Walking through Bonifacio Global City's Streets and Rooftops
Step onto the wide pavements of Bonifacio Global City and you enter a different Manila—one shaped by contemporary glass towers and thoughtful urban design rather than colonial history. The area itself is worth hours of wandering: contemporary architecture, street art installations, and mixed-use developments line pedestrian-friendly walkways where cafes spill onto sidewalks and the pace slows enough to actually look around. To see the scale of it all, head to one of BGC's rooftop bars and sky lounges for panoramic views across the district. The Metrobank Tower rises 318 m above the city as the tallest building in the Philippines—a useful landmark when you need to reorient yourself among the skyline.
Several specific streets reward extended exploration. Forbestown Road contains generous greenery and mixed-use developments with alfresco restaurants and cafes that make it one of Manila's most pleasant streets to simply wander. Burgos Circle functions as both traffic circle and public park, surrounded by skyscrapers and ringed with alfresco dining; at its center sits "The Trees," an art installation of three interlocking trees in bronze and brass by Reynato Paz Contreras. Serendra on 11th Avenue bridges Bonifacio High Street to Market! Market! with contemporary decoration and outdoor seating. The Fort Strip on 28th Street and 7th Avenue houses restaurants, bars, and clubs in a single building if you want dining and evening activity concentrated in one spot.
War Memorials and Historical Graves
The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial sits in a solemn landscape that demands respect and time. Open daily from 9AM to 5PM except Christmas and New Year, it holds 17,206 graves of U.S. soldiers who died fighting Japanese forces during the Pacific War. Beyond the rows of graves, the site contains a chapel, monuments, sculpted gardens, and a museum housing 25 mosaic maps depicting U.S. battles across the Pacific. Bring photo ID for entry; admission is free. This is the largest American World War II cemetery in the world, and its scale and the stories it represents make it far more than a historical footnote.
Within Taguig, Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes' Cemetery) on Bayani Road honors Filipino soldiers who died in World War II and serves as the final resting place for national heroes and former presidents including Elpidio Quirino, Carlos P. Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal, and Ferdinand Marcos. The cemetery contains the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and memorials to Korean and Vietnamese soldiers who died in the Philippines—a layered record of the country's complex modern history.
Science and Contemporary Art
The Mind Museum sits in JY Campos Park on 3rd Avenue and stands as the top science museum of the Philippines, distinguished by stunning architecture and five main galleries filled with interactive exhibitions. It opens Tuesday to Sunday from 9AM to 6PM, with admission from ₱150–750 depending on the ticket type. If you travel with curious minds, the hands-on approach here works better than static displays.
For contemporary art, BGC offers several concentrated options. The BGC Arts Center on 26th Street and 9th Avenue hosts concerts and cultural events in one of the few dedicated facilities in the district for the performing arts. MO_Space on Bonifacio High Street (3rd floor, MOs Design Building) shows contemporary exhibitions, performances, and work from emerging artists, open daily 11AM–8PM. scatter hitam on 11th Avenue presents good-quality contemporary art from local and foreign artists, Tuesday to Saturday, noon–7PM. Street art and open-air installations appear throughout the district as well, making even a simple walk a visual experience.
Religious Architecture and the Baroque Church
Saint Anne Parish Church, also known as the Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Anne, stands on Gen. A Luna Street in Santa Ana as a Baroque structure built in 1587. Its old cemetery contains the Simborio, a dome-shaped funerary chapel constructed in the 1700s—a quieter counterpoint to the modern skyline that now surrounds much of Taguig. The church anchors a neighborhood with deeper roots than BGC, offering a sense of the settlement that existed here long before the business district rose.
McKinley Hill and the Venice Grand Canal
Just south of BGC, the Pinagsama barangay contains McKinley Hill, a business and upscale residential area centered on the Venice Grand Canal mall. A gondola ride here costs ₱250 Monday–Thursday and ₱350 Friday–Sunday, running 10AM–10PM. The prices are indeed a fraction of gondola rides in the actual Venice, and while the canal is decidedly artificial, the atmosphere around it comes alive in the evening. Nearby, Tuscany Private Estates on Upper McKinley Road presents itself as a Neoclassical mixed-use development with generous alfresco dining facing the road—a playful contrast to the "Venice" just next door and the "Florence" project planned for the area. The juxtaposition is intentional and reflects the aspirational naming that characterizes this newly built district.
Taguig has transformed from a rice-farming hamlet to a finance and commerce center in just a few decades, and that speed of change is visible in nearly every view. Whether you come for the rooftop bars and contemporary shopping, the carefully curated museums, the solemn weight of the war cemeteries, or simply to walk streets that prioritize the pedestrian over the car, there is substance here beyond the glass towers. Start with Bonifacio Global City on foot, move through the historical sites at a respectful pace, and let the district's layers—old and new, commercial and cultural—reveal themselves.