Layover in Singapore advice please

[Sundaychiller]

I am getting married next year and we have booked a honeymoon to Vietnam. We are flying with Singapore airlines and we have chosen a 16hr stopover in Singapore so we can hopefully see some of the city.

Can anyone help with what to go and see, which hotel to book (hopefully get about 5hrs sleep as we land in the evening and take off 12.30pm next day) or any other tips? Definitely want to go to Raffles :)
Also if anyone has flown with them what did you think of the airline?

You can get a free tour. www.changiairport.com/en/airport-guide/facilities-and-services/free-singapore-tour.html

Drinks at the newly re-opened Raffles and a meal somewhere in Chinatown? You’re not going to have much time, it’s a 40 min car ride into the city from Changi, and you’ll have to be back to the airport at a reasonable time the next day.
It is amazing though.

Check out the botanical garden
Have a drink at the top of marina bay sands

Thanks for the replies
Bloody We will miss the tour as land too late, shame though.
Hero We know it will be a dash round but felt it would be worth it as
we may never get the chance again.
Nldn Have just looked at the Marina Bay and think that will go on
our list!
Any other suggestions really appreciated thanks

16 hours Isn't long, you could do with another day at least.

With the time available and when it is, you aren't going to get a lot done. SIA do do city tours on open topped busses but they may have finished running by the time you get there.

If you are there in the evening, I'd suggest visiting Raffles and then head to Clark Quay for the rest of the evening, possible doing a sightseeing boat trip from there.

If you are on a tight budget, avoid Clark Quay and head for one of the many hawker centres where the locals eat.

If you have booked a Stopover Holiday, you will have vouchers for the boat trip. The Singapore Flyer and Gardens by the Bay is worth a visit too and easy to get to, although I think you will run out of time.

We have flown with Singapore many times and, for visiting Australia, they are our preferred airline.

Have thin light clothes ready to put on. It’s very warm and sticky!

Yes I read that Hero - will do!

Singapore Airlines were great when we flew with them many years ago.

Congratulations!

We went in 2005 and stayed at the Pan Pacific which was great.

I would probably do some wondering about in China town and Little India and go to raffles. We ate somewhere lovely in the harbour by a bridge one night but can’t remember what is was called. Hawker centres are great and cheap.

Singapore airlines = free Singapore slings!

Chjimes is great for restaurants and not far from raffles. It's a converted convent.

Cable car to the island, nice cocktail on the beach , a must is the botanical gardens at night when the light/music show is on. I love Singapore

Singapore Airlines are my airline of choice.

You have to accept that if you arrivecearly evening, it might well be raining. In my view, less is more, I would head for Gardens By The Bay and/or Chinatown. Orchard Road is overrated in my view.

I tend to stay in Somerset or Novotel, Clarke Quay, but given your time constraints, ‘suggest you look for an hotel near the airport.

Enjoy your honeymoon and, another time, stay for longer.

Singapore is tiny and most areas are easily accessed.

To make full use of your short layover, consider:

1. download Grab app on your phone - it’s the equivalent of Uber and would come in handy as you hop from one location to the next, in case you can’t flag down a taxi. Payment is by visa or by cash.
2. consider dinner at Lau Pa Sat - it is open all hours of the day and is a modernised version of the street food stalls found in hawker centres, but housed in a beautiful historical building.
3. Marina Bay Sands is a short taxi ride from Lau Pa Sat and a quick drink at the rooftop bar will give you great views over the marina and the city centre, then a gentle stroll to Gardens by the Bay to see the illuminated metal tree structures (pedestrianised link is via Marina Bay Sands Bridge)
4. Raffles Hotel is fairly close by, and a second drink / supper here is recommended as a next stop. It recently re-opened after extensive refurbishment but retains the old world feel.
5. if you like shopping, a wander around the local malls in the vicinity of Raffles Hotel to get a feel for what the Singaporeans do in the evenings.
6. for something more cultural, and depending on how much sleep you get on the plane, you could take a short taxi ride to Chinatown or Little India or Arab Street where it will be bustling and there are cafes / bars and independent shops that are still open.
7. leave enough time the next morning to look at Jewel, the newly opened airport terminal at Changi Airport before you check in. Find out if they will permit you to check in at Jewel and have your suitcases relayed to the correct departure terminal - that way, you can spend your time at Jewel without lugging the bags behind you.

Enjoy your visit!

Fantastic advice, thank you all.
Isthisseesaw we are going to print that off and use it as an itinerary. Which area would you recommend we book a hotel in?

Fairmont hotel is across the road from Raffles. Expedia have offers. 16 hours will be barely enough time to do anything. Can you extend it by another night?

@Sundaychiller as advised, Fairmont is right across from Raffles and is an excellent hotel, as are Pan Pacific and Mandarin Oriental. A hotel here means a shorter distance to travel once you finish with the sightseeing and dinner, but a longer drive the next morning.

Although the scale of the country is very small, if I had only 16 hours, I’d probably feel more secure booking a hotel at the airport - Crowne Plaza is very good. It’d mean that you land, check in at hotel, leave bags, freshen up quickly and then taxi down to town to do all the sightseeing, and taxi back at the end of the night (taxi ride at night will be 30 mins at most) so you can have no worries about traffic the next morning.

That’s what I would prefer in a jetlaggy state!

I agree, stay near the airport. The morning traffic is heavy.

I stayed in a hotel room in the airport, it had no windows so was pitch black and was fab to just recover a little from the travel and jet lag. Would that be an option? I think I had to pay by the hour (that sounds dodgy but it wasn't!). Because you could also then do everything else you wanted to do but have some decent rest without going anywhere.

I don't think I'd book a hotel for 16 hours in Singapore. I'd just down some coffee and stay awake. I love it there.