25 Best Things to Do in Singapore (2026 Guide)
Twenty-five ways to spend a day here, ordered by what they give you for what they ask — starting with the ones that cost nothing and let you walk straight in.
Five in the morning on the boardwalk at Marina Bay and the joggers have it to themselves: a low grey light, the smell of warm concrete, the whine of the first airport-bound taxis on the ECP. By seven the light is white and unforgiving. By eight the queues have started somewhere else entirely. Singapore rewards people who work out the timing, and almost nothing here is worth doing at noon.
This list is ordered by value and access — how much a place gives you against what it charges, and how likely you are to get in without a booking reference. Free, open-gate, walk-up-and-enter comes first; the big ticketed set pieces sit lower, not because they disappoint but because they ask more of your afternoon and your wallet. Prices and hours here are the ones published by the venues and reported this year; where a number could not be confirmed, you will find the practical advice instead of a guess, because an invented price is worse than no price.
A note on the mix: roughly half of what follows costs nothing, and several of the paid entries are free or heavily reduced if you hold a Singapore IC. If you are visiting for four days, take one entry from the top five, one museum, one after-dark thing and one island, and you will have seen the city rather than its skyline. If you live here and have stopped looking, start at the ferry terminal.
Gardens by the Bay
18 Marina Gardens Drive, Marina Bay · waterfront park and Supertree Grove · Outdoor gardens free, daily 5am–2am; ticketed attractions 9am–9pm, last entry 8.30pm
The part that costs nothing is the part that stays with you: the outdoor gardens are open daily from 5am to 2am, while the ticketed attractions like the Flower Dome, Cloud Forest, OCBC Skyway and Supertree Observatory run 9am to 9pm with last entry at 8.30pm. Come at 6am and the Supertrees are lit, damp and completely unpeopled, which is the opposite of the postcard. Go back after 9pm if you want the light show and the crowd that comes with it.
Southern Ridges
Mount Faber Park to Kent Ridge Park, Telok Blangah · hilltop trail and bridge walk · Free; allow 3–5 hours end to end
A ridgeline walk that strings four parks together on elevated boardwalk, and the best free thing in the south of the island. The climb up the Marang Trail opens onto views of Sentosa, the Southern Islands and the surrounding HDB estates, and further up sits Faber Peak with the Bell of Happiness. NParks puts both main routes at an estimated three to five hours — start at 7.30am, carry water, and do it in that order so you finish downhill.
Pulau Ubin
Changi Point Ferry Terminal, Changi Village · offshore island, cycling and mangroves · Bumboat S$4 each way, S$2 per bicycle; boats on demand daily 6am–7pm
Ten minutes of diesel and open water and the twentieth century falls away. The bumboat ride from Changi Point Ferry Terminal is the only public way onto the island, and the on-demand service runs daily between 6am and 7pm; the fare is $4 a trip, plus $2 if you bring a bicycle. Bus 2 from Tanah Merah or bus 29 from Tampines both terminate at Changi Village. Go early, leave earlier than you think — the last boats do not wait for stragglers.
National Gallery Singapore
St Andrew's Road, Civic District, in the former Supreme Court and City Hall · Southeast Asian art museum · Free for locals; admission and ticket sales end 30 minutes before the 7pm close
Two colonial law buildings welded together with a filigree roof, and inside them the largest public holding of Singapore and Southeast Asian art anywhere. The Gallery advises that admission and ticket sales end 30 minutes before closing and that visitors typically spend three hours. Plan around one absence: the UOB Southeast Asia Gallery is temporarily closed and reopens in late 2027, with works from the National Collection shown across the rest of the building in the meantime. Locals enter free.
TreeTop Walk
Central Catchment Nature Reserve, reached via MacRitchie Reservoir Park · 250m canopy suspension bridge · Free; weekdays 9am–5pm, weekends and public holidays 8.30am–5pm
A free-standing suspension bridge about 250m long, rising to 25m above the forest floor, with views across the canopy. It is not a stroll: you earn it with an hour or more of trail each way, and the reserve itself opens 7am to 7pm, with the TreeTop Walk open 9am to 5pm on weekdays and 8.30am to 5pm at weekends and on public holidays. Last entry is around 4.45pm and the gate is locked after. Macaques will ignore you if you ignore them.
Sri Mariamman Temple
244 South Bridge Road, Chinatown · Hindu temple and national monument · Free; daily 6am–12pm and 6pm–9pm
The oldest Hindu temple in the city, its gopuram stacked with painted figures on a street of shophouse bars. Visiting hours run 6am to noon and 6pm to 9pm daily, and the doors are studded with small gold bells set in a grid that devotees ring as they pass through. Entry is free, but the dress code is enforced: shoulders covered, and trousers or skirts long enough. Come at six in the evening, when the lamps go on.
Asian Civilisations Museum
Empress Place, by the Singapore River, Civic District · Asian art and trade history museum · Free for Singaporeans and PRs; open till 7pm
The riverside museum that explains why everything else in this city looks the way it does — porcelain, textiles and shipwreck cargo read as trade routes rather than treasure. Through to 24 January 2027 it hosts Crosscurrents: Masterpieces of Mughal, Safavid and Ottoman Art from the Musée du Louvre, which is the strongest reason on this list to spend a wet afternoon indoors. The ongoing ACM & Me displays are free for Singaporeans and PRs, with weekend and public holiday slots booked in advance.
Buddha Tooth Relic Temple
288 South Bridge Road, Chinatown · Buddhist temple and museum · Free; open daily from 7am
Five storeys of Tang-style timber and gilt on a Chinatown corner, built to house what is believed to be a canine tooth of the Buddha, enshrined in a stupa upstairs. The temple opens from 7am and admission is free; photography is fine in most areas but flash is not allowed in certain sections. Arrive before eight and you will hear chanting rather than shutter clicks. Cover your shoulders and knees.
Jewel Changi Airport
78 Airport Boulevard, Changi Airport · mall with indoor waterfall and gardens · Free to enter; Rain Vortex operates daily 10am–10pm
A forty-metre column of water falling through the middle of a shopping centre, wrapped in terraced planting, with the roar loud enough to drown the flight announcements. The Rain Vortex operates daily from 10am to 10pm, and the attractions above it are ticketed separately — tickets are sold online or at the digital kiosks around Jewel, and are non-refundable. Best on a weekday evening with a long layover and no luggage.
National Orchid Garden
Inside Singapore Botanic Gardens, Tanglin · three-hectare orchid display garden · From S$5 adult, S$1 students and seniors, free under 12; daily 8.30am–7pm, last tickets 6pm
Three hectares of hillside inside the Botanic Gardens, and the one paid corner of a free UNESCO site worth paying for. Admission starts at $5 for adults, $1 for students and for seniors 60 and over, and is free for children under 12; the garden opens 8.30am to 7pm with last ticket sales at 6pm, and the walk takes 30 to 45 minutes. There is a cooled house to escape the heat, which by eleven in the morning stops being a novelty and becomes the plan.
Sultan Mosque
Kampong Glam, off Arab Street and Muscat Street · mosque and national monument · Free; visitors Sat–Thu 10am–12pm and 2pm–4pm, Fri 2.30pm–4pm
The golden dome at the end of the Bussorah Street sightline, and the anchor of the whole Kampong Glam walk. Non-worshipping visitors are welcome Saturday to Thursday, 10am to noon and 2pm to 4pm, with Friday hours of 2.30pm to 4pm. It was named after Sultan Hussain Shah of Johor, who gave permission for its construction in 1824. The detail worth the trip: the dome's base is ringed with glass bottle ends donated by the community. Dress modestly; robes are lent at the door.
National Museum of Singapore
Stamford Road, Civic District · national history museum · Open 10am–7pm; permanent galleries free for Singapore citizens, PRs and children under six, with concessions for other groups
The oldest museum in the country, a rotunda of stained glass grafted onto a modern glass wing. It opens 10am to 7pm, with free admission to the permanent galleries for locals, PRs and children under six, and concession fees available for specific groups. The long history gallery is the honest introduction to the city that no skyline tour gives you — go on your first morning, not your last. Ninety minutes minimum; two hours if you read the labels.
Peranakan Museum
39 Armenian Street, Civic District · Peranakan culture and heritage museum · Daily including public holidays, 10am–7pm, Fridays till 9pm; tickets sold online and at the door
A small, precise museum in an old school building, where beadwork slippers and wedding chambers do more explaining than any timeline could. It opens daily, including public holidays, from 10am to 7pm, with extended hours until 9pm on Fridays. Take the Friday evening slot: emptier rooms, and Armenian Street is a pleasant walk afterwards. Paid public parking sits next door but spaces are limited — take the MRT.
Haw Par Villa
262 Pasir Panjang Road, Pasir Panjang · Chinese mythology sculpture park with Hell's Museum · Park free; Hell's Museum ticketed, daily 10am–6pm, last entry 5pm
A 1930s theme park of painted concrete gods, demons and moral instruction, free to wander and quietly deranged in the best way. Hell's Museum opens 10am to 6pm with last entry at 5pm, daily since 11 August 2025, and is paid admission; the visitor centre keeps the same 10am to 6pm hours, including weekends and public holidays. The MRT station is a minute from the park entrance. The museum is not recommended for children under nine.
Flower Dome
Gardens by the Bay, 18 Marina Gardens Drive, Marina Bay · cooled conservatory · S$12 adult, S$8 senior 60+ and child 3–12
Cold, dry, enormous, and the cheapest air conditioning with a view in the city. Standard admission is S$12 for an adult and S$8 for seniors 60 and over and children aged three to twelve. Plants from five continents are laid out across nine gardens — Olive Grove, Baobabs, Succulent Garden, the Australian, South African, South American and Californian gardens, the Mediterranean Garden and the changing flower field. Bayfront is the nearest MRT. Of the two domes, this is the one to book if you only book one.
Singapore Art Museum
39 Keppel Road, #01-02 Tanjong Pagar Distripark · contemporary art museum · Daily, all year round, 10am–7pm, including public holidays
Contemporary art in a working port warehouse, with gallery ceilings tall enough for installations nobody else in the city can take. SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark opens daily, all year round, from 10am to 7pm, including public holidays. Take the Circle Line to Cantonment station and walk from Exit 1. Concession admission requires valid photo identity at the counter. The industrial setting is the point; go on a Sunday when the container lorries are asleep.
Cloud Forest
Gardens by the Bay, Marina Bay · cooled conservatory with indoor waterfall and Jurassic World: The Experience · Additional S$14 entry fee on top of Cloud Forest admission
A thirty-five-metre indoor waterfall, a mountain of mist and, at present, animatronic dinosaurs in among the ferns. From 29 May 2025 the Cloud Forest features Jurassic World: The Experience, and an additional $14 entry fee applies. Time-slot booking is no longer required if you already hold a ticket — present the original at the admission desk. If dinosaurs are not your reason for visiting, the surcharge is the argument for the other dome instead.
ArtScience Museum
6 Bayfront Avenue, Marina Bay Sands · art, science and technology museum · S$27 visitors, S$19.50 residents; daily 10am–7pm, last entry 6pm
The lotus-shaped building on the bay, and better programmed than its silhouette suggests. Tourist entry tickets are S$27, with S$19.50 for Singapore citizens, PRs and pass holders on production of a valid identity card. The family move is obvious: every Friday, excluding public and school holidays, up to four children under 12 enter free with each adult ticket purchased. Doors are 10am to 7pm daily, with last entry at 6pm.
Night Safari
Mandai Lake Road, Mandai Wildlife Reserve · nocturnal wildlife park · S$58 adult, S$41 child 3–12, S$20 senior 60+, under-3s free; tram included
The world's first nocturnal park, and still the one Singapore experience that makes a case for going out at nine on a weeknight. Tickets are S$58 for adults and S$41 for children aged three to twelve, with S$20 for seniors over 60, free entry under three, and a complimentary tram service included; Singapore residents pay discounted rates from S$46.40. The Creatures of the Night presentation is the set-piece. Tickets sell out, so book early.
Bird Paradise
Mandai Lake Road, Mandai Wildlife Reserve · walk-through aviary park · Daily 9am–6pm, last entry 5pm; ticketed, with resident discounts for WildPass holders
Seventeen hectares holding more than 3,500 birds from over 400 species, across eight large walk-through aviaries, each built around the vegetation and species of a different biome. It opens daily from 9am to 6pm, with last entry at 5pm, and local residents get a discounted rate as WildPass holders. Be at the gate at nine: the aviaries are loudest in the first hour and the walkways have no crowd in them yet.
Rainforest Wild ASIA
Mandai Lake Road, Mandai Wildlife Reserve · rainforest adventure park · S$43 adult, S$31 child 3–12, S$20 local senior; daily 9am–6pm, last entry 5pm
The newest of the Mandai parks and the most physical: caves, canopy routes and climbing rather than a path past enclosures. Single-park admission is $43 for adults, $31 for children aged three to twelve and $20 for local senior citizens, and the park opens daily 9am to 6pm with last admission at 5pm. Wear shoes you can sweat in. Best for teenagers and anyone who has already done the zoo twice; not the pick for a pram.
Singapore Oceanarium
8 Sentosa Gateway, Sentosa · aquarium across 22 ocean zones · From S$43, free for under-4s
The rebuilt and much-expanded successor to the old aquarium on Sentosa. Tickets start from S$43, under-4s go free, and the park holds more than 100,000 marine animals across 22 ocean zones — three times the size of the former S.E.A. Aquarium. A Research and Learning Centre with learning labs and seminar rooms opened alongside it. Confirm the day's hours when you book; they shift by season. Weekday mornings, or you will queue at the big viewing panel.
Singapore Flyer
Raffles Avenue, Marina Bay · observation wheel · S$40 adult; arrive any time between 10am and 9.15pm on your booked date
A thirty-minute rotation over the bay, the Padang and the straits full of anchored tankers. Adult tickets cost 40 SGD as of 2026, and although you choose a date when booking online you can arrive any time between 10am and 9.15pm that day. That flexibility is the reason to choose it over a timed deck: turn up when the light goes gold and the haze lifts. Go around 6.45pm, and take the capsule on the far side from the sun.
SkyPark Observation Deck
Hotel Tower 3, 10 Bayfront Avenue, Marina Bay Sands · rooftop observation deck · Sunset session Tue–Sun 6pm–9pm, last admission 7.30pm; typical visit 45 minutes to an hour
Fifty-seven floors up on the cantilevered prow, looking down the length of the bay at the Supertrees. The sunset-hour experience runs Tuesday to Sunday, 6pm to 9pm with last admission at 7.30pm, and includes priority access to the deck, a dedicated seating area and a photo book. Visitors typically spend 45 minutes to an hour, and there is a kiosk on Level 56 for light bites. Check the day's ticket price and any special-date closures before you commit.
Singapore Grand Prix
Marina Bay Street Circuit, Marina Bay · Formula 1 night race, 9–11 October 2026 · Zone 4 Walkabout general admission from S$198 per day
One for the diary rather than the weekend, and the reason hotel rates go strange in October. The race runs Friday 9 to Sunday 11 October 2026 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, with 2026 bringing Singapore its first F1 Sprint — the final Sprint round of the season, so Saturday carries a full race. Tickets span four zones, from Zone 4 Walkabout general admission at S$198 a day up to hospitality suites priced on request, with a ten-stage line-up headlined by The Killers and Lana Del Rey. Walkabout, and keep moving.
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