Five-minute guide to Singapore

Whether you’re stopping over or staying a while, there’s plenty to see in the Lion City. By Megan Arkinstall

Welcome to Singas

The most convenient way to get into the city is by taxi but, of course, it’s the most expensive.
It costs between $18–38 (plus a $3–5 airport surcharge depending on the time of day) and takes approximately 30 minutes.
A much cheaper alternative is to take bus service 36, which runs between 6am and 11pm.
It costs less than $2 for a single fare but takes about an hour.
You need to have the exact fare as no change is given.
The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) train takes only 30 minutes and costs around $2.30 but you need to change at Tanah Merah station for the westbound train.

Getting out and about

Public transport
The MRT system is a fast way to get around Singapore.
Purchase an EZ-Link Singapore Tourist Pass from $10 for a one-day pass, $16 for a two-day pass and $20 for a three-day pass for unlimited rides on buses, and MRT and LRT trains.
All Singapore’s tourist attractions are within walking distance of an MRT station and the bus network is extensive.
ezlink.com.sg
By taxi
Taxis are only allowed to pick up passengers at designated taxi stands, hotels and shopping centres.
If you’re travelling in a group or have lots of shopping bags (hmm, probably), a taxi is the best option.
A fare from Orchard Road to Clarke Quay, for example, will cost around $10.
By boat
This is a great way to get your bearings.
Take a bumboat ride along the Singapore River to see Merlion Park, Marina Bay Sands, The Esplanade, Clarke Quay and Boat Quay.
$22 per adult and $12 per adult; rivercruise.com.sg

Sightseeing

We all know the Merlion, but have you heard of…

Tiong Bahru
Built in the 1930s as a massive housing estate of over 900 Art Deco units, Tiong Bahru is now Singapore’s hippest and most eclectic neighbourhood located just a few kilometres from the CBD.
Head here to explore the cafés, bars, restaurants, boutique stores – indie books, quirky homewares and funky fashion – and the local market, which has more than 100 different food stalls and is said to sell the freshest produce on the island.
Great for people watching.
Pulau Ubin
Forget Sentosa Island; we’ve found an authentic island escape from the bustling CBD.
Just a 10-minute bumboat ride from Changi Point Ferry Terminal will take you to Pulau Ubin, an island where the locals still use a diesel generator for electricity and fetch water from wells.
Hire a bike (from $2–10 per day) and pick up a map from the information kiosk, then pedal off to explore this unkempt traditional village, also known as a ‘kampong’.
Cycle to the Chek Jawa wetlands on the island’s east and along the one-kilometre coastal boardwalk, which loops through mangrove swamps and out to the sea.
End your day with chilli crab and Tiger Beer before returning to the CBD by ferry (there are no set departure times; it just leaves whenever 12 people are ready!).
Southern Ridges Walk
They don’t call it the Garden City for nothing. Head to Southern Ridges: 10 kilometres of green, open spaces connecting several parks and nature reserves.
Stretch your legs and take in panoramic views of the city, harbour and the southern islands.
Part of Southern Ridges is Labrador Nature Reserve: a tranquil oasis containing the only rocky sea-cliff on the main island of Singapore.
See more than 70 species of birds, 11 species of butterfly, and some interesting Second World War relics that are now surrounded by natural forest.

Shop ’til you drop

Orchard Road
A trip to Singapore isn’t complete without burning some serious calories pacing up and down this famous 2.2-kilometre shopping strip.
With over 25 shopping malls hosting every shop you can think of – from GAP to Cartier – your suitcase will be bursting at the seams before you know it.
Marina Bay Sands
Get out the plastic for a trip to ‘The Shoppes’ – home to Balenciaga, Burberry, Gucci, Saint Laurent and friends.
Little India
Spices, Ayurvedic massage oils, gold, incense, fabrics, flower garlands – even fortune tellers and their parrots – can be found in this colourful and culturally vibrant district.
You can also try some authentic Indian fare, like roti prata (dough flat bread), thosai (pancake) or fish head curry (er, just as it sounds).
Mustafa Centre
Also in the Little India district, the Mustafa Centre is a somewhat brash but bargain-filled shopping mall open into the wee hours of the night.
Kampong Glam
This eclectic district is great for shopping, eating and simply soaking up the vibrant culture.
Head to Arab Street where they sell Persian carpets, lace, batik; Haji Lane has independent boutiques and second-hand clothing stores; and all the alleyways in between are stocked with spices, perfumes, rattan furniture, plus street stalls and eateries.

Eat and drink

CHZE CHAR (HAWKER FOOD)

Arguably the best way to experience authentic Singaporean cuisine is to try hawker food (street food).

Singapore’s unofficial national dish, the chilli crab, can be found just about anywhere and the question of which is best is a hot debate, no pun intended.

Most tourists head to East Coast Seafood Centre for big-name establishments Jumbo Seafood and Long Beach Seafood but just adjacent to that is East Coast Lagoon Food Village where the crab is just as good and much cheaper.

Try the black pepper crab too!

Maxwell Road Hawker Centre is home to Tian Tian, which serves up the best chicken rice in Singapore, according to celeb chef Anthony Bourdain.

You’ll also find great examples of the popular fried noodle dish char kway teow here.

Try Makansutra at Gluttons Bay for sambal stingray (spicy banana leaf stingray) and Lau Pa Sat for some mean chicken satay served up in a lively setting within a 19th-century market building.

Still unsure? Ask a local.

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YAM SENG (CHEERS!)

After you’ve taken to the streets for your dinner, there’s no shortage of great bars for a tipple or two.

There are rooftop bars that boast spectacular views like Ku De Ta at the top of Marina Bay Sands, craft brewery LeVel 33 in the penthouse of the Marina Bay Financial Centre, or Lantern on top of The Fullerton Bay Hotel.

For a classic, head to Long Bar at Raffles, where purchasing a legendary Singapore Sling will set you back $26 but, hey, you get to throw your peanut shells on the floor.

And there’s some great watering holes hiding in districts like An Siang Hill, where you’ll find Screening Room, a rooftop bar showing films, and underground supper club Lolla; or Bar Stories on Haji Lane in Kampong Glam.

Where to rest your head

Singapore’s transport system is pretty extensive, so staying anywhere in Singapore’s Downtown area – around the Colonial District, Chinatown and Marina Bay – is a good option.

Here are some of our favourites:

New Majestic, Chinatown
Each room in this Design Hotel is unique – from ones with private gardens to rooms in the attic – but all have Smart TVs, Nespresso machines and Kiehl’s toiletries.
The hotel’s restaurant serves up delicious Cantonese-style cuisine.
From $216 per night; newmajestichotel.com
Naumi, Colonial District
This award-winning boutique hotel is a part of Small Luxury Hotels.
Its 73 rooms, including a dedicated ladies-only floor, are elegantly furnished and equipped with Apple TVs, high-speed wi-fi, Malin + Goetz toiletries and beds with seven layers of Egyptian cotton goodness.
Escape the muggy Singapore heat by taking a dip in the rooftop infinity pool overlooking Singapore’s skyline – pure bliss.
From $224 per night; naumihotel.com
Marina Bay Sands, Marina Bay
Marina Bay Sands is like a city in itself, so you won’t want for much more if you are a guest here.
There are nine room types from comfortable Deluxe Rooms to the opulent Chairman Suite, a host of celebrity chef-owned restaurants, sophisticated bars, and endless entertainment: a museum, theatre, ice-skating rink and luxurious shops.
But a swim and a cocktail at the exclusive 57th-storey infinity pool will probably be the highlight.
From $555 per night; marinabaysands.com/hotel
Raffles, Colonial District
Dubbed one of the world’s greatest hotels, Raffles simply oozes opulence.
Since its opening in 1887 it has epitomised what a five-star hotel should be – exclusive, plush and elegant with superb service.
Situated in the heart of the Colonial District, staying at this hotel is one for the bucket list. (Make sure you book high tea in the Tiffin Room.)
From $750 per night; raffles.com/singapore

After youth-led protests in 2025, this year Nepal elected a 35-year-old former rapper as Prime Minister. In a country where tourism is its biggest industry, what’s next for travellers?

In 1986, Nepal changed its clock. It had used India Standard Time since 1920 so, to differentiate, it wound its clock 15 minutes ahead of, not behind, its big-brother neighbour. Boss move. “Nepal is strongly opposed to the idea that our identity is connected to India,” says Community Homestay Network (CHN) guide Bikal Khanal.

Tharu dance is traditionally set to hand drums. (Credit: Kate Lewis)

Today, Nepal is the only independent country with a 45-minute deviation to universal time; an oddity that’s become a symbol of national pride. The quirk is nearly as endearing as Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan airport where carved varnished wood and shiny red bricks rule. One sign points to a ‘Travelator’ and another to a ‘Grievance Handling Desk’ while visas are noisily stamped at customs for US dollars, cash only. When am I?

Spot the endemic Nepal gray langur. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

The 15 or 45 minute anomaly sees me tap out completely on timezone calculations. Why bend my brain calculating if it’s quarter to or quarter past elsewhere when I’m in the honking here and now of Kathmandu where the air is high-altitude crisp, the prayer flags flutter and the street dogs howl?

How tourism is changing in Nepal

Bardiya National Park is rich with wildlife. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

India is not the only association many Nepalis would like to shake. With eight of the world’s 10 tallest mountains, including Mount Everest and Annapurna, Nepal has long attracted mountaineers and trekkers, and expedition numbers are continuing to rise.

Tourism is one of the country’s biggest sources of foreign currency, so this growth is not negative, per se. But according to Ang Tshering Lama, who co-founded Phaplu Mountain Bike Club, being reduced to a mere trekking destination is limiting.

“Trekking is just one layer of our identity,” says Ang. “When it becomes the dominant narrative, it limits how we’re seen and how we see ourselves.” Nepal’s recent success, however, in diverting trekkers to less-trafficked areas such as Manaslu mofuntain, where visitor numbers rose by 117 per cent last year, offers hope that tourism can diversify even more radically.

Local men in Bhada village. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

The founder of CHN, Shiva Dhakal, wants that change. “The whole idea of the Community Homestay Network is to promote experiences outside of trekking,” he says. “Community tourism changes lives and helps kids stay home instead of coming to the city or migrating to the Middle East.”

Ang grew up seeing people leave, “not because they wanted to but because there weren’t enough opportunities to stay”, he states. Yet from remote villages to living traditions; food, art, music and emerging subcultures, “there’s so much that’s not being seen.”

CHN is opening some of those doors. It doesn’t own, or fund, any homes. Rather, it promotes homestays to travellers on a single, slick platform, while fostering entrepreneurship in places where women, marginalised castes, Indigenous people and the youth stand to benefit the most.

A new generation demanding more

Dalla Town Hall, where volunteers discuss anti-poaching tactics. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

The future prospects of next-gen Nepalis can no longer be ignored. On a Kathmandu tour with 33-year-old guide Monica K.C, we pass buildings torched in the September 2025 ‘Gen Z protests’, including the Supreme Court and Parliament House. Seventy-two people died. “They were anti-corruption protests,” says Monica. “Politicians’ children are living a lavish life but the airports are crowded with youngsters leaving to find work.”

We stop in ‘little Tibet’ at the wondrous sixth-century Boudha Stupa. “The wheel of life is Buddhism in a nutshell,” says Monica. “Things such as hate, ignorance and anger keep you rotating around the wheel, so you must follow the principles of Buddhism to detach. If you can’t, there’s no nirvana for you.”

Boudha Stupa's prayer wheels — Boudha Stupa’s prayer wheels are used to recite Buddhist prayers. (Credit: Kate Lewis)

In a sun-drenched twist to the usual temple visit, we ascend the stupa’s sloping plinth and roam its whitewashed dome. Tendrils of diaphanous prayer flags stream from a steeple-like structure where the Buddha’s unblinking eyes stare out. No nirvana for you…

bouda stupa prayer flags — Tibetan-style prayer flags embellish the whitewashed dome of Bouda Stupa, a Buddhist temple. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

The dome is delightfully free of guard rails or chiding from security. There is, however, a stern ‘No TikTok’ sign, perhaps in response to the youth’s newly flexed power. The booted-out Prime Minister, K.P. Sharma Oli, was replaced in a resounding election victory in March by 35-year-old Balendra Shah of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) – a former rapper and mayor of Kathmandu. The RSP’s manifesto indicates tourism is a priority, and that Nepal’s cultural identity in areas such as gastronomy will be strengthened.

Boudha Stupa vendors — Vibrant souvenir shops and cafes around Boudha Stupa. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

A more confronting stop awaits at Pashupatinath Temple. Today is Bala Chaturdashi, a Hindu festival where thousands of devotees gather to honour their dead ancestors. Vendors hauling foam mattresses do a lucrative trade as people set up for a night of vigil. This includes burning the bodies of recently deceased relatives on bamboo pyres in the Bagmati River, which flows into the sacred Ganges.

A woman at annual Hindu festival Bala Chaturdashi, in Kathmandu. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Wrapped in a shroud, the bodies are positioned with their heads facing north to the Himalayas where Lord Shiva resides. They’re covered with flowers and straw and set alight by male family members.

Hours later, the ashes are swept into the river where devotees will take a holy dip the next day. As much as Monica assures us it’s not voyeuristic to watch, I struggle to do so. “Here you see the reality of life because everyone ends up there,” she says, gesturing to the river.

Life unfiltered in the Terai region

tharu woman — Tharu woman and master weaver Parbati Chaudhary in Bhada Village. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

The reality of life needs processing time, which the western Terai region delivers in spades. The Terai is largely separated from India by the Karnali River and Bardiya National Park, where elephants, rhinos and the elusive Bengal tiger roam.

Once a nomadic tribe, the Indigenous Tharu people are now the largest ethnic group here. “They didn’t know their daily life was interesting for international travellers but they’re starting to understand now,” says CHN founder Shiva.

Take a Jeep safari through Bardiya National Park. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

We fly Buddha Air to Dhangadhi airport and drive five hours to stay in Tharu homes. The journey to Bhada village is a blur of roadside fruit stalls, traffic-stopping sacred cows and fields sown with wheat, rice, mustard, spinach, cauliflower and potatoes. Nepal’s agriculture feeds only Nepal.

Marigolds are an important part of Hindu rituals. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

“The only thing we export is young people,” says our guide Bikal. As the light dims and we plunge evermore rural, mysterious mounds of compacted hay – some house-sized – loom like the creatures from Where The Wild Things Are. Even our trusty driver gets flummoxed by a dirt road that abruptly ends and we find ourselves hurtling across a paddock.

On arrival, some are ferried to mud-walled cottages greened by gourd creepers, with thatched roofs and rustic-chic mosquito nets. Myself and two others are ushered to the home of corner store owner, mechanic and mushroom farmer Man Kumar Chilaruwa and his wife Rajkumari.

community homestay entrance — A warm welcome at a community homestay. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

They escort us to a bunker-esque back building with steel doors and a folding security gate, behind which is gleaming linoleum, dolphin-printed tiles and a shower cavity that must be gingerly stepped through to reach the toilet.

The ceiling lights emit a rainbow of colours (the bathroom light gets stuck in, frankly, a quite frightening red). We’re nevertheless touched that our hosts invested in all this bling when the average salary is around $275 a month.

In the coming days, we participate in Tharu traditions such as making moonshine, dancing, weaving straw handicrafts and gold-panning. We’re fed well with staples of rice, mustard greens, lentil pancakes, daal, curried chicken and tomato chutney served on antibacterial saal leaves.

food at community homestay — Dig in. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Sonara community homestay president Indradevi Tharu tells us river snails are often served, and the boiled and pickled flesh of rats hunted in the rice fields. “Perhaps next time?” we say and all have a laugh.

The power of community homestays

community homestay owners in Nepal — Barda community homestay owners Parbati Chaudhary and Ram Krishni Devi Chaudhary. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

Immersing Western visitors in foreign cultural practices is not new. But with the Tharu, I never get that uneasy sensation that I’m being performed for. Despite being the only tourists, there’s no ‘othering’; just warm, composed and ultra-dignified welcomes. Like we’ve always been here.

“I love to have travellers in my village so I can see the world,” says local woman Parbati Chaudhary. “Why would I travel the world when the world comes to me?”

The graceful acceptance the Tharu offer, as well as the slow pace, works miracles on my frazzled nervous system. One day I even take a nap on a vacant homestay bed.

Sonara community room — An authentic stay in the Sonara community. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Roosters strut and goats bray as we sit on the ground in al fresco kitchens, rolling rice flour into cylinders steamed to make dhikri (dumplings). When water is needed, we fetch it using a hand-operated pump as a family of ducks strolls by, side-eying us like curious neighbours.

Animal lovers will delight in Tharu villages. Kind and resourceful inventions are everywhere, such as snacking stations where two posts lean together, with leafy boughs dangling on rope for baby goats to forage from.

CHN’s CEO, Aayusha Prasain, nods knowingly when one in our group says she cried when she left her host, Shayam Chaudhary, in Bhada. Shayam’s 17-year-old son, Prashant, had translated, which deepened the connection.

“Community tourism turns travel into a relationship, not a transaction,” says Aayusha. “It places decision-making power in the hands of local communities, especially women and youth.” Since 2018, CHN has hosted more than 4000 travellers from 52 countries in 408 households, and estimates women’s participation has increased by 381 per cent.

In the Bardiya community, where vexing human-animal conflict has been a balancing act for decades due to elephants raiding crops, long-time homestay operator Salik Ram Chaudhary says young people keep the older ones on their toes.

“We can’t keep homestays stagnant,” he says. “We have to upgrade our service and redefine our product or young people won’t see it as an attractive business. If we can keep evolving with this travelling trend we’re confident the youths will stay and continue it.”

Back in Kathmandu, Monica explains that after the deaths of young protestors in September, a determination had spread to not let their sacrifice be in vain. “We want to keep holding the government accountable,” she says. “We don’t know what situation we’re facing, but we’re ready to face it.”

Interested in Nepal but prefer to experience it in total comfort? Read our guide to luxury travel in Nepal.