on Tour A, a full day by boat from town that also stops at Secret Lagoon, Shimizu Island and Seven Commando Beach, with a packed bento lunch and drinking water. Tour boats are not allowed inside Big Lagoon, so you swim or paddle in, and kayaks can be rented on the spot. Small Lagoon runs on a different tour under the town's boat rules, so the two lagoons are not visited on the same day. Life jackets are required, and smoking, alcohol, cliff jumping and stepping on coral are not allowed.

   Tip: Bring cash for an optional kayak rental at the lagoon and for the protected area and tourism fees, which are paid separately from most tour prices.

   PHP[lagoon fee]; confirm permit, environmental charge and any kayak hire separately with the organizer.
   Search tickets and tours on KlookSources: PTV News (People's Television Network, government); El Nido Paradise
2. 2Manila

   Walk the ramparts and dungeons of Fort Santiago

   Fort Santiago guards the point where the Pasig River meets Manila Bay, on the site of Rajah Sulayman's palisaded settlement of Maynila. The Spanish took it in 1571 and built the stone fort between 1589 and 1592. Pass the main gate with its wooden relief of Santiago Matamoros, then cross the Plaza de Armas to the Baluarte de Santa Barbara, the fort's highest defense, and the dungeons that later held prisoners. The nationalist Jose Rizal was jailed here for 56 days in 1896 before his execution, and the Museo ni Rizal fills the rebuilt wing of his barracks. A white marble cross marks a mass grave from the 1945 Battle of Manila.

   Tip: Gates open at 8 AM on weekdays and 6 AM on weekends, so come early for a cooler walk, or late, since last entry runs until 8 PM on weekdays and 8:30 PM on weekends.

   Standard adult: ₱75 (about $1) · Regular admission; eligible concessions require proof. Allow time for memorial exhibits as well as the grounds.Fee changed?

   Last verified Nov 4, 2026

   Search tickets and tours on KlookSources: Intramuros Administration (official); Intramuros Administration
3. 3Cebu

   Join the pilgrims at the Basilica del Santo Niño

   The Basilica Minore del Santo Niño is the oldest Catholic church in the Philippines and home to its oldest religious relic, a small image of the Holy Child that came with Ferdinand Magellan's expedition and was given to the newly baptized Queen Juana of Cebu in 1521. When the Legazpi expedition landed in 1565, a sailor found the image in a house in the burned town, and Augustinian friars founded a church where it was found that same year. The present stone church was begun in 1735 and blessed in 1740. Inside, devotees queue quietly to pray at the Santo Niño's chapel beside the altar, and some leave letters in a box there. Outside, women in yellow and red dance the Sinulog steps as they pray.

   Tip: Leave time for the small museum in the basement of the Santo Niño Pilgrim Center, which holds offerings and vestments dating back to the 1600s and is easy to miss.

   Respect services and dress requirements. The itinerary does not promise access during worship or include the separate museum.
   Search tickets and tours on KlookSources: Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño de Cebu (official); Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño de Cebu (official); Province of Cebu (official)
4. 4El Nido

   Spend a slow afternoon on Nacpan Beach

   Nacpan Beach is a long arc of fine white sand on the coast north of El Nido town, about 4 km from end to end, and an easy land day between boat tours. It is about 45 minutes (22 km) by road from the town center and roughly half an hour from the airport at Lio. Calitang Beach joins it to the south and you can walk between the two. Climb the small hill where they meet for a view over both beaches and nearby Lalutaya Island. Restaurants sit right on the beach, so you can stay for dinner as the sun sets before heading back.

   Tip: Arrange your ride back to town before you set off, since the beach is about 45 minutes from El Nido and you will want to stay until sunset.

   PHP[local access fee] if collected; tariff unverified. Beach walk only, with no private resort facilities or safe-swimming guarantee.
   Search tickets and tours on KlookSources: Nacpan Beach Resort / P4P Nacpan Holdings
5. 5Manila

   Start inside the walls at Centro de Turismo Intramuros

   Intramuros, the walled city founded by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in 1571 on the site of Rajah Soliman's kingdom, was the capital of the Spanish East Indies until 1898 and the end of the Manila to Acapulco galleon trade route until 1815. Its walls and forts went up between 1590 and 1825, and most of the city was destroyed by the end of World War II. Since 1979 a government agency has restored it in the style of the 16th to 19th centuries. The visitor center and museum at Centro de Turismo Intramuros give you that story before you walk the streets, and the visitor desk is open every day.

   Tip: Centro de Turismo's museum is closed on Mondays, and the free visitor center and museum areas are open Tuesday to Sunday from 9 AM to 6 PM, so start a Monday visit at Fort Santiago instead.

   Visit the free visitor center and Centro museum only; other galleries and levels have paid access. Closed Monday.
   Search tickets and tours on KlookSources: Intramuros Administration (official); Intramuros Administration (official); Intramuros Administration
6. 6Manila

   Tour a 19th-century mansion at Casa Manila

   Casa Manila is a living museum of how a wealthy Filipino family lived in the late Spanish colonial period. Its facade copies an 1850s house that stood on Jaboneros Street in Binondo, and the rooms are filled with furniture from Europe and China. You enter through the zaguan, a wide passage paved with Chinese granite once carried as ballast in trading junks, then climb past the mezzanine office to the caida, where guests were received. Look for the windows of capiz shell, used because glass was so costly, the carved calados above doors that let air move between rooms, and a bed by the Binondo carver Ah-Tay.

   Tip: Casa Manila is closed on Mondays; on other days it opens from 9 AM to 6 PM, with last entry at 5 PM.

   Standard adult: ₱75 (about $1) · Regular museum ticket; closed Monday. The current last entry is at 5 PM.Fee changed?

   Last verified Nov 4, 2026

   Search tickets and tours on KlookSources: Intramuros Administration (official); Intramuros Administration
7. 7Manila

   See Filipino masters at the National Museum of Fine Arts

   The National Museum of Fine Arts fills the Old Legislative Building, a four-story landmark with Corinthian columns, first designed as the National Library and then used by the legislature. Japanese forces fortified it during World War II, American shelling wrecked its wings in February 1945, and it was rebuilt in 1949 on its original footprint. Today it holds 29 galleries and hallway exhibitions, from 19th-century Filipino masters to National Artists and modern painters, sculptors and printmakers. Admission is free and the museum is open every day from 9 AM to 6 PM.

   Tip: Bring a valid ID for registration and travel light: large bags and backpacks must go to the baggage counter, and flash photography is not allowed.

   Standard adult: free · Free admission; bring identification. Current hours are daily 9 AM to 6 PM, subject to exceptional closures.Fee changed?

   Last verified Nov 4, 2026

   Search tours on KlookSources: National Museum of the Philippines (official); National Museum of the Philippines
8. 8Cebu

   Stand by Magellan's Cross in Cebu's old center

   A pavilion near the basilica marks the spot where Ferdinand Magellan's expedition set up a cross in April 1521, when Rajah Humabon of Cebu, his queen and about 800 of their people were baptized. Historians still debate whether any of the original cross survives inside the wooden one you see today, which was encased in the 1730s to stop devotees from chipping off pieces. Look up at the ceiling mural of the baptism and the planting of the cross. The cross and the basilica were declared a National Cultural Treasure in 2021, and the site remains a place of prayer as well as the symbol on Cebu City's seal.

   Tip: Treat it as a working shrine rather than a photo stop: keep your voice down and give way to people who have come to pray.

   Short exterior and permitted public viewing stop; respect religious use and barriers.
   Search tickets and tours on KlookSources: Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño de Cebu (official); Province of Cebu (official)
9. 9El Nido

   Island-hop to Snake Island on Tour B

   Tour B is the second classic boat day on Bacuit Bay and the natural follow-up to Tour A, run on a separate day. It stops at Snake Island, Entalula Beach, Cudugnon Cave and two snorkeling sites, with a packed bento lunch and drinking water on board. Cudugnon Cave is on private land and its owner charges a separate entrance fee, so carry some cash if you want to go inside. The protected area rules from the lagoon tours apply here too: wear your life jacket on the water and keep your feet off the coral when you snorkel.

   Tip: Check the weather the night before, since storms build quickly in the rainy months, and do not board a boat that looks overcrowded or short of life jackets.

   Visit with the tour crew; exposed sand and landing conditions depend on tides.
   Search tickets and tours on KlookSources: El Nido Paradise; PTV News (People's Television Network, government); UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
10. 10Cebu

    Watch the sun set over Cebu City from Tops

    Tops, formerly Tops Lookout, sits high in the Busay hills above Cebu City and gives a 360-degree view over the city, and it is a favorite spot for sunset. The old lookout is now The Circle, five floors of more than 20 restaurants and bars with indoor and open-air tables, and the park is open 24 hours. You can make a half day of the hills: the Temple of Leah, a grand Roman-style landmark, is also in Busay, Sirao's flower gardens are known as Cebu's Little Amsterdam, and the Taoist Temple stands in the city's Beverly Hills area.

    Tip: Without a hired car, take the Tops shuttle bus from the IT Park Transport Terminal on Geonzon Street in Lahug, and time the ride to arrive before sunset.

    Standard adult: ₱100 (about $2) · Regular entry; meals and additional attractions cost extra. The park operates around the clock.Fee changed?

    Last verified Nov 4, 2026

    Search tickets and tours on KlookSources: Tops Cebu (official); Tops Cebu; Province of Cebu (official)
11. 11Manila

    Look inside the rebuilt Manila Cathedral

    Manila Cathedral, the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, faces Plaza Roma in Intramuros, and the building you see is the eighth cathedral on the site since the first in 1581. The previous church was bombed to ruins with the rest of the walled city in 1945, and architect Fernando Ocampo designed the present one, consecrated on December 7, 1958. He echoed the old design rather than copying it, with a Neo-Romanesque facade, Byzantine touches, bronze doors and pineapple finials. Inside, Italian Carrara marble paves the side chapels, and green marble columns frame a 2 m statue of the Immaculate Conception above the main altar.

    Tip: It is the seat of the Archdiocese of Manila with a full schedule of Masses, so check the Mass times on the cathedral's site and visit between services.

    Exterior visit; worship, services and private events take priority inside.
    Search tickets and tours on KlookSources: Manila Cathedral (official); Manila Cathedral (official)
12. 12Manila

    Meet Philippine nature and cultures at two national museums

    Two more buildings of the National Museum complex make an easy pairing with Fine Arts. The National Museum of Natural History opened in the former Agriculture and Commerce Building of 1940, and its central courtyard is now covered by a metal and glass dome called the Tree of Life. Its 12 permanent galleries trace the country's plants, animals and geology from mountain ridges down to coral reefs. The National Museum of Anthropology, in the old Finance Building, covers the peoples and crafts of the islands, with featured exhibitions on textiles, pottery, the Lumad and the Bangsamoro. Both are free and open daily from 9 AM to 6 PM.

    Tip: On Sundays the museum runs walk-in Joiners' Tours at 10:30 AM and 2 PM, first come, first served, with registration closing at 10 AM and 1:30 PM.

    Standard adult: free · Free admission; follow visitor registration and bag rules. Large groups need advance arrangements.Fee changed?

    Last verified Nov 4, 2026

    Search tours on KlookSources: National Museum of the Philippines (official); National Museum of the Philippines (official); National Museum of the Philippines
13. 13Cebu

    Step into colonial Cebu at Casa Gorordo

    Casa Gorordo is an 1850s house in the Parian, a district that began in 1614 as a parish for immigrants from Fujian in China and grew into a neighborhood of wealthy mestizo merchants. Isidro Gorordo, a Basque merchant, bought it, and four generations of his family lived here, including Juan Gorordo, the first Filipino bishop of Cebu. It is a classic balay nga tisa, a tile-roofed house that blends native, Spanish and Chinese building styles, and it came through two revolutions and World War II. The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation opened it as a museum in 1983, and guides show every visitor around.

    Tip: The museum opens Monday to Saturday from 9 AM to 5 PM, so plan your Cebu heritage walk for a day other than Sunday.

    PHP[fee]; current admission unverified. Monday to Saturday, 9 AM to 5 PM; closed Sunday.Know the fee?
    Search tickets and tours on KlookSources: Ramon Aboitiz Foundation / Casa Gorordo Museum
14. 14Manila

    Remember Jose Rizal at Rizal Park

    Rizal Park, also called Luneta after a lunette fort that once stood here, is Manila's largest park at 58 hectares, just south of the Intramuros walls. In the 16th to 18th centuries this was Bagumbayan, where the native people of Manila resettled after the Spanish founded their city, and in the 19th century it became both a seaside promenade and an execution ground. The park is named for Jose Rizal, the nationalist writer who was executed here on December 30, 1896, and a monument to him stands in the park. The National Museum buildings and the National Library are close by.

    Tip: Pair the park with a morning at the National Museum nearby, then stay into the late afternoon for the famous Manila Bay sunset.

    Public park walk. Current main park hours are 5 AM to 10 PM; individual facilities can differ.
    Search tickets and tours on KlookSources: Intramuros Administration (official)
15. 15Manila

    Climb the spade-shaped Baluarte de San Diego

    Baluarte de San Diego holds the remains of Manila's first stone fort, a round tower designed by the Jesuit Antonio Sedeño and built in 1586 to 1587 to guard the southern bayside. Its top was taken down in 1593 and the base wrapped into a new bulwark, completed between 1653 and 1663 and shaped like the ace of spades. British cannon breached it in 1762, and the 1863 earthquake left it abandoned. Buried under soil during the American period, the round fort survived the 1945 battle, was dug out in 1979, and is now an archaeological park with a garden at its base. The golf course beside it fills the old moat.

    Tip: It keeps shorter hours than Fort Santiago, open daily from 8 AM to 5 PM with last entry at 4 PM, so visit it before the forts that stay open into the evening.

    PHP[fee]; current standard tariff unverified. Arrive before the published 4 PM last entry.Know the fee?
    Search tickets and tours on KlookSources: Intramuros Administration (official); Intramuros Administration
16. 16ManilaBook ahead

    Trace Philippine history in dioramas at the Ayala Museum

    The Ayala Museum stands at the edge of Greenbelt Park in Makati and makes a good place for an overview of the country's past. Its best-known permanent exhibition is The Diorama Experience of Philippine History, a walk through the nation's story in miniature scenes. Gold of Ancestors shows pre-colonial gold treasures, and two more permanent galleries cover Philippine textiles and the ceramics exchanged through trade. A digital gallery rounds it out. The museum opens Tuesday to Sunday from 11 AM to 7 PM and is closed on Mondays.

    Tip: Book a timed ticket online before you go, since the museum asks all visitors to reserve and slots are limited.

    Foreign adult; full museum: ₱850 (about $13) · Foreign full-museum admission. Tuesday to Sunday, 11 AM to 7 PM; reserve a timed slot.Fee changed?

    Last verified Nov 4, 2026

    Search tickets and tours on KlookSources: Ayala Museum (official); Ayala Museum (official); Ayala Museum

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