Singapore is small enough to stay in one hotel and see all of it. The route here is not about moving bags, it is about which order to walk the neighbourhoods so the city makes sense.
Gardens by the Bay, the Supertree light show after dark, and the ArtScience Museum. Start here to get the skyline fixed in your head.
Onward: MRT, 10 min. Downtown Line to Chinatown
Temples, the Maxwell hawker centre, then the low-rise art deco streets and independent bookshops of Tiong Bahru.
Onward: MRT, 15 min. To Bugis for Kampong Glam
The Sultan Mosque, the shophouses of Haji Lane, and the noise and colour of Tekka Centre a short walk north.
Onward: MRT and monorail, 25 min. To Sentosa
Beaches and theme parks on the island, or the canopy walk from Mount Faber if you would rather be in the trees.
Onward: Bus or MRT, 30 min. East to Katong
Peranakan shophouses, laksa that people argue about, and a long flat stretch of park along the sea.
On a single day between flights, do Marina Bay and Chinatown and nothing else. Both are minutes from the airport line.
Add the Botanic Gardens, the zoo’s night safari, and a day across the causeway to Johor Bahru.
Treating Singapore as a one-day stopover. It is expensive per night, which pushes people to rush it, and the result is a photo of the Marina Bay Sands and nothing else. Three nights is the point at which the neighbourhoods start to separate out.
Read the full Singapore travel guide or take the Singapore packing list.