Singapore: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Nothing you see around this bay existed in 1970 — not even the water. Singapore has grown by a quarter since independence using sand bought from its neighbours, and Marina Bay is entirely built on made land. The gardens, the hotel with a ship on the roof and the museum shaped like a hand are a city deliberately designed to impress.
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A short history of Singapore
In the 13th and 14th centuries a Malay port called Temasek stood on the island. In 1819 Stamford Raffles set up a trading post of the British East India Company here, and in 1826 the island became part of the Straits Settlements. On 15 February 1942 the British surrendered to the Japanese, and the city was occupied until 1945. In 1955 David Marshall, from a Jewish family that had come from Baghdad, was elected Singapore's first Chief Minister. In 1963 Singapore joined Malaysia, and on 9 August 1965 it separated from it and became an independent state; since then it has been one of the busiest ports in the world.
The ten best sights in Singapore
1Marina Bay SandsThree towers with a ship across the top
2Gardens by the BayEighteen steel supertrees, lit at a quarter to eight
3Merlion ParkA lion with a fish’s tail, invented in 1964
4Singapore FlyerA hundred and sixty-five metres, and it turns slowly
5Haji LaneThe narrowest street, painted end to end
6SentosaA built resort island, reached by cable car
7Southern RidgesTen kilometres of walkway through the treetops
8Clarke QuayWarehouses on the river, now bars
9Buddha Tooth Relic TempleFive storeys in Chinatown, and a free museum
10Sri Mariamman TempleThe oldest Hindu temple here, in Chinatown
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Singapore →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Singapore:
Free walking tours in Singapore
The Bay
Nothing you see around this bay existed in 1970 — not even the water. Singapore has grown by a quarter since independence using sand bought from its neighbours, and Marina Bay is entirely built on made land. The gardens, the hotel with a ship on the roof and the museum shaped like a hand are a city deliberately designed to impress.
- Merlion Park · The merlion was invented in 1964 by a committee that wanted a tourist symbol — a lion for the name Singapura, "lion city", and a fish for the fishing village it was. It is entirely made up, and it worked.
- Marina Bay Sands · Three towers leaning against each other, with a ship-shaped deck laid across the top — the largest cantilevered platform in the world, longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall.
- ArtScience Museum · Shaped like an open hand with ten fingers. Rain collects in the palm and falls through the centre into a pool in the lobby, which is both drainage and exhibit.
- Gardens by the Bay · Eighteen steel supertrees between twenty-five and fifty metres, planted with real climbing plants and working as vents for the conservatories underneath. The light show at 7.45 and 8.45 is free.
- National Gallery · The old Supreme Court and City Hall joined under a golden veil of aluminium. Singapore declared independence from the steps of the City Hall building, and the courtroom is kept as it was.
- Esplanade · Two domes covered in seven thousand aluminium shades angled against the equatorial sun. Locals call it the durian, and the architects did not intend it.
Three quarters
In 1822 Raffles divided the town by origin — Chinese here, Malays there, Indians to the side — and modern Singapore is still built around that plan. Half a day walks all three: a Chinese temple built without a single nail, a mosque whose dome sits on glass bottles, and a street where the spice reaches you first.
- Thian Hock Keng · Built in 1840 by Hokkien sailors to thank the sea goddess for their crossing, using no nails at all. It stood at the waterfront then; land reclamation has since put half a kilometre of city between it and the sea.
- Sri Mariamman Temple · The oldest Hindu temple in Singapore, founded in 1827 — and it stands in the middle of Chinatown, because that is where the land was available. Nobody has ever moved it.
- Buddha Tooth Relic Temple · Built in 2007 in Tang dynasty style, with a three-and-a-half tonne gold stupa on the fourth floor said to hold a tooth. The museum floors are free and almost empty.
- Sultan Mosque · When it was rebuilt in 1924 the architect asked poor Muslims to donate glass bottles so they too would have a part in it. The base of the golden dome is made of them, and you can see them from the street.
- Haji Lane · The narrowest street in Singapore, named for the pilgrims who stayed here on the way to Mecca. Every shophouse is painted a different colour and the lane is three metres wide.
- Tekka Centre · Little India’s market — a wet market downstairs and a hawker centre above it. The biryani queue at lunchtime tells you which stall to join.
The green city
Singapore is green by decree. Half its area is under vegetation, a law requires every new building to return the ground it took as vertical planting, and there is primary rainforest in the middle of the island. This walk is the side where the city tries to disappear into the trees.
- Botanic Gardens · A UNESCO site and free to enter. Rubber seeds smuggled out of Brazil were cultivated here in the 1880s, and the plantation industry that built Malaya began in this garden.
- National Orchid Garden · A thousand species and two thousand hybrids, and Singapore names new ones after visiting heads of state — there is a Mandela orchid, a Thatcher orchid and a Jackie Chan orchid.
- Fort Canning Park · The hill where the Malay kings were buried and where the British surrendered Singapore in 1942. The spiral staircase in the tree well is the most photographed thing in the city.
- MacRitchie Reservoir · Primary rainforest around a drinking-water reservoir, with a suspension bridge twenty-five metres up in the canopy. Monkeys take food out of hands, so carry nothing open.
- Henderson Waves · The highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore, thirty-six metres up, built as a wave of curved steel ribs with wooden decking. It is part of a ten-kilometre walk across three hills.
- Tiong Bahru · Singapore’s first public housing, built in the 1930s in art deco with curved balconies and spiral stairs. It was almost demolished; it is now the quarter everyone wants to live in.
Getting to Singapore and getting around
- Changi Airport · Voted the best in the world for a decade running
- Jewel Changi · A forty-metre indoor waterfall, inside the airport
- MRT Raffles Place · The MRT reaches everything, and it is spotless
Museums in Singapore
- National Gallery · Two colonial buildings under a golden veil
- Asian Civilisations Museum · A ninth-century shipwreck, almost intact
- National Museum · Seven hundred years, and the glass rotunda
- Peranakan Museum · The Chinese-Malay culture that exists only here
- ArtScience Museum · A building shaped like an open hand
Parks and gardens in Singapore
- Botanic Gardens · A UNESCO site, free, and open from five
- MacRitchie Reservoir · Rainforest and a bridge in the canopy
- Southern Ridges · Ten kilometres over three hills on walkways
- Pulau Ubin · Ten minutes by bumboat, and bicycles for hire
- Bukit Timah · Primary rainforest, and the highest hill at 164 m
Things to do in Singapore with kids
- Singapore Zoo · Open enclosures with moats instead of bars
- Night Safari · The first nocturnal zoo in the world, from 1994
- Universal Studios · On Sentosa, reached by cable car or monorail
- Jewel Changi · A forty-metre waterfall inside the airport
Cheap eats in Singapore
Eight hawker centres, and this is the only country where a street stall has a Michelin star. The government moved the street vendors into covered halls in the 1970s for hygiene, and in doing so preserved them — the same families still cook the same dish at the same stall forty years on. Three to eight dollars a plate.
- Maxwell Food Centre · Chicken rice, S$5, and the queue is the sign
- Chinatown Complex · 260 stalls, and a Michelin star among them
- Lau Pa Sat · A Victorian iron hall; satay street opens at seven
- Old Airport Road · The one Singaporeans name first. Go at noon
- Tiong Bahru Market · Breakfast upstairs — chwee kueh and kaya toast
- Tekka Centre · Biryani and murtabak, in Little India
- Newton Food Centre · Chilli crab in the open air, and it is touristy
- Katong laksa · Eaten with a spoon only — the noodles are cut short
Holy places in Singapore
- Thian Hock Keng · 1840, no nails, and it faced the sea
- Sultan Mosque · The dome sits on donated glass bottles
- Sri Mariamman · A Hindu temple in the middle of Chinatown
- Buddha Tooth Relic Temple · A 3.5-tonne gold stupa, and a roof garden
Frequently asked questions about Singapore
What is there to see in Singapore?
The top sights in Singapore are Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay and Merlion Park. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Singapore?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Singapore without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Singapore?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Singapore, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The Bay.
How do you get to Singapore and get around?
The main ways are Changi Airport, Jewel Changi and MRT Raffles Place. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Singapore, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Singapore that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Singapore for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.