SINGAPORE 4 DAY ITINERARY - TRAVELING WITH FAMILY
A little about Singapore
Once a colonial back country that got its independence from the British only in 1965, modern Singapore is dynamic and cosmopolitan city-state, melting pot of cultures and one of the world’s leading economic centers in shipping and banking. singapore 4 day itinerary
The lack of natural resources is compensated by amazing, often unbelievable, man-made attractions which are the reason why Singapore is getting its spark and becoming one of Asia’s hit-list destinations. The city is investing money towards its dream to become “City in the Garden”, to be more eco-friendly and sustainable.
Unlike many chaotic and bamboozling Asian cities, Singapore is pleasantly clean, uncrowded and quiet. It is also expensive compared to Southeast Asian standards, however if you are travelling from Australia, the prices are comparable to Sydney life.
We visited Singapore with our parents, so this itinerary doesn’t really reflect the style of travelling we usually do. If you are thinking of taking your family to some new exotic destination, Singapore is perfect because the culture shock is not as striking thanks to the western influences. We stayed 4 days and here is our itinerary how to make the most of this unique city state.
DAY 1 – Singapore Flyer & Merlion
We landed on Changi Airport in the afternoon and chose the easiest way to get to our hotel – we took cabs (it was 9 of us, therefore we needed 3 cars). After having a short rest, we booked a car for us at the reception of our hotel, quite a big van that took us around Singapore whenever we needed for the whole duration of our stay. If we didn’t travel with parents, this wouldn’t be the mean of transport we would initially choose, but in this case it was very comfortable and easy.
In the evening we hit the city and the first stop was Singapore Flyer – the giant Ferris wheel that is an irreplaceable part of Singapore’s skyline, one of the World’s largest Giant Observation Wheel and also one of Asia’s biggest tourist attractions. The tickets cost only around $33 SGD (approx. $32.60 AUD or 20.50 EUR) which I think is pretty reasonable. The views from the top are amazing and memories with my family priceless.
After the ride we went for a walk around marina and had dinner in one of the restaurants on the promenade. Later in the evening we went to see the famous Merlion statue – a mythical creature with a lion’s head and body of a fish which became an unofficial symbol of Singapore. There is actually a meaning for this strange statue: its name combines “mer”, meaning the sea, and “lion“. The fish body represents Singapore’s origin as a fishing village when it was called Temasek, which means “sea town” in Javanese (language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, Indonesia). The lion head represents Singapore’s original name—Singapura—meaning “lion city” or “kota singa”.
There are 5 Merlion statues around Singapore in total, but you will see plenty of the strange creature on t-shirts, magnets, picture frames, plush toys and other souvenirs.
DAY 2 – China Town, Singapore Zoo & Marina Bay Sands
In the morning of our second day I took our group to Yum Cha in Chinatown. For those who don’t know, yum cha is traditional Cantonese brunch that includes dim sum (small bite-sized dishes served in steamer baskets) and tea. I went to yum cha for the first time in Sydney and I loved it, so I wanted my parents to have this experience too, because there is nothing like it in Slovakia.
We spent the morning in Chinatown and in the afternoon we went to the award-winning Singapore Zoo. The zoo follows the modern trend of displaying the animals in naturalistic, open exhibits with hidden barriers. There are over 300 different species of animals and from those 16% are considered threatened and endangered. Steve Irwin, famous animal activist and conservationist, was a great fan of the Singapore Zoo and helped design the Australian Outback exhibit.
The admission for adults is $35 SGD, kids from 3 to 12 years old go for $23 SGD and seniors only $16 SGD.
In the evening we went again to the Marina Bay Sands to have dinner in Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant – The Bread Street Kitchen. We are all foodies in my family so this was quite a highlight for us. The restaurant is casual so you don’t have to worry about the dress code too much and the food was absolutely amazing, so if you love food, pay your visit there and you won’t be disappointed.
After the dinner we went up to the Marina Bay Sands Observation Deck, from where we could enjoy the night views over the city. The admission is only $23 SGD for adults. Other options are going up to the bar and have cocktails there, but the seating by the edge is not guaranteed, so you may not have the best view, or then obviously staying in the hotel for the night and enjoy the view from their famous infinity pool.
DAY 3 – Art Science Museum & Botanical Gardens
In the morning I planned to visit the famous Art Science Museum, the first museum of its kind in the world, located at the Bayfront of Marina Bay Sands. It is not only famous for its architecture that reminds of lotus flower on the water, but also for its ever-changing exhibitions.
I expected a lot from our visit, I thought we will spend inside maybe around three hours (that’s my usual museum time). Well, I shouldn’t have expected too much, because two exhibitions were finished so three quarters of the building were closed and we went through the rest in about 30 minutes. Honestly, I was quite disappointed. There were few areas that I loved, but I could count them on the fingers of one hand. Maybe we didn’t come in the right time, and even though the fee was only $17 SGD, I wouldn’t say it was really worth it. The museum is nice just to fill some free time in the city, but I wouldn’t recommend to plan your day around the visit, like we did.
The rest of the day we spend at the Bayfront and in the Gardens by the Bay, probably the most popular attraction in Singapore. This day was not lucky for us, because The Cloud Forest and The Flower Dome in the Gardens were closed for cleaning and some minor reconstructions.
The outdoors of the Gardens are free, you can spend there all day exploring its hidden corners. Plus there is of course the Super Tree Grove – vertical gardens that dominate the city’s landscapes. With heights between 25m up to 50m, these tree-like structures perform multiple functions that include shading, planting and working as environmental engines for the garden. The super trees are home to many exotic plants and flowers, they are fitted with environmental technologies that mimic the ecological function of trees and while walking in between them you will like on a different planet.
For only $8 SGC, you can go up to an elevated walkway up in the trees, from there you can enjoy the panoramic views over the Gardens. Every evening the Grove comes to live with synchronized music and light show known as the Garden Rhapsody. It is really beautiful, probably my favorite experience from Singapore.
DAY 4 – Sentosa Island
Because Singapore is very hot and humid, we decided to spend our last full day on the beach on Sentosa Island. Sentosa – the name means “peace and traquility” in Malay language – is a man-made resort island connected to the main island of Singapore by cable car, monorail, pedestrian boardwalk and road.
Sentosa Island is like Singapore’s playground with many attractions, hotel resorts, aqua parks, beaches etc. You can visit Universal Studios, Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom, Sentosa Merlion, Madame Tussauds Museum, Skyline luge and much more. Honestly I didn’t know about half of these attractions before actually arriving to Sentosa, which was a mistake, otherwise I would plan our day there better.
For our mean of transport to Sentosa, we chose the cable car that leaves from Mount Fabre on the mainland and the cost per adult was $29.50 SGD for round trip. The cable car ride was adventure itself, because you get a great aerial view over the island and the harbour.
When we got off, we went to the Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom that I really liked, and after that we went straight to the beach, because that day was really hot (like 50 degrees Celsius). There are all together more than 2 km of beaches, divided into Palawan, Siloso and Tanjong beach – all of them are artificial with the sand being brought from Indonesia and Malaysia.
Well to be honest, the beach was not my favorite. They all look beautiful in the pictures, but in real life they are crowded with no options to rent deck-chairs or umbrellas. On Palawan beach there was one toilet and one bar and that’s it. The shade from the palm trees is not enough so there is no place to hide from the sun. The water was too warm and dirty, so swimming was the last thing I wanted to do. Sentosa is quite fascinating island and I am little bit upset with myself that I haven’t done better research of what the island has to offer.
After having a light lunch and few drinks in that one bar we could find, we left earlier than I planned and spent the rest of the day shopping in the Vivo City and walking on the boardwalk with the view on Sentosa. Vivo City has got great range of restaurants. We went for dinner to Jamie’s Italian where we had an ultimate-last-night-in-Singapore feast!
To sum up our stay in Singapore, we all quite enjoyed it. Singapore is awesome, clean and beautiful, and it was the perfect choice to spend time with the family. My parents got the taste of Asia without the craziness that it’s usually accompanied to. I am also very glad that some of their dreams came true during this trip, for example seeing the Super Tree Grove in the Botanical Gardens or having dinner in Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant!
If you are planning a trip to SE Asia either with parents or alone, check out my other articles – I traveled to Bali, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand. If you are looking for another city escape, read my article about how to spend 48 hours in Kuala Lumpur here!
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