Day tours are readily available to explore Manila’s famous tourist destinations. An introduction to Manila and its suburbs can start with Rizal Park, Fort Santiago, and the Walled City of Intramuros. The group can then proceed to downtown Manila and Chinatown across the Pasig River and onward to the cosmopolitan suburbs of Makati - the Makati Commercial Center, Forbes Park, and the Manila American Memorial Cemetery. By the later part of the day, the tour will return to Manila for a trip to the reclaimed area and the Cultural Center Complex along Roxas Boulevard.

About one hour’s drive away from Manila through coconut plantations, Tagaytay Ridge in Cavite overlooks a lake that contains Taal Volcano, which itself holds another lake. Tagaytay is a popular destination in summer, when all kinds of festivities are celebrated and roadside stalls overflow with flowering plants and fruits in season.

The series of mineral springs of Hidden Valley lie secreted in a 90m- (300ft-) deep crater in Alaminos, enclosed by rich forests. The pools vary in temperature from warm to cold, and the lush trails end up at a gorge with a waterfall. Villa Escudero, an 800-hectare coconut plantation in Quezon Province, less than two hours by road from Manila, is part of a working plantation, yielding rare glimpses into rural life. Guests are taken on a tour of a typical village on a cart drawn by a carabao or water buffalo.

Corregidor Island, “The Rock,” has a famous memorial to those who were killed during the Japanese invasion, and is accessible by hydrofoil. Day tours include refreshments and guide. A day trip to the town of Pagsanjan, 63km (39 miles) southeast of Manila, includes dug-out canoe rides down the jungle-bordered river to the Pagsanjan Falls . This was a location for the filming of the critically acclaimed Hollywood film Apocalypse Now, and is a popular excursion. Laguna, a short distance from Manila, is a province famous for hot sulphur springs. The “Towns of Baths” - Cuyab, Los Baños and Pansol - are located here.

For more information and bookings, you can visit http://www.dot.gov.ph.