Touring Manila for Free

Yes, you read the title right. A lot of people complain that in order to enjoy Manila, one has to shell out a lot of money. But there are things that you can do for free and you can bring your family and friends along too! No, this doesn't include you just gawking in the summer heat under a tree in Luneta (but that can be fun too!). There are some attractions around Manila that give free entrance (yes, FREE) especially if it's a Sunday.

First on my list would be visiting the National Museum. For those who don't know, entrance to the Museum is free on Sundays. I have visited the museum on numerous occasions and find that very few people do come even though it's free. It's a wonderful way of exploring our cultural past and enriching our knowledge of our cultural heritage. The National Museum is located beside Luneta and fronting Intramuros on Burgos drive. They allow you to take pictures, as long as you disable the flash from your camera. You can visit both the National Art Gallery which house Juan Luna's famous Spolarium painting, and the Museum of the Filipino People which is just adjacent to the National Art Gallery on a Sunday and entrance is for free.

My second stop would be San Agustin church in Intramuros. Just cross the street from the National Museum and just a few blocks from the main entrance of Intramuros, you would find the courtyard of this UNESCO World heritage site. Going inside the church is free, but entrance to museum isn't. It's P100 for adults and P40 for kids.

If you still have a few hours to spare and your legs aren't giving out yet, then you can climb the walls of Intramuros. A few years back when Fort Santiago was still open to the public, I would spend afternoons circling the whole wall fortress. Now, the accessible ones are the ones near the Universities within Intramuros and the view from here is quite nice because you get to see Manila City hall from the distance, the National museum and the traffic as it eases along the roads circling Intramuros.