Singapore - anyone been with teens?

[TheDonald]

I'll be there with DD (16) for four days / three nights in July.

Looking for recommendations for budget hotels or hostels (no dorms) in a good location for shops and sights.

Also any must-sees? What did you enjoy / what should we avoid? DD has already located all the bubble tea shops!

Go to Gardens by the Bay which is their nature park. Another place that I liked was the Jurong Bird park. Singapore Zoo at night is also good.

Have a look at TripAdvisor re Singapore hotels as they have prices per night and photos.

What is your teen into. Mine loved Sentosa Island with its theme parks.
Shopping in Orchard Road, and seeing the sights such as the Merlion and Marina Bay Sands.

Public transport is great just find accommodation near a station. Clarke Quay is a good base for reasonable hotels and plenty of food choices

I was a teen when I went with my family (about 15 years ago). I really liked the Night Zoo- always the main thing that sticks in my mind.

Seems a nice city break. What is the maximum amount of time you think before you've seen/done most stuff?

Thanks all. She's into shopping definitely. We have really enjoyed things like food tours and cycling tours on previous holidays. We also did a cookery evening once which was fun.

We plan to go to Gardens by the Bay.

I'd like to visit some of the parks and markets. We will be doing beach / watersports and trekking later in the trip so we're mainly there for the city sights.

I second the Night Safari. That was really fun. The Water Safari is also very good. They’re on opposite sides of the same road so very easy.

Mega Zip Adventure (?) on Sentosa do a zip wire that starts in the middle of the rainforest, takes you through the canopy, over the beach, over the sea and onto a little islet. You can go together; it’s well worth doing if you’re on Sentosa anyway. I wouldn’t bother with the ropes course, it’s just too hot to enjoy it.

There’s also the MacRitchie Nature Walk for more rainforest canopy bits.

The beaches are beautiful with azure water but there are so many huge ships that the surface of the water has a thin film of oil; it’s not the best for swimming.

Your daughter might be into shopping but Orchard Road is just mall after mall with pretty much the same shops (including some British ones) and seem to sell pretty much the same products in all of them....there are even a few M&S stores. Prices more expensive than in the UK. The Japanese department stores Isetan and the huge Takashimaya are interesting though...they wrap purchases beautifully.

Your daughter might find it more interesting to buy trinkets in Little India, or the small Arab area or Chinatown (the open air market area in particular for T shirts, wallets, souvenirs etc.)

One very unusual experience is to go into Mustafas (Indian department store) in Little India - check out the reviews on TripAdvisor.....omg don’t do it on a Sunday though when all the construction workers have their day off and are buying personal items or remitting money home to Bangladesh, India or Sri Lanka. You can get great Indian food around there too; it’s always busy, but colourful and a lot of fun to explore LIttle India. We’ve lived in Singapore and my daughter and her friends (16 year olds) always loved going shopping there.

The Arab area is quite close to LIttle India (do go into ZamZams for Murtabak) www.zamzamsingapore.com and anyone can go into the huge mosque across the street with the golden domes (they give you a robe to put on top of your clothes) and they will give a brief tour and tell you about the history of the mosque. The adjacent shophouses and coffee shops are nice to explore.

In the evenings it’s nice to have a look at the colonial buildings - Raffles Hotel and the Chijmes (mainly restaurants) complex across the street and just see the city lit up. Teenagers also like going to Boat Quay and Clarke Quay (bars and restaurants next to the river).

If you wanted to go to the ‘wet’ markets for fresh produce you need to go early in the morning...you can find wet markets in Little India and in Chinatown plus all the suburban areas where the locals live.

I have very fond memories of trips to Singapore. The night safari is a must. The food hall in the bottom of Takashimaya is an experience.

And beware of Durian fruit!

Recently returned from Singapore with teens
We stayed at the Swissotel Merchant Court, right on the Singapore River at Clarke Quay and recommend it
Great location, walking distance to Chinatown, with a mall with a good food-court next door.

I agree with PP about Little India (for food and temples/mosques)
Chinatown (for the markets, Buddha's Tooth Temple, and the Chinatown Heritage Centre which I found fascinating

Colonial-era stuff is nice but the Raffles is currently closed for refurbishment I think

The DC loved Sentosa, we went to Universal Studios (not as good as Florida or LA but they loved it) the South East Asia Aquarium (which I was very impressed with) and Adventure Cove waterpark. ou can get a ticket package from the Resorts World Singapore website

Gardens by the bay daytime visit garden s and inside domes. At night there is a free music and light show at the monster trees. Secondly, infront of the Marina Sands bay hotel there is a free fountain display at night. You can pay to swim in the pool at the hotel, great view over city. Food at China town, Little India and the Arab districts. Visit the cat cafe for Cake and cats !

I went as a teen twice and I enjoyed
Sentosa
Night safari in the zoo
Chinatown

I liked Changi prison less- thanks parents