Outings in Singapore

[Nospringflower]

We are going to Singapore as well as Australia and wondering what things people would recommend doing in Singapore. I have heard mixed reports about the Night Safari at the zoo and was wondering about the new Universal Studios at Sentosa? Any other suggestions gratefully received!

How much time do you have in Singapore? And how old are your kids?

The Singapore Zoo and Night Safari are fabulous in my opinion! If you can only do one, do the zoo. But if you can last all day, a great way is to do the zoo in the afternoon (it is very hot and humid, don't under-estimate how uncomfortable it can get walking around in that sort of humidity!) till closing time, go and have dinner in the night safari restaurant and then go on the tram ride around the night safari once or twice and head home. It's worth doing but not as a special trip out there iykwim!

We went to the new Universal Studios in end August. Just opened and there were a few teething issues - some of the rides are not opened yet. It was great fun though! We said that when it has fully opened and everything working, we would pay for the fast-track tickets so we could jump the queue for every ride. You could easily do the whole theme park in a day IF you had the fast-track tickets as queuing took up most of the time! And there were good stuff for every age group.

If you get the chance to, stay in one of the hotels on Sentosa (we stayed at the new Festive Hotel within Resorts World so you just walk to Universal Studios, hotel was brand-new and very comfortable! Loved it!) so you can do more around the island and not just Universal Studios. We loved doing the luge (you go down a hill on these go-karts!) and would have loved to have done the aquarium if we had time as well.

I am from Singapore so feel free to ask any questions! :)

Thanks for your help. Our children are 9, 7 and 6. We are there for 8 days in total but are going to Bintan for a few days. I fancy Universal Studios so that is useful to know about the fast track tickets. I fancy the luge as well and will try to make it to at least the day or night time for the zoo. Thanks.

They are quite old so they will love Universal Studios! Definitely do fast-track if you can - the queueing is pretty bad... I think you should definitely do zoo and night safari then. I thought if you had pretty young children, they probably would not last till early evening but with children your age, that shouldn't be a problem! There is a fabulous kids' water park in the zoo, info here so bring a change of clothes or bathers (and towels).

Don't stay in Bintan too long, there really isn't much to do except for the beach and getting massages. Also, a friend who had been recently said the resorts are pretty run-down (it used to be a really popular resort in the local area but I guess it has had lots of competition in recent times!). A 3D/2N stay will be perfect.

If they love swimming (and most people do in the tropical climate, it's the best way to cool off!), try one of these water parks - Wild Wild Wet.

Don't know if they are too old for the duck tours but it's a great way to explore the Singapore river area... Chinatown is fab for a bit of culture and bargain hunting and cheap souvenirs.

Have fun! Singapore is so safe, your kids will love it.

A few more ideas:

The treetops walk is good, you walk across bridges up in the rainforest canopy. There are plenty of monkeys around to watch.

Jurong Bird Park is worth a visit.

A day trip on a bum boat to Pulau Ubin shows the old face of Singapore.

A bum boat trip up the river from Clarke Quay at night is quite a sight. Great views of city skyline, Merlion, quays, monuments.

Check on sistic.com.sg to see what events are on during your visit.

HTH

Thanks for those other messages - where about is the treetops walk? I'm sure they would love to see monkeys. Will also check that website.
Thanks

The treetops walk is at MacRitchie Reservoir- just Google for details.

How did your trip go? Im thinking of travelling to singapore for a two week holiday with my toddler (will be 17months) in May.
If we do go I'll be sure to look up some of these suggestions.
Where did you stay, would you recommend it?
:)

Singapore Zoo would have my vote, don't miss the shows there.

The Botanical gardens are well worth a visit too - gorgeous oasis in the middle of the city and there is a children's garden (although possibly aimed at younger children - our son was 3 when we took him).

We also loved Little India - authentic Indian food, eating off banana leaves. Possibly the closest you'll get to India without going to India.