Visiting Manila without visiting a mall is almost impossible – and that’s actually not a bad thing. You can do some shopping, have a nice lunch, visit a museum, chat over a coffee, see a movie and have a nice dinner outdoors in a garden setting, all within a relaxing day! And the Greenbelt/Glorietta complex in Makati, Manila’s central business district, is one of the best places to do it!

A lot of the new Manila has been developed as master planned areas, for example the Makati financial district was developed by Ayala. It is a mixed development, combining elements of European, American and Asian city development into one bustling area. Makati hosts not only office towers and residential high-rise, but also a large shopping and entertainment district, the Greenbelt and Glorietta areas, both connected through skybridges. Greenbelt consists of 5 mall buildings around a garden-like outdoor setting. It’s hosting everything from fast food restaurants to fine dining, from cheap gifts to luxury hand bags and watches, from Balenciaga to Zara, from movies to a museum. It even has a chapel in the middle of the garden with multiple mass every day of the week! With this kind of variety, Greenbelt attracts people from all parts of Manila’s population, especially evident on weekends. It is a destination on its own on Sundays, for family outings, couple’s dates, celebration dinners and parties or, surprise, even shopping! It is doubling as the town square and city park in modern Manila!

Greenbelt 1 is the oldest building from the 70s with fast food joints, a movie theatre and a mix of electronics and hardware stores. It also has a 2-screen cinema (not as nice as GB3). Greenbelt 2 is mostly fine dining. Greenbelt 3 has a mix of western brand retail stores, mid-priced, sit-down dining and also features a nice & new movie theatre on top. Greenbelt 4 houses the luxury stores, like Louis Vuitton, Prada or Gucci. You can connect to the Landmark department store, the Glorietta mall and SM Makati from Greenbelt 3 & 4. You’ll also find the Ayala Museum here. Greenbelt 5 offers more retail stores, as well as coffee shops and some home stores. The list of stores is pretty long! There is plenty of parking around and under the complex and taxi lines are at multiple exits. You can walk to the train station via the Landmark and SM stores or hop on a Jeepney at the main roads.

Greenbelt is a good place to spend some time when in Manila, whether it is for shopping, a meal or a museum visit. Check it out!