Manila Travel Forum

Hi,

Is it worth doing a weekend trip? How does the shopping compare to hk, dvd';s etc?

Do Australians needa tourist visa to vist? Is it safe for a single female to look around?

Any animal adventures in Manilla?

Cheers,

Hi there, yes Manila is absolutely safe and worth a weekend visit. You can add a day itinerary to Tagaytay as well.

Shopping is definitely expensive (30%+) except food and entertainment.

Hi,

Thank you,

Have just discovered ocean adventures and now Intramuros that i would like to see...are there any day tour web sites etc?

Only for a weekend? Given the expense, time and effort to go all the way here from Oz you might as well spend at least a week! But if you do, don't limit yourself to Manila.

Aussies may enter without visas for a stay of 21 days or less. Animal adventures? Well, I know there are a lot of party animals in the city but wild animal encounters? Only outside Manila, to name a few: Zoobic and Ocean Adventure in Subic, Crocodile Farm in Davao City, and Avilon Zoo in Montalban, Rizal. Is it safe for single ladies? Just use common sense and always be aware of your surroundings and you'll do fine, but do avoid going to certain trouble spots in the south (your country's travel advisories are updated on this). As for shopping, clothes are pretty cheap here. DVDs (as in pirated movies), there are a lot as well as cheap too. Electronics and genuine brand labels (of bags, shoes, clothes, etc.) are costlier.

Hope this helps.

Hi, I enjoyed term "party animals"...hehe!

Back to the topic, if you love animal encounter then go to Ocean Adventure, its close to Intramourous. Avilon Zoo is OK, but do not go to Malabon Zoo. Zoobic Safari in Subic was the best experience but given your short visit, you cant make it.

How about malling. Go to Mall of Asia and have an amazing lunch or dinner along San Miguel by the Bay.

This is what I can add. Go out Malling (be in the mall with or without a reason), dining (never ending opportunities to treat yourself) and last but not the least, be a party animal at night.

Hi,

My main trip in Hong kong but i am going 3 days ealier than I wanted to so looking at going accross three maybe 4 days...

cebu pacific has cheap flights right now....

Does the victory liner have a web site? Or is it better to fly from manila to ocean adventures? What has got me sold on that is the whale encounter, does anyone know much about it? Dolphins and sea lions we can do in australia but not whales!

Here's the Victory Liner website (http://www.victoryliner.com/index.htm) but it has not been updated since 2004. The bus routes are still the same though obviously the fares have risen since.

If you wish to bypass Manila to get to Subic, you'll have to fly into Clark. Cebu Pacific flies there from Singapore. That will spare you at least 2 hours of land travel from Manila. However, while there is a new expressway that links Clark to Subic, as far as I know no public buses ply this route at the moment. I'm not sure what options you have to get to Subic so I'll leave it to others to answer this.

By the way, if you looked into the Ocean Adventure link I gave earlier, they do not have true whales there. They just have dolphins, seals and what they call a "false killer whale". Except for orcas I don't think any of the actual behemoths could be trained or held captive for long.

Hi,

Umm...whgat line is theb us on> Outr travel agents have no books on manila pr the philliphines so i have no bearings, would be fantastic though if i can get at bus at 5am to go uo to Ocean world and a bus back late that night after 5pm..?

ALso, I needa cheap room close or next to public transport with no hills etc due to disability and cant walk up hills...will be for single female travellor.