Happy 60th birthday to Singapore. The city state marks six decades of independence on August 9 and has come a long way in that time.
It’s no longer defined by its more peculiar laws (it’s illegal to walk around naked indoors if someone outside might see you — yes, really) and instead there’s sneaking admiration for how that laser-like approach to every aspect of life has helped Singapore to evolve into one of southeast Asia’s most dynamic destinations.
It has some of the world’s most authentic street food, with hawker stands serving up traditional clay pot cooking like granny used to make, just a block or two from wildly sophisticated cocktail bars and refined Michelin-starred restaurants. You can gawp at some of the planet’s most exciting contemporary architecture or stroll around immaculately preserved buildings from the 19th century. You can hike peaceful rainforest trails or sunbathe on buzzy, blond-sand beaches. And, given this is the Switzerland of southeast Asia, everything runs on time too.
48hrs in Singapore — at a glance
Day 1
• Morning: Chinatown Wet Market
• Eat at: Tong Ha Eating House
• Afternoon: Sentosa Island Hike And Beach
• Drink at: Tanjong Beach Club
• Evening: Gardens By The Bay
• Eat at: Butcher’s Block
Day 2
• Morning: Pulau Ubin Island
• Eat at: Lau Pa Sat Hawker Centre
• Afternoon: National Gallery Singapore
• Drink at: Atlas Bar
• Evening: Kampong Glam
• Eat at: Kee’s
What to see and do
● Wear shoes you don’t mind getting splashed to Chinatown Wet Market because the floor is constantly being hosed down. It’s a crowded, chaotic basement market that’s old-school Singapore at its best, with plenty of energetic bartering between bent-double pensioners, budget-conscious chefs and stubborn stall-holders. Spot live eels, fish in 50 shades of zing, lime green gourds and Barbie-pink dragon fruit and stacks of Chinese herbs to cure every condition. The peppermint towers of the Jamae Mosque, the ornate Sri Mariamman Hindu Temple and the colourful Buddha Tooth Relic Temple all sit happily on the same street nearby (sgwetmarket.com.sg).
● You can travel by road or monorail to Sentosa, Singapore’s little sister playground island, but the views from the 15-minute cable ride give the most bang for your buck. Hike the circular Imbiah Trail through lush rainforest and then cool down on the beach. Siloso Beach is the buzziest, Palawan best for families and Tanjong for swimming (£9.75 return; sentosa.com.sg).
● Singapore has 400 parks, none more futuristically unforgettable than Gardens by the Bay where “super trees”, steel structures draped in rainforest ferns, orchids and climbers, soar 50m skyward. From dusk, their solar-powered lights cast a mesmerising glow over the grove, but time your visit to coincide with Garden Rhapsody, the nightly sound and light shows at 7.45pm and 8.45pm (free, gardensbythebay.com.sg).
● The top deck of the No 2 bus from Downtown offers another city perspective as it motors down to Changi where you can hop on a bumboat to Pulau Ubin. This island is the antidote to Singapore’s big-city brashness: it’s a slow-paced lesson in local history, with traditional shops, wooden kampong homes and the Chek Jawa wetlands, one of Singapore’s richest ecosystems where you might see oriental pied hornbills, gliding lizards and definitely lots of naughty monkeys (bus £1.50; go-aheadsingapore.com, bumboat £2).
● The southeast Asian modern and contemporary art at the National Gallery Singapore in the Civic District is impressive but its buildings are also beautiful. Formerly the Supreme Court and City Hall, their architectural highlights include a neoclassical rotunda, a grand dome and an elegant façade with 18 Corinthian columns. Its rooftop gallery has one of the best views of the triple towers of Marina Bay Sands (free; nationalgallery.sg).
● Kampong Glam, the Arab quarter, is a warren of narrow lanes and alleyways centred on Haji Lane where the 19th-century shop houses have been adorned with street art and converted into quirky independent stores, cafés, bars and galleries. This is the place to buy souvenirs — rather than at the designer brands of Orchard Road. Try XVXII Jewellery, an ethical Singaporean brand that makes affordable, pretty pieces (xvxii.com).
Where to eat and drink
Tong Ah Eating House
This Chinatown institution is never going to win any design awards (functional white walls, Formica tables and plastic furniture) but it’s always packed with Singaporeans because the food here does the talking — which is handy as the waiters don’t speak great English. Pointing works fine though and plates arrive piled high with steaming noodles, heavenly fragrant chilli crab and crisp wok-fried mixed vegetables (mains from £10; tong-ah-eating-house.menu-world.com).
Tanjong Beach Club
This place is the closest Singapore gets to a Miami vibe, with a creamy mid-century aesthetic and ringside seats for sunset over the South China Sea. Ask for a coastal table to avoid a minimum spend of at least £45. The club also has a dangerously tempting boutique. Browse its fashions and accessories before your second Mai Tide, a more-ish mix of pandan-infused rum, coconut and pineapple bitters, or prepare for your plastic to take a battering (drinks from £15; tanjongbeachclub.com).
Butcher’s Block
This is a 100 per cent hunter-gatherer experience, including a glass-fronted vault showcasing hunks of raw meat on hooks. The chef, Jordan Keao, specialises in wood-fire cooking, creating dishes such as pork dumpling with fermented red cabbage and wagyu beef with bone marrow custard that are mouthwateringly good (mains from £28; butchersblock.com.sg).
Lau Pa Sat
The views of Singapore’s skyscrapers are pretty good from ground level at the Waterfront and you can get a selfie with Merlion, Singapore’s mythical part-fish, part-lion mascot. Afterwards, visit the nearby Lau Pa Sat, a hawker centre with over 130 years of history, which offers a multicultural food crawl through Chinese, Indian, Malay, Thai and Korean cuisines. At 7pm, it spills on to Boon Tat Street with barbecue stalls serving sizzling skewers and wicked satays (laupasat.sg).
Atlas Bar
The 1920s-inspired Atlas Bar in the landmark Parkview Square building in the Bugis neighbourhood is thrillingly theatrical. Its gilded interior epitomises Jazz Age joy, with a three-storey gin tower centre stage. White-jacketed mixologists use ladders to retrieve your favourite gin from its collection of 1,300 bottles (drinks from £14.50; atlasbar.sg).
Kee’s
The chef Andrew Walsh is expert at mixing culinary refinement with a fun crowd and dishes at this art deco-inspired bistro near Clarke Quay. It is as good as at Walsh’s former Michelin-starred restaurant Cure, but with more digestible prices. Kee’s seafood laksa is loaded with scallops and tiger prawns and wonderfully aromatic, while the succulent sea bass is delicately offset by cumin and jalapeño citrus salsa. The tiramisu makes an obscenely indulgent finale (mains from £15; kees.com.sg).
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Where to say
Heritage Collection On Chinatown
Cheap but chic in Chinatown
With a stellar location, close to the neighbourhood’s mosque and Hindu and Buddhist temples as well as great entertainment options, this hotel has ridiculously cheap windowless studios. If you like a little light, larger lofts and rooms have fresh neutral colours, classy murals and kitchenettes (room-only doubles from £70; hericoll.com).
Raffles Sentosa Singapore
Sister of Singapore’s landmark hotel
Raffles Singapore unveiled its baby sister this year. The understated island outpost occupies 25 acres of Sentosa Island a stone’s throw from Tanjong beach. The resort has 62 contemporary suites, all with private pools and glass-fronted sitting rooms. An al fresco breakfast at the Empire Grill comes with a side order of 30m infinity pool, rainforest and sea views (B&B doubles from £842; raffles.com).
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21 Carpenter
Past meets present in this heritage hotel
Tucked in a quiet street close to buzzy Clarke Quay, four characterful shop houses now have a striking contemporary five-storey extension. The 48 bedrooms are split more or less evenly between old and new blocks and all have bespoke modern furniture, calligraphic artwork and exquisite fabric-screened wardrobe doors. There’s a rooftop pool with views down to Marina Bay Sands and a neighbourhood bar (B&B doubles from £250; 21carpenter.com.sg).
• 15 of the best hotels in Singapore
Getting there and around
Airlines flying to Singapore from the UK include Singapore Airlines and British Airways with fares from about £550 return, with flight times from about 13 hours. From Changi airport, it is a 30-minute taxi ride into the centre, which costs between £15 and £30. Public transport is excellent and, as Singapore is serious about sustainability, great value with fares from under £1 (journey.smrt.com.sg).
Visit responsibly
A stop in Singapore en route to Australia makes sense, to break the journey and mitigate jet lag, but it’s also a popular staging post for Bali, which has no direct air links with the UK. Take in both with a package: 13 nights’ room-only from £1,749pp with four nights in Singapore and nine in Bali, including flights (trailfinders.com).
Susan d’Arcy was a guest of Raffles Sentosa Singapore
