Singapore

Singapore's nickname, the Lion City, hints at its origins, but the modern city is best understood as a meeting point of cultures and a showcase of bold urban design. In a single day you can watch the sun rise over the Marina Bay skyline, wander temple-lined lanes in Chinatown, eat a banana-leaf curry in Little India, and end the evening at a rooftop bar overlooking the harbour. The city wears its diversity openly — in its food, its festivals and the four languages on its signs — yet it runs with almost clockwork smoothness. Greenery is everywhere, earning Singapore its 'City in a Garden' tag, from roadside rain trees to the futuristic Supertrees. For the visitor, the joy is how much variety is packed into so little space: heritage and high-tech, street food and fine dining, all reachable in minutes by the cool, quiet carriages of the MRT.

The heart of modern Singapore is Marina Bay, a waterfront stage for the city's most famous sights. Dominating it is the Marina Bay Sands, three towers crowned by a boat-shaped SkyPark, beside the lotus-like ArtScience Museum. Across the water spreads Gardens by the Bay, where the towering Supertrees light up each evening in a free sound-and-light show, and two giant conservatories shelter a cloud forest and a flower dome. The original Merlion — the half-lion, half-fish symbol of the city — spouts water at the bay's edge, and after dark the free Spectra light-and-water show plays across the harbour. A stroll around the bay, linked by the Helix Bridge and a continuous waterfront promenade, takes in nearly all of it and is the quintessential Singapore evening. The whole area is a short walk from the Bayfront and Marina Bay MRT stations, and it is at its most magical once the lights come on.

Singapore's soul lives in its ethnic quarters, each a few MRT stops apart. In Chinatown, ornate temples like the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple stand among heritage shophouses, food streets and the bustling Chinatown Complex hawker centre. Little India is the most sensory of all — streets garlanded with flowers and gold, the colourful Sri Veeramakaliamman temple, the maze of the Mustafa Centre, and some of the city's best South Indian food. Kampong Glam, the historic Malay-Arab quarter, gathers around the golden-domed Sultan Mosque, with the Malay Heritage Centre on one side and the hip cafes, record shops and street art of Haji Lane on the other. The colonial Civic District adds grand museums and churches around the Padang. Exploring these quarters on foot — temple-hopping, shopping and grazing as you go — reveals the multicultural Singapore that the gleaming skyline can overshadow, and it costs almost nothing.

To eat in Singapore is to understand it, and the place to start is a hawker centre — an open-air hall of food stalls that is the beating heart of local life. Order the national dish, Hainanese chicken rice, a plate of smoky char kway teow, a bowl of coconut-rich laksa, or chilli crab to share, and you will rarely pay more than a few US dollars. Famous centres include Maxwell, Lau Pa Sat, Old Airport Road and the Michelin-starred stalls of Chinatown Complex. Beyond the hawker fare, Singapore spans every cuisine and price point: banana-leaf curries in Little India, Peranakan Nyonya cooking, traditional kaya toast breakfasts with soft eggs, and a glittering fine-dining and rooftop-bar scene around Marina Bay. Eating widely and cheaply across the cultures is not just affordable here but central to the experience — many visitors plan their days around where, and what, they want to eat next.

Where you stay in Singapore depends on the trip you want, and the excellent MRT means nowhere central is far from the sights. Marina Bay is the showpiece, home to the iconic Marina Bay Sands and luxury towers with skyline views — spectacular but pricey. The Civic District and Bras Basah put you among museums and within walking distance of the bay. For atmosphere and food on a more modest budget, the heritage shophouse hotels of Chinatown, Little India and Kampong Glam are characterful and central. Orchard Road suits shoppers, with malls at the doorstep, while Sentosa offers self-contained resort stays for families. Singapore is not a cheap hotel city — expect to pay US$120–250 for a comfortable mid-range room, more in Marina Bay, though hostels and budget shophouse hotels exist. For a first visit, a base near an MRT station in the central districts keeps the whole city within easy reach.

Singapore is one of Asia's most family-friendly cities, safe, clean and packed with attractions for all interests. Offshore Sentosa island holds Universal Studios, the vast S.E.A. Aquarium and beaches; the acclaimed Singapore Zoo and its sister Night Safari and River Wonders lie to the north; and the Science Centre and the indoor waterfall at Changi's Jewel add more. A workable first-timer's plan might be: day one around Marina Bay and Gardens by the Bay, ending with the evening light shows; day two exploring Chinatown, Little India and Kampong Glam on foot with plenty of hawker stops; day three at Sentosa or the zoo for families, or shopping on Orchard Road; and a final morning at Changi's Jewel before flying out. With everything close and the MRT so easy, Singapore rewards a packed but unhurried few days, and it leaves most visitors planning a return.