Singapore holidays

Singapore is Asia's most-modern city-state — the 728 sq km island at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula has reinvented itself in 60 years from a colonial trading port to one of the world's most-livable cities, with the world's best airport (Changi, repeatedly), one of the world's best public transport systems (the MRT and bus network), a hawker-stall food culture that earned UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage recognition in 2020 (and the world's only Michelin-starred hawker stall — Tian Tian Chicken Rice, although it lost the star recently), and a year-round 30°C climate. The headline experiences: Marina Bay Sands' 57-storey rooftop infinity pool and the Sands SkyPark observatory, Gardens by the Bay's Supertrees light-show, Sentosa Island's family-friendly Universal Studios and Adventure Cove, the colourful shophouses of Joo Chiat and Tiong Bahru, the Chinatown wet market, the Little India Tekka Centre, the Arab Street Kampong Glam quarter, and the world's second-largest aviary at the new Bird Paradise (Mandai).

A 3-5 day Singapore trip: arrival into Changi (often a multi-hour layover experience in itself with the Jewel's indoor waterfall, the Butterfly Garden, the rooftop pools at Crowne Plaza) → 3-4 nights in central Singapore (Marina Bay area, the colonial Boat Quay and Clarke Quay riverside, Orchard Road shopping, Chinatown, Little India, Kampong Glam). Headline highlights: a hawker dinner at Maxwell Food Centre (the Tian Tian Chicken Rice and the Chinatown Complex Food Centre), the Singapore Flyer or Marina Bay Sands SkyPark for the skyline sunset, the Night Safari at Mandai (the world's first nocturnal-only zoo), the Botanic Gardens (UNESCO World Heritage), the new Bird Paradise (replacing the historic Jurong Bird Park), Universal Studios Singapore on Sentosa for families, and the Asian Civilisations Museum or National Gallery for culture.