Where to stay in Cebu City

See

The city was well established as a trade center and regional capital even before the first Europeans, under Magellan, arrived in the 1520s. When the Spanish returned to colonize in 1565, Cebu became the first Spanish city in the country and (briefly) the capital. Many of today's tourist sites go back to the period of Spanish rule which lasted until the Americans took over in 1898.

• Basilica of Santo Niño
• Magellan's Cross
• Colon St
• Fort San Pedro
• The Chinese Taoist Temple
• Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral
• Casa Gorordo Museum
• Jose R. Gullas Halad Museum
• Cebu Provincial Museum
• Rizal Memorial Museum
• Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House
• Jesuit House Museum

Do

• Tops Lookout
• Sky Experience Adventure
• Abellana Cebu Sports Center & Public Swimming pool

Eat

Cebu City has a wide range of reasonably good places to eat, from restaurants and buffets to street-food stalls. All-you-can-eat buffets tend to be more expensive than in many other parts of the country. Street food is abundant, with stalls across the city selling a variety of Filipino snacks and local specialties. All the major malls (listed under ) have food courts, and major chains — KFC, Shakey's Pizza, Starbucks, Bo's Coffee and others — have locations in many of them. The downtown area around Colon Street has a large number of restaurants including many budget places and many fast food chains.

Drink

Mango Avenue (officially General Maxilom Avenue) and Mango Square is where the bulk of the nightlife is. The typical venues are nightclubs, bars and karaoke boxes. There are many girlie bars, mostly along Mango Ave. It is fairly common to visit these clubs just to enjoy the show, a lot of scantily-clad dancers who compete to catch customers' eyes. However, the dancers are more-or-less all also available for sexual services. Prostitution is illegal in the Philippines but quite common, and these bars are the most usual front; see the discussion in the Philippines article. There are also a number of western-style pubs popular with the local expat community; most are listed below.

Stay safe

Cebu is a relatively safe city where violent crime is rare. This being said, you should be aware of your surroundings. Beware of pickpockets. It's common to spot them in downtown Cebu and on jeepneys. Parts of downtown Cebu are unsafe at night.