Singapore City Sights

  1. Arab St

    The Muslim centre of Singapore is a traditional textile district, full of batiks from Indonesia, silks, sarongs and shirts. Add to this mix rosaries, flower essences, hajj caps, songkok hats, basketware and rattan goods, and you have a fair idea of the products haggled over in this part of the city.

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  2. Armenian Church

    Dedicated to St Gregory the Illuminator, Singapore's oldest church (1836) is the neoclassical Armenian Church, designed by eminent colonial architect George Coleman. Pushing up orchids in the graveyard is Agnes Joaquim, discoverer of Singapore's national flower - the Vanda Miss Joaquim orchid.

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  3. Asian Civilisations Museum

    Housed in a magnificently restored 1865 building, the ACM is one of Singapore's icons and a must-see. Set over three levels, the 10 permanent exhibits explore traditional aspects of pan-Asian culture and civilisation, including all of Southeast Asia, China, India and Sri Lanka. The sheer scale of the museum is such that, for the uninitiated, the ACM Highlights guided tour ( Mon, & Tue-Fri) is advisable - though they don't run in late December to early January.

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  4. Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum

    Impressive temple and museum constructed in 2007 primarily to house a Buddha Tooth Relic, which sits inside a 420kg solid-gold stupa in a dazzlingly ornate 4th-floor room. Get there at or , when monks hold ceremonies to open the chamber. Also worth seeing are the peaceful rooftop garden, where a huge prayer wheel sits inside a 10,000 Buddha Pavilion, the museum and the 100 Dragons Hall. Free vegetarian food in the basement.

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  5. Bukit Chandu

    Atop Bukit Chandu (Opium Hill), is a moving WWII interpretive centre inside a renovated villa. The focus is on the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Malay Regiment who bravely defended the hill against the Japanese in the Battle of Pasir Panjang in February 1942. This was the last major battle for Singapore, the Malay battalions no match for 13,000 Japanese soldiers. Hi-tech displays, films and audio effects transport you to the battle scene.

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  7. Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

    Singapore's only surviving patch of primary rainforest has the dual honour of being its highest point - a dizzying 163m. Most walkers take the paved trail to the summit, but we suggest diving off along the North View, South View or Fern Valley paths for a distinctly out-of-Singapore experience.

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  8. Butterfly Park & Insect Kingdom

    You'll be fluttered by more than 50 species of butterfly inside the Butterfly Park & Insect Kingdom. The Insect Kingdom museum has thousands of mounted butterflies, rhino beetles, Hercules beetles (the world's largest), scorpions, and other critters and varmints - kids stare wide-eyed.

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  9. Carlsberg Sky Tower

    Resembling a camembert impaled on a carrot, one of Sentosa's newer tourist magnets is the Carlsberg Sky Tower. Take the slow ride up the 131m column for magical Singapore views. More terrifying is the prospect of the 'Carlsberg Float' - a beer and ice-cream monstrosity at the bar.

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  10. Changi Memorial & Chapel

    The destruction of the original site to make way for prison expansion was an affront to many POWs who suffered terribly at the hands of the Japanese, but give some credit to the authorities for moving the memorial elsewhere. The photographs, letters and drawings graphically illustrate the horror of WWII and the chapel itself is a moving recreation of the kind built by the prisoners from the period.

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  11. Changi Village

    On the far northeast coast of Singapore, Changi Village offers an escape from the city mayhem. The buildings are modern but there's still a village atmosphere, the lively hawker centre being the focal point. Changi Beach (where thousands of Singaporean civilians were executed during WWII), lapped by the polluted Johor Straits, is lousy for swimming, but has a good stretch of sand. It's packed on weekends but almost deserted during the week.

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  13. Chettiar Hindu Temple

    Officially known as the Sri Thandayuthapani Temple, the open-walled, blue-green Chettiar Hindu Temple was completed in 1984, replacing a temple built by Indian chettiars (moneylenders). Dedicated to the six-headed Shaivite Lord Subramaniam, it's at its most active during the Thaipusam festival.

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  14. Chinatown

    Chinatown is Singapore's cultural heart, providing glimpses of the old ways with its numerous temples, decorated terraces and frantic conglomeration of merchants, shops and activity. Unfortunately much of Chinatown has been torn down and redeveloped over the past 30 years, but it's still a fascinating place to explore.

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  15. Chinatown Heritage Centre

    Set on three floors of an old shophouse, the Chinatown Heritage Centre is an engaging museum focussing on the arduous everyday lives of Singapore's Chinese settlers. Reconstructed living environments are festooned with artefacts, the 'four evils' - gambling, prostitution, secret societies and opium addiction - lurking in every corner. The oral and video histories of local people are genuinely moving.

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  16. Chinese & Japanese Gardens

    A thoroughly pleasant recreation of a classical Chinese garden, set against a backdrop of public-housing blocks, this is probably best combined with a trip to the Jurong Bird Park and/or Science Centre. The highlight is the truly outstanding bonsai collection (the centrepiece tree is 300 years old!). The neighbouring Japanese Garden is rather sparse and hardly worth the walk.

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  17. Chinese Gardens

    The highlights of the 13-hectare Chinese Gardens, on an island in Jurong Lake, are the 176-step pagoda and the contorted Chinese bonsai (the 300 year-old Pemphis acidula steals the show). Pre-wedding photo sessions dominate weekend proceedings.

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  19. Cineblast

    Simulation ride that straps you into a chair and tricks your mind into thinking it's being flung through canyons, propelled down rapids, shot up high mountains and other nausea-inducing experiences.

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  20. Emerald Hill Road

    Take time to wander through the pedestrianised Peranakan Place to Emerald Hill Road, where some original Peranakan terrace houses stand in various states of glamorous decay. The quiet atmosphere around here feels a million miles from shop-til-you-drop Orchard Rd. Check out No 45, built in 1903 with an unusually wide frontage and grand Chinese-style entrance gate, and the Art Deco-style Nos 121-129 dating from 1925. Grab a beer afterwards at No 5.

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  21. Esplanade Theatres on the Bay

    One of Southeast Asia's must stunning pieces of architecture, the Esplanade was created to announce Singapore's arrival on the world arts scene - and also as a challenge to the city's deep-seated conservatism. It succeeded on both counts, with a year-round programme of opera, classical music, jazz, theatre, dance and a host of fringe events. Taking a guided tour - or a self-guided iTour using an electronic guide - is a great way of exploring this iconic structure.

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  22. Fort Canning Hill

    When Raffles rolled in and claimed Singapore for the mother country, locals steered clear of Fort Canning Hill, then called Bukit Larangan (Forbidden Hill), out of respect for the sacred shrine of Sultan Iskandar Shah, ancient Singapura's last ruler. Raffles built a modest atap residence on the summit in 1822, which acted as Government House until the military built Fort Canning, named after Viscount Canning, first Viceroy of India, in 1860.

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  23. Fort Canning Park

    Once you get over the climb up the stairs, Fort Canning is not only a wonderful hilltop retreat from the city filled with shady paths and hidden nooks, it's a fascinating historical site. Check out the huge fort doors, the former barracks building, the spice garden and The Battle Box museum.

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  25. Fort Siloso

    Preserved British coastal fort that proved famously useless when the Japanese stormed Singapore from the north in WWII. Documentaries, artefacts, animatronics and recreated historical scenes will absorb history buffs, while their kids tug them towards the exits.

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  26. Geylang Serai Market

    Duck into the Geylang Serai Market behind some older-style Geylang Rd housing blocks. The entrance through a small lane leads to a crowded, traditional Asian market with baskets of dried fish, squirming toads, stingrays, slippery eels, etc - much more interesting than the supermarket! Watch your step - you don't want to end up sitting in the slime.

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  27. Hajjah Fatimah Mosque

    The cream- and brown-painted Hajjah Fatimah Mosque was built in 1846 named after the mosque's wealthy Malaccan-born Malay benefactor. Equally curious is its 'Leaning Tower of Kampong Glam' - a European-style minaret tilting about six degrees off-centre. The outbuildings are also well out of kilter.

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  28. Haw Par Villa

    'That which is derived from society should be returned to society' said Aw Boon, heir to the Tiger Balm miracle-ointment fortune. A million dollars later, what he returned was the Haw Par Villa. The family's glamorous villa is long gone, but the park is worth a look if only for the unbelievably kitsch 'Ten Courts of Hell' inside an enormous concrete omelette - grotesque statues depict sinners' fates in gory detail.

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  29. Images Of Singapore

    Thoroughly reworked interactive panorama of the island's history, going back to the 14th century and featuring recreations and the ubiquitous life-size models Singapore's attractions love so dearly. Despite some inevitable political spin and tacky merchandising, it's enjoyable.

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