Hotels near Fort San Pedro

Fort San Pedro is a triangular coral-stone fort begun in 1565 under Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, which makes it both the oldest and the smallest fort in the Philippines. It covers 2,025 square metres behind walls 6 metres high and 2.4 metres thick, with three bastions named La Concepcion, Ignacio de Loyola and San Miguel. Over four centuries it has been a Spanish garrison, an American barracks, a Japanese prison camp during the occupation and, briefly, a municipal zoo. Entry costs PHP 30, well under EUR 1.

Inside, the restored barracks rooms hold a compact museum of Spanish-era documents, religious sculpture and artefacts recovered from the wreck of the galleon San Diego. The central courtyard is planted as a garden, and the ramparts look out over Pier 1 and the working container port. An hour is plenty of time. The fort sits inside Plaza Independencia, a five-minute walk from Magellan's Cross, so the two fold neatly into one downtown morning.

Pro Tip: Walk it as a loop with Magellan's Cross and the Basilica del Santo Nino, starting at 8am. Plaza Independencia loses almost all its shade by 11am, and downtown Cebu City traffic turns leaving by car after noon into a slow crawl.