Private Tour

First United Building Manila Walking Tour

Overview

Available languages

English

3 hours 20 minutes

Mobile ticket

Unlike typical Manila city tours that follow only famous landmarks, Hidden Layers of Manila takes you beneath the surface of the city - from a rare all-steel Gothic basilica to quiet hidden gardens inside Intramuros, and finally into the living heart of Manila’s modern creative scene in Escolta. This experience blends rare paid access, local craft culture, peaceful green spaces, and authentic street life into one smooth half-day journey. You don’t just see Manila - you feel its past, walk its present, and meet the people shaping its future, all at a relaxed, unrushed pace designed for curious travelers who want something truly different.

Additional Info

Public transportation options are available nearby

Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

What To Expect

Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene

The only all-steel church in Asia, built by Belgian engineers and shipped piece-by-piece to Manila. With a special guided ticket, you access the upper choir loft and inner iron towers - areas not open to regular visitors - where you feel the Gothic steel bones of the structure and look over the soft green rooftops of old Manila. It’s a surreal blend of colonial history and industrial art.

40 minutes • Admission Not Applicable

Casa Manila

Unlike typical Intramuros stops, Casa Manila allows you to walk through a fully reconstructed 19th-century upper-class Filipino-Spanish residence. You see imported Chinese porcelains, narra wood beds, and a Spanish-style patio. The creaking floors, dim lighting, and slow ceiling fans make it feel like stepping into a living diorama of Manila’s past.

40 minutes • Admission Included

What‘s Included

Tickets

Local guide

Admission fee

Lunch

Options