We took the half day Manila city tour, which was 1pm to about 6:30 pm (Blue Horizons Travel and Tours). Our first time to Manila so the tour gave us some highlights in a short time without the hassles of doing it alone.
Highly recommended, we were picked up at our Makati hotel in an aircon van. The tour guide Jonas provided fantastic historical background and local knowledge for all the stops, while the dedicated driver JR handled that wild Manila traffic.
The stops were as described in the tour, we did a slightly different order, for example
first stop was American Cemetery and Memorial in BGC, a beautiful spot honoring American and Philippine war dead. We were struck by how immaculate the memorial and gardens were and the scale of the names listed for the many thousands who lost their lives.
We hit all the spots in Manila - Intramuros, Casa Manila, San Agustin Church. We breezed past any lineups as we were with our guide Jonas. Jonas' english was excellent and was keen on providing a real tour guide experience. We gained knowledge of Philippine history and heroes such as Jose Rizal, as well as the local view of history, politics, and daily life for Filipinos. I'm sure the tour had been given many times but the presentation was fresh and enthusiastic. Thanks again for the tour! Trev+Vicky