Singapore is a small country on the southern tip of the Malaysian peninsula. Thanks to its visionary leader , Singapore is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. Once you get passed the heat and humidity, it is a wonderful place to visit. I had a short stay in Singapore while taking a Royal Caribbean cruise . Here’s my recommendation on what to see in Singapore.

Day 1 - Jewel and Sentosa Island

Start with the Jewel Airport area. It is gorgeous with an artificial waterfall and a full-fledged shopping mall.

An indoor waterfall cascades through a lush, garden-like structure inside a shopping mall at Jewel Changi Airport area.

Then visit the biggest mall in Singapore, VivoCity , which is located right on a metro station. From here, one can walk over to Santosa Island.

A shopping mall with a modern architectural design, located near a metro station, serves as a gateway for visitors walking to Sentosa Island.

The walk to Sentosa Adventure Island is fun. However, if you don’t want to walk, you can as well take a (free) bus ride to/from Santosa. The word Sentosa comes from the Sanskrit word Saṃtoṣa/संतोष meaning peace and tranquility.

Universal Studios in Sentosa, featuring emblematic attractions and rides, evoking themes of peace and tranquility from its Sanskrit namesake.

Day 2 - Buddhist and Hindu Temples

We start the day with Sri Mariamman Temple , one of the oldest Hindu temples in Singapore. It was, unfortunately, under renovation at that time.

A Hindu temple in Singapore is under renovation. The exterior features intricate carvings and scaffolding, indicating ongoing construction

Then we visited the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. This temple claims to hold Siddhartha Guatam’s tooth in a 350 KG gold-covered area! This temple has multiple floors, including a rooftop garden, a museum dedicated to Siddharta Gautam, and a very affordable vegetarian food hall (meal for 3 SGD!) in the basement. I would highly recommend dedicating at least 3-4 hours to this.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple
Buddha Tooth Relic Temple
Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

Then, we visited Sri Krishna Temple in the afternoon. It was a bit surprising to see how many Chinese Singaporeans visit and worship the Hanuman deity outside the temple.

A temple with a colorful facade, featuring intricate sculptures and figures, seen from the street level, with a focus on cultural and religious architecture.

Day 3 - City Tourism

We started the day with the old Hill Street Police Station. There isn’t much to visit here, and you get a better view of it from the upper deck of a double-decker bus than from visiting it. Further, the inside of the building is closed to visitors, so, I would recommend skipping this.

Old Hill Street Police Station, an old building with multiple colorful window shutters

Then we visited Fort Canning Hill. The hill was the residence of the king of Singapura/सिंहपुर in the 14th century. And was further used by the British in the 18th century. There are several small places to visit on this hill. All of them are completely free to visit.

A tall, ornate white watch tower stands prominently on a hill, surrounded by lush greenery, evoking historical significance

At Fort Canning Centre, one can see a museum dedicated to the history of Singapore.

A museum at Fort Canning Centre highlights Singapore's history, while the Spice Garden showcases diverse spices historically traded by Singapore.

At Spice Garden, one can see various spices that Singapore traded in.

A lush green garden features diverse spice plants in Singapore's Spice Garden, part of Fort Canning Park, highlighting the city's historical trade in spices.
An outdoor path lined with lush, dense green trees, creating a natural tunnel effect in Fort Canning Park.

In the evening, we visited Merlion (mermaid + lion), the official mascot of Singapore.

Singapore's Merlion statue, the official mascot combining a mermaid and lion, captured in an evening setting.

Followed by a trip to Henderson Waves pedestrian bridge. It is a nice walking area from where one can visit Faber Point to get great views of the city skyline.

A wooden pedestrian bridge with a wavy design, surrounded by trees and urban landscape views.
A wooden pedestrian bridge with a wave-like design, known as Henderson Waves, set against an urban backdrop of a city skyline.

Day 4 - Natural Beauty

We started the day with Gardens by the Bay. These are some majestic gardens with tons of thematic gardens to visit. One can experience 70% of it without paying a single penny. Only a few enclosures are paid. I visited two paid gardens here for 53 SGD. Cloud Forest was worth the visit and Floral Fantasy felt like a waste of time. Overall, one can easily spend 3-4 hours here and still feel the visit to be incomplete.

Multiple lush, futuristic gardens with large, tree-like structures lit at night in Singapore's Gardens by the Bay
Multiple lush, futuristic gardens with large, tree-like structures lit at night in Singapore's Gardens by the Bay
Gardens by the Bay, showcasing vibrant, futuristic domes and towering Supertrees amidst lush greenery, highlighting architectural and horticultural innovation in Singapore.
A towering man-made tree structure adorned with plants and foliage stands amidst a lush garden landscape in Gardens by the Bay in Singapore
A towering man-made tree structure adorned with lights stands amidst lush greenery, part of Gardens by the Bay's futuristic landscape.
Singapore's Gardens by the Bay, showcasing futuristic Supertree structures surrounded by lush greenery under a blue sky.
A night scene at Gardens by the Bay depicts illuminated Supertrees, glowing with colorful lights against a dark sky, creating a stunning futuristic landscape.

Afterward, I visited Night Safari . This is also fairly well-connected to the metro via a special bus that runs every 20 minutes. I would recommend visiting right at the opening time as the shows are planned with limited frequency, and you would miss out on the fun by being late. The online ticket was 49.50 SGD and was 10% cheaper than the on-the-spot ticket. They have two shows, and only one of them “Creatures of the Night” is worth watching. It consists of trained wild animals that perform fun activities on the stage. The other LED show is a bit basic and can be skipped.

A brightly illuminated stage with performers in dynamic poses during an LED show.
LED show

Then as everyone is crowding up for the trains, I would recommend doing the hiking trails . It takes about ~90 minutes to see various animals up close this way.

Singapore Zoo Night Safari
A night safari features images of a marsupial, a tiger, and a different wildlife scene, emphasizing diverse nocturnal animal encounters in their natural habitat.
A tram tour is taking place in a nighttime safari setting, featuring a tiger in a natural habitat, with an audio guide provided for information.

Now, after finishing the hike, we went for the tram tour with guided audio. There was no crowding and no queues left for the tram at that time.

While at the airport, don’t forget to check out more of its unusual and free gardens.

Theatre at Changi Airport
Butterfly garden at Changi Airport
Cactus garden at Changi airport

Note

  1. The metro system is pretty good. Keep a map of it handy and you can get to anywhere in Singapore. Further, one can directly use Visa/Mastercard credit cards to pay for both Metro and public buses.
  2. Credit cards have a fairly high acceptance rate.
  3. Free public toilets, including drinking water, are easily accessible throughout Singapore.