West & Southwest Singapore

From walking the stunning Southern Ridges to meandering through fabulous, and free, art galleries at colonial Gillman Barracks, there's plenty to keep you busy west of the CBD. If you've got little ones in tow, head to the family-friendly attractions of the Jurong Bird Park and the Science Centre.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout West & Southwest Singapore.

  • Park

    Southern Ridges

    Made up of a series of parks and hills connecting Kent Ridge Park to Mt Faber and the Labrador Nature Reserve, the Southern Ridges will have you trekking through the jungle without ever really leaving the city. The entire route spans 10km; the best stretch is from Kent Ridge Park to Mt Faber. Not only is it relatively easy, this 4km section offers forest-canopy walkways, lofty skyline vistas and the chance to cross the spectacular Henderson Waves, an undulating pedestrian bridge suspended 36m above the ground.

  • Gallery

    Sundaram Tagore

    New York–based gallery known for showcasing top-tier artists from across the world, including iconic photographer Steve McCurry and Singaporean artist Jane Lee.

  • Bird Sanctuary

    Jurong Bird Park

    Home to some 400 species of feathered friends – including spectacular macaws – Jurong is a great place for young kids. Highlights include the wonderful Lory Loft forest enclosure, where you can feed colourful lories and lorikeets, and the interactive High Flyers (11am and 3pm) and Kings of the Skies (10am and 4pm). Note, however, that some birds are made to perform for humans, which is discouraged by animal-welfare groups. The park is set to relocate to Mandai by 2021.

  • Park

    Haw Par Villa

    The refreshingly offbeat Haw Par Villa was the brainchild of Aw Boon Haw, the creator of the medicinal salve Tiger Balm. After Aw Boon Haw built a villa here in 1937 for his beloved brother and business partner, Aw Boon Par, the siblings began building a Chinese-mythology theme park within the grounds. Top billing goes to the Ten Courts of Hell (last entry 9.15pm), a walk-through exhibit depicting the gruesome torments awaiting sinners in the underworld.

  • Museum

    NUS Museum

    Located on the verdant campus of the National University of Singapore (NUS), this museum is one of the city's lesser-known cultural delights. Ancient Chinese ceramics and bronzes, as well as archaeological fragments found in Singapore, dominate the ground-floor Lee Kong Chian Collection; one floor up, the South and Southeast Asian Gallery showcases paintings, sculpture and textiles from the region. The Ng Eng Teng Collection is dedicated to Ng Eng Teng (1934–2001), Singapore's foremost modern artist, best known for his figurative sculptures.

  • Gallery

    Thow Kwang Pottery Jungle

    You could spend hours perusing the overflowing shelves of brightly coloured ceramics (most imported from overseas) for sale in this pottery shop's labyrinth of rooms, but it's the 70-year-old dragon kiln that makes the trek here especially worthwhile. The last operational one of its kind in Singapore, the kiln is fired up only three to four times a year, but tours and pottery classes are run year-round.

  • Wildlife Reserve

    Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

    Sungei Buloh's 202 hectares of mangroves, mudflats, ponds and secondary rainforest are a birdwatcher's paradise, with migratory birds including egrets, sandpipers and plovers joining locals such as herons, bitterns, coucals and kingfishers. The reserve is also a good spot to see monitor lizards, mudskippers, crabs and – if you're very lucky – an estuarine crocodile. Free guided tours run every Saturday at 9.30am; registration required via the website.

  • Museum

    Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum

    What looks like a giant rock bursting with greenery is actually Singapore's high-tech, child-friendly natural history museum. The main Biodiversity Gallery delves into the origin of life using a stimulating combo of fossils, taxidermy and interactive displays. Hard to miss are Prince, Apollonia and Twinky: three 150-million-year-old Diplodocid sauropod dinosaur skeletons, two with their original skulls. Upstairs, the Heritage Gallery explores the collection's 19th-century origins, with an interesting section on Singapore's geology to boot.

  • Gallery

    Gillman Barracks

    A former British military encampment, Gillman Barracks now houses a contemporary arts hub set in a lush landscape. Among its 11 galleries is New York’s Sundaram Tagore, which represents big names such as Annie Leibovitz. Also on-site is the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art, a forward-thinking art-research centre hosting art talks, lectures and contemporary exhibitions from dynamic regional and international artists working in a variety of media. Individual gallery hours vary.