Luneta Park also known as Rizal Park in Manila, Philippines

If you are new to the Philippines and you want to know more about the history and the culture, the best place to start is at Luneta Park also known as Rizal Park. It is located in Manila.

Luneta Park is surrounded by interesting places like museums, restaurants, hotels, Manila Bay (part of the Pacific Ocean), national library, universities, government offices, golf course and the United States Embassy.

Luneta Park is one of the most famous landmarks in the Philippines. It is the location of the statue and mausoleum of the National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal.

The park covers a larger area that's shaped like a half moon called "lunette" thus the name Luneta. You can start on either end. If you'll start at the eastern end (through Taft Avenue), you will see the man-made lake with the replica of the Philippine archipelago. On the western end (through Roxas Boulevard, by the US embassy), you'll see the statue of Rizal on the right and Quirino Stadium on the left. It is where the parking spaces are available. Either way, you can take your time to tour the park by foot and or by horse ride.

In this picture, behind Daryl is the statue of Rizal. It is located at the center of the park. It's being guarded by honor guards 24/7. The guards don't move.

We started at the man-made lake. We walked through the skating rink, the fountain with lights, the Japanese and Chinese Garden, the Orchidarium, the Statue of Rizal, the Qurino Grand Stand upto the Boardwalk.

The best time to go to Luneta Park is in the afternoon so you can catch the beautiful Manila sunset. But if you want to see the Museum of the Philippine People, you can start in the morning. That's what we did.

We had ample time before sunset so we took a ride in a horse-drawn caleza and tour part of Intramuros (the Walled City). The fee for the ride should be at least Php 250.00 or about $5.

We almost missed the sunset because of the tour so it's important to have enough time. You can also inform the caleza driver.




This picture was taken almost close to sunset when I haven't thought of blogging it. Next time we visit Manila, I'll get a real beautiful picture. The sunset is usually around 6PM. To view the weather forecast in the Philippines, you can visit PAGASA website.


We ended the day with a delicious dinner at a floating restaurant that I'll blog about next time.


You can also view the whole park through the wiki-map. Zoom it up and pan the map North East and South West.