Places to Visit in Singapore: 11 Spots Every Traveller Ends Up Loving

TLDR: Singapore catches people off guard. You show up expecting a clean, modern city — and it is that — but then you find a rainforest park next to a business district, a $4 plate of chicken rice that beats restaurants three times the price, and a skyline that looks like someone turned up the saturation. Here are 11 places to visit in Singapore that make the whole trip click — Akasa for the best Indian dining in the city, and 10 more spots that actually earn their spot on the list.

Nobody talks about Singapore the way they talk about it after they’ve been.

Before the trip, people say things like “it’s a stopover city” or “isn’t it just malls and rules?” After, they’re the ones insisting their friends go. That shift happens because Singapore is genuinely hard to explain before you’re in it.

It’s an island of 733 square kilometres that somehow fits a working rainforest, a heritage neighbourhood that looks like 1970s Madras, a Chinatown that’s more interesting than most full-sized cities, and a rooftop infinity pool 57 floors above a bay that glitters at night. None of it feels like it should coexist. All of it does.

So here’s the honest version of what’s worth your time — and where to eat first.

1. Akasa — North Indian Fine Dining, Robinson Road

Food in Singapore is not a side activity. It is the activity. And if you’re going to sit down for one proper restaurant meal, Akasa is the place to do it.

It’s at CapitaSky on Robinson Road in the CBD — not a tourist trap, not a hotel restaurant doing Indian food as an obligation. Chef Akhilesh Pathak spent more than two decades learning Indian cuisine in different parts of the country before building this menu. The cooking reflects that. These are dishes from royal North Indian kitchens, made with the kind of attention that shows up in the first bite and stays through the last.

Butter chicken that isn’t from a paste. A Dum Biryani that’s been sealed and slow-cooked the proper way. Galouti kebabs from an old Lucknow recipe that essentially dissolve in your mouth. A Dal Tadka that reminds you why this dish became a staple across an entire subcontinent.

Vegetarians don’t get a token corner of the menu here — the plant-based options are a full, genuine section. Palak Lessoni, Multani Soy Chaap, Dal Makhani done right. Jain and Sattvic options are also available on request, which is genuinely useful when a group has mixed dietary needs.

The room is comfortable without being stuffy. Warm lighting, good air conditioning, indoor and alfresco options, a bar that runs craft beers, wines, and botanical cocktails into the late evening. The chef and owner check in on tables themselves. It’s the kind of meal you still think about on the flight home.

What to Order at Akasa

Location and Getting There

Tourists staying near Marina Bay or the CBD can get here easily. It’s the benchmark for Indian fine dining in Singapore — not a quick stop, a real evening. The weekday set lunch is excellent value if you’re in the area between sightseeing.

Book: akasa.sg

2. Gardens by the Bay

The Supertrees look like something from a science fiction film, and standing underneath them at night doesn’t change that impression. Eighteen vertical garden structures up to 50 metres tall, with a free light show — the OCBC Garden Rhapsody — running every evening at 7:45pm and 8:45pm.

The Cloud Forest dome has a 35-metre indoor waterfall and a misty mountain environment across five walkable floors. The Flower Dome is the world’s largest glass greenhouse. Go late afternoon, walk the Supertree Grove at sunset, and stay for the light show. That’s the right sequence.

• Address: 18 Marina Gardens Drive, Singapore 018953
• Entry: Gardens are free; Cloud Forest and Flower Dome from $28/adult
• Best time: 5pm onwards
• Tip: Pre-book dome tickets online — weekend walk-up queues are genuinely long

3. Marina Bay Sands SkyPark

The infinity pool gets all the Instagram attention but hotel guests only. The observation deck on the 57th floor is open to everyone, and the view is arguably better than the pool — you can actually look at the city rather than being part of the photo.

From up there you get Marina Bay, the Singapore skyline, Gardens by the Bay directly below, Sentosa in the distance, and on clear days, the tip of Malaysia. Go around 6:30pm when the city starts lighting up. That golden hour from 57 floors is the version of Singapore that makes people come back.

• Address: Marina Bay Sands, 10 Bayfront Avenue
• Entry: From $32/adult
• Tip: Ce La Vi bar on the same level — no observation ticket needed, strong cocktails

4. Sentosa Island

Singapore’s leisure island is bigger than it looks on a map and holds more than the Universal Studios headlines suggest. The Singapore Oceanarium — recently rebuilt and now triple its original size — is worth a half-day alone. Adventure Cove Waterpark, Siloso and Palawan beaches, cable cars from Mount Faber, and an expanding row of beach clubs on the western end.

Families with kids will naturally spend most of the day at Universal Studios. Minion Land is open. Super Nintendo World with the Mario Kart ride is running. For adults without children, the beach clubs and the quieter end of Siloso Beach in the late afternoon are a different and genuinely good version of the same island.

• Getting there: Sentosa Express from VivoCity, cable car, or taxi
• Universal Studios: From $83/adult
• Tip: Online tickets for USS are cheaper than walk-up and skip the physical queue

5. Little India

Serangoon Road on a weekday evening hits you on multiple senses at once. The jasmine sellers have their garlands strung in doorways. Incense smoke drifts out of open temple entrances. Gold shops line the street, their interiors glittering through glass fronts. Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple has a painted gopuram so detailed it takes a minute to actually take it all in.

Little India isn’t performing for tourists. People live and work here. That’s what makes it one of the best places to visit in Singapore for anyone who wants a neighbourhood with actual texture rather than a curated experience.

Tekka Centre is where you eat — roti prata, biryani, South Indian meals by the plate, fresh juices for almost nothing. For anyone who wants to pair the cultural walk with a North Indian fine dining experience later, the best Indian restaurants in Singapore guide on Akasa’s blog is helpful reading beforehand.

• MRT: Little India (NE7 / DT11)
• Best time: Evenings when the temples are lit
• Entry: Free

6. Chinatown

Two hours of walking does most of it. Sri Mariamman Temple — built in 1827, Singapore’s oldest Hindu temple — is on South Bridge Road. The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple is a short walk and worth going inside rather than just photographing from the street. Maxwell Food Centre across the road is where you eat: Tian Tian chicken rice, char kway teow, a dozen other things you won’t find outside Southeast Asia for this price.

The streets around Keong Saik Road have good coffee and food that’s evolved well beyond the tourist-trap hawker stalls. Chinatown is one of those Singapore tourist attractions that rewards wandering more than planning.

• MRT: Chinatown (NE4 / DT19)
• Don’t miss: Maxwell Food Centre, Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, Keong Saik Road
• Entry: Free

7. Jewel Changi Airport

Worth visiting even with no flight involved. Jewel is a 10-storey glass dome built around the Rain Vortex — a 40-metre indoor waterfall that drops from the roof. Around it there are 280 shops, restaurants, a hedge maze on the upper floors, and walking nets suspended over the lower levels.

Most airports exist to move people through them. Changi has spent years making the case that an airport can be a destination. Jewel is the most convincing argument for that yet. Give it two to three hours.

• Address: 78 Airport Boulevard, Singapore 819666
• MRT: Changi Airport (EW29)
• Entry: Free to enter; Canopy Park attractions have separate fees
• Best for: Layovers, rainy days, families, shoppers

8. Kampong Glam

Three streets that feel nothing like each other. Bussorah Street is lined with Middle Eastern cafés and restaurants, clean and tourist-friendly, with the Sultan Mosque at the far end. Arab Street runs parallel with fabric and textile shops stacked to the ceiling — silk, batik, cotton in every colour. Haji Lane is the chaotic one: narrow, wall-to-wall murals, indie boutiques, vintage stores, bars that fill up on weekend evenings.

The Sultan Mosque is worth seeing twice. During the day the gold dome catches the light from the street. At night the whole building is lit and looks completely different. Both visits are worth the short walk from Bugis MRT.

• MRT: Bugis (EW12 / DT14)
• Entry: Free
• Tip: Day visit for the shopping and mosque, evening visit for Haji Lane

9. Singapore Botanic Gardens

Eighty-two hectares and a UNESCO World Heritage listing that most visitors underestimate until they’re inside it. The National Orchid Garden holds over 1,000 orchid species — Singapore’s national flower, Vanda Miss Joaquim, lives here. The main gardens with Swan Lake, the rainforest trail, and the bandstand are free and genuinely beautiful.

One practical note: go before 10am. The heat after that point turns a leisurely walk into an endurance activity. Early morning in the Botanic Gardens — quiet paths, birdsong, good light through the canopy — is one of the better free hours you can spend in Singapore.

• MRT: Botanic Gardens (CC19 / DT9)
• Entry: Gardens free; Orchid Garden from $15/adult
• Best time: 7am–10am

10. Clarke Quay and the Singapore River

Clarke Quay is the riverfront area most visitors end up in for at least one evening — restaurants and bars along the water, getting busy from around 7pm. During the day it’s quiet enough to walk without the crowd, and the riverside architecture (restored conservation shophouses next to the modern city behind them) is genuinely worth looking at.

The bumboat ride most tourists skip is probably the best value activity on the river. Forty minutes, $25, and you see Singapore from water level: colonial shophouses up close, glass towers rising behind them, the Esplanade dome from the river, bridges overhead. It puts the city in proportion in a way that walking doesn’t.

• MRT: Clarke Quay (NE5)
• Bumboat rides: From ~$25/adult, Boat Quay and Clarke Quay departures
• Best time: Afternoon ride, dinner in the area afterwards

11. Singapore Zoo and Night Safari

The Zoo runs on open-concept design — enclosures are naturalistic rather than caged, which sounds like a small difference and isn’t. The atmosphere is completely different from a traditional zoo. Animals move in environments that make sense for them. Watching it, you move differently too.

The Night Safari opens after dark. It’s the world’s first nocturnal zoo and one of those experiences that’s hard to prepare for. A tram takes you through enclosures with lions, leopards, tapirs, and fishing cats that most people have only seen in photos. The darkness and the quiet and the animals actually moving around changes the experience from visiting to witnessing.

• Address: Mandai Wildlife Reserve, 80 Mandai Lake Road
• Entry: Zoo from $48/adult; Night Safari from $55/adult
• Tip: Zoo in late afternoon, brief rest, Night Safari from 7:15pm — the day divides naturally

All 11 Places at a Glance

How to Spread These Across Your Days

2-3 days: Evening at Gardens by the Bay (light show), SkyPark observation deck the same night or next, a morning in Chinatown or Little India, half a day on Sentosa, dinner at Akasa on the last evening. That’s Singapore’s range in three days.

4-5 days: Add Kampong Glam, Jewel Changi (even just for the waterfall), the Singapore River bumboat ride, and the Night Safari. Build in one afternoon with no plan — just walk somewhere and eat when you’re hungry. Singapore rewards that approach.

6+ days: Stop optimising the itinerary. Revisit your favourite neighbourhood. Eat at a hawker centre you haven’t tried yet. Take a day trip to Pulau Ubin and come back feeling like you found something most tourists missed.

On the food side: Akasa is worth booking ahead, particularly on weekends. The vegetarian restaurant Singapore page on their site is useful if you’re travelling with guests who don’t eat meat — the plant-based menu there goes well beyond what most Indian restaurant in Singapore actually offer.